¹⁷ Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.

²⁰ For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts^(A) to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.^(B)

²⁴ When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. ²⁵ Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.^(A)

³ So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night

³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon refused to let us pass through. For the Lord^(A) your God had made his spirit stubborn^(B) and his heart obstinate^(C) in order to give him into your hands,^(D) as he has now done.