¹⁴ And when David again inquired of God, ^(A)God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees.

⁶ Having said these things, ^(A)he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. ^(B)Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud ⁷ and said to him, “Go, wash in ^(C)the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and ^(D)came back seeing.

¹⁰ And David inquired of God, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up, and I will give them into your hand.”

² And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did ^(A)to Jericho and its king. Only ^(B)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, ^(C)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 ^(D)just as before, we shall flee before them. ⁶ And they will come out after us, until we have ^(E)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.