² Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near ^(A)Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai.

^12 (A)On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan. ^(B)Then the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward, and it ends at the wilderness of ^(C)Beth-aven.

^23 (A)So the Lord saved Israel that day. And the battle passed beyond ^(B)Beth-aven.

⁵ And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops ^(A)like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of ^(B)Beth-aven.

Persecution Will Come

^16 (A)“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be ^(B)wise as serpents and ^(C)innocent as doves.

⁸ From there he moved to the hill country on the east of ^(A)Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.