约书亚记 8
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
约书亚再攻艾城
8 耶和华对约书亚说：“你不要惧怕，也不要惊慌，你只管带领所有能作战的人，起来上艾城去；你看，我已经把艾城的王和他的人民、城市、土地都交在你手里了。 2 你怎样对待耶利哥和耶利哥的王，也要照样对待艾城和艾城的王；只是城中的战利品和牲畜，你们可以据为己有；你要在城后面设下攻城的伏兵。”
3 于是，约书亚和所有能作战的人都起来上艾城去；约书亚选了三万英勇的战士，趁夜派他们出去， 4 吩咐他们说：“你们注意，要在城后面埋伏攻城；不可离城太远，人人都要作好准备。 5 我和所有与我一起的人，要向城推进。城里的人像前一次出来攻击我们的时候，我们就在他们面前逃跑； 6 他们必定出来追赶我们，我们就把他们引出城来，因为他们必定说：‘这些人像前一次一样在我们面前逃跑了。’所以我们要在他们面前逃跑。 7 那时你们就要从埋伏的地方起来，占领那城，因为耶和华你们的 神必把城交在你们的手里。 8 你们占领了城以后，就要放火烧城；要照着耶和华的话行事；你们要谨慎，我已经吩咐你们了。” 9 约书亚差派他们去了，他们就上到埋伏的地方去，住在伯特利和艾城的中间，就是在艾城的西边。那一夜，约书亚却在人民中间住宿。
10 约书亚清早起来，召集人民上艾城去，他和以色列的长老走在人民的前面。 11 所有与他在一起的战士都上去，迫近艾城，在城的北面安营；在约书亚和艾城中间有一个山谷， 12 约书亚挑了大约五千人，要他们埋伏在伯特利和艾城中间，就是艾城的西面。 13 于是他们把众民，就是在城北的全军和在城西的伏兵都布置好了。那一夜，约书亚走进了山谷之中。 14 艾城的王看见了这情形，就和艾城的人急忙在清早起来，按着亚拉巴前面所约定之处出到亚拉巴，要与以色列人交战；王却不知道在城后面有伏兵要攻击他。 15 约书亚和以色列人在他们面前装败，沿着通往旷野的路逃跑。 16 城里的众民都被召集，去追赶他们；艾城的人追赶约书亚的时候，就都被诱离城。 17 艾城和伯特利城没有留下一个人不出来追赶以色列人；他们撇下了敞开的城门，去追赶以色列人。
攻陷艾城
18 耶和华对约书亚说：“你向着艾城伸出你手中的短枪，因为我要把城交在你手里。”约书亚就向着艾城伸出他手里的短枪。 19 他一伸手，伏兵就从埋伏的地方急忙起来，冲进城去，把城夺取，并连忙放火烧城。 20 艾城的人转身观看，看见城里浓烟冲天，就全身乏力，不能逃跑；往旷野逃跑的以色列人就转过来攻击追赶他们的人。 21 约书亚和以色列人看见伏兵已经夺取了城，又看见城中浓烟上升，就转回，击杀艾城的人。 22 伏兵也出城攻击艾城的人；艾城的人就被困在以色列人中间，前后受敌；于是以色列人把他们击杀，没有留下一个，也没有一个逃脱。 23 他们活捉了艾城的王，把他解到约书亚那里。
24 以色列人在田间、在旷野，杀尽了所有追赶他们的艾城的居民，艾城的人全部倒在刀下，直到完全消灭；接着，以色列众人回到艾城，用刀击杀了城中的人。 25 那一天被杀的人，连男带女，共有一万二千人，就是艾城所有的人。 26 约书亚没有收回伸出短枪的手，直到把艾城的居民都消灭为止。 27 只有那城里的牲畜和战利品，以色列人照着耶和华吩咐约书亚的话，都据为己有。 28 约书亚烧了艾城，使城永远成为废堆，一片荒凉，直到今日。 29 他又把艾城的王悬在树上，直到黄昏的时候；日落的时候，约书亚吩咐人把尸体从树上拿下来，丢在城门口那里，又在尸体上堆起了一大堆石头，这堆石头一直存到今日。
以巴路山上筑坛宣读律法
30 那时，约书亚在以巴路山上，为耶和华以色列的 神筑了一座祭坛， 31 是照着耶和华的仆人摩西吩咐以色列人的，照着摩西律法书上所写的，用未经过铁器打凿的整块石块筑成的一座祭坛；在这祭坛之上，众人向耶和华献燔祭，也献平安祭。 32 约书亚在那里，当着以色列人面前，把摩西所写的摩西律法抄写在石头上。 33 全体以色列人和他们的长老、官长，以及审判官，都站在约柜的两旁，在抬耶和华约柜的利未支派的祭司前面；无论是寄居的，或是本地人，一半对着基利心山，一半对着以巴路山；正如耶和华的仆人摩西以前所吩咐的，好为以色列民祝福。 34 然后，约书亚宣读律法上一切祝福和咒诅的话，全都照着律法书上所写的一切。 35 摩西吩咐的一切话，约书亚在以色列全体会众和妇女、小孩，以及在他们中间来往的寄居者面前，没有一句不向他们宣读出来的。
Joshua 8
English Standard Version
The Fall of Ai
8 And the Lord said to Joshua, (A)“Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, (B)I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did (C)to Jericho and its king. Only (D)its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”
3 So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. 4 And he commanded them, “Behold, (E)you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. 5 And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us (F)just as before, we shall flee before them. 6 And they will come out after us, until we have (G)drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. 7 Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand. 8 And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the Lord. (H)See, I have commanded you.” 9 So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people.
10 Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11 And (I)all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. 12 He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. 14 And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place[a] toward (J)the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. (K)But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel (L)pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. 16 So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they (M)were drawn away from the city. 17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, (N)“Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19 And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. 20 So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. 21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22 And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And Israel struck them down, until there was (O)left none that survived or escaped. 23 But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. 25 And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. 26 But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he (P)stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction.[b] 27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the Lord that he (Q)commanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a (R)heap of ruins, as it is to this day. 29 (S)And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. (T)And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and (U)raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.
Joshua Renews the Covenant
30 At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, (V)on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on (W)the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. 33 And all Israel, (X)sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests (Y)who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, (Z)just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward (AA)he read all the words of the law, (AB)the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, (AC)and the women, and the little ones, and (AD)the sojourners who lived[c] among them.
Footnotes
- Joshua 8:14 Hebrew appointed time
- Joshua 8:26 That is, set apart (devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
- Joshua 8:35 Or traveled
Joshua 8
Christian Standard Bible
Conquest of Ai
8 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged.(A) Take all the troops with you and go attack Ai. Look, I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, city, and land.(B) 2 Treat Ai and its king as you did Jericho and its king,(C) except that you may plunder its spoil and livestock for yourselves.(D) Set an ambush behind the city.”(E)
3 So Joshua and all the troops set out to attack Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand of his best soldiers and sent them out at night. 4 He commanded them, “Pay attention. Lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it, and all of you be ready.(F) 5 Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will flee from them. 6 They will come after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us as before.’ While we are fleeing from them, 7 you are to come out of your ambush and seize the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you. 8 After taking the city, set it on fire. Follow the Lord’s command—see that you do as I have ordered you.” 9 So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But he spent that night with the troops.
10 Joshua started early the next morning and mobilized them. Then he and the elders of Israel led the people up to Ai. 11 All the troops who were with him went up and approached the city, arriving opposite Ai, and camped to the north of it, with a valley between them and the city. 12 Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 The troops were stationed in this way: the main[a] camp to the north of the city and its rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.
14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, the men of the city hurried and went out early in the morning so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle at a suitable place facing the Arabah. But he did not know there was an ambush waiting for him behind the city. 15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten back by them and fled toward the wilderness.(G) 16 Then all the troops of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. 17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city exposed while they pursued Israel.
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out the javelin in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the city over to you.” So Joshua held out his javelin toward it. 19 When he held out his hand, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They ran, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.
20 The men of Ai turned and looked back, and smoke from the city was rising to the sky! They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers. 21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22 Then men in ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces, some on one side and some on the other. They struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained,(H) 23 but they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing everyone living in Ai who had pursued them into the open country, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the sword. 25 The total of those who fell that day, both men and women, was twelve thousand—all the people of Ai. 26 Joshua did not draw back his hand that was holding the javelin until all the inhabitants of Ai were completely destroyed.(I) 27 Israel plundered only the cattle and spoil of that city for themselves, according to the Lord’s command that he had given Joshua.
28 Joshua burned Ai and left it a permanent ruin, still desolate today.(J) 29 He hung[b] the body of the king of Ai on a tree[c] until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree.(K) They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and put a large pile of rocks over it, which still remains today.
Renewed Commitment to the Law
30 At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal(L) to the Lord, the God of Israel, 31 just as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used.(M) Then they offered burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings on it. 32 There on the stones, Joshua copied the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the Israelites.(N) 33 All Israel—resident alien and citizen alike—with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on either side of the ark of the Lord’s covenant facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal,(O) as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded earlier concerning blessing the people of Israel.(P) 34 Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law—the blessings as well as the curses—according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, the dependents, and the resident aliens who lived among them.(Q)
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
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