⁷ And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you^(A) in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.^{(B) 8} Tell the priests^(C) who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”

¹⁷ The priests^(A) who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground,^(B) while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.^(C)

² Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered^(A) Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. ³ March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns^(B) in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.^{(C) 5} When you hear them sound a long blast^(D) on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout;^(E) then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”

²⁰ When the trumpets sounded,^(A) the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout,^(B) the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.^(C)

Ai Destroyed

8 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid;^(A) do not be discouraged.^(B) Take the whole army^(C) with you, and go up and attack Ai.^(D) For I have delivered^(E) into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. ² You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder^(F) and livestock for yourselves.^(G) Set an ambush^(H) behind the city.”

¹⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin^(A) that is in your hand,^(B) for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand.^{(C) 19} As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly^(D) from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.^(E)

²⁰ The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky,^(F) but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. ²¹ For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around^(G) and attacked the men of Ai. ²² Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives.^(H)

⁷ So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army,^(A) including all the best fighting men. ⁸ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid^(B) of them; I have given them into your hand.^(C) Not one of them will be able to withstand you.”^(D)

⁹ After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. ¹⁰ The Lord threw them into confusion^(E) before Israel,^(F) so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon.^(G) Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon^(H) and cut them down all the way to Azekah^(I) and Makkedah.^{(J) 11} As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones^(K) down on them,^(L) and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

¹² On the day the Lord gave the Amorites^(M) over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

as it is written in the Book of Jashar.^(P)

The sun stopped^(Q) in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. ¹⁴ There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting^(R) for Israel!

²⁹ Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah^(A) and attacked it. ³⁰ The Lord also gave that city and its king into Israel’s hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

⁴² All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought^(A) for Israel.