Joshua 8
Legacy Standard Bible
Ai Given to Israel
8 Now Yahweh said to Joshua, “(A)Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, (B)I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. 2 So you shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall (C)take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. [a]Set an ambush for the city behind it.”
3 So Joshua rose with all the people of war to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose 30,000 men, valiant warriors, and sent them out at night. 4 And he commanded them, saying, “See, you are (D)going to ambush the city from behind [b]it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. 5 Then I and all the people who are with me will come near the city. And it will be that when they come out to meet us as at the first, (E)we will flee before them. 6 And they will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us as at the first.’ So we will flee before them. 7 And you shall rise from your ambush and take possession of the city, for Yahweh your God will give it into your hand. 8 Then it will be that when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it (F)according to the word of Yahweh. See, I have commanded you.” 9 So Joshua sent them away, and they went to the place of ambush and remained between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.
10 Now Joshua (G)rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai. 11 Then all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near and arrived in front of the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai. 12 And he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between (H)Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the [c]city. 13 So they set the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley. 14 Now it happened that when the king of Ai saw it, the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled (I)by the way of the wilderness. 16 And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and (J)were drawn away from the city. 17 So not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel, and they forsook the city, leaving it open, and pursued Israel.
18 Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “(K)Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” So Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19 Then the men in ambush rose quickly from their place, and when he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it, and they quickly set the city on fire. 20 Then the men of Ai turned [d]back and looked, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers. 21 But Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city ascended. So they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22 [e]And the others came out from the city to meet them, so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, [f]some on this side and some on that side; and they struck them down until [g]there was (L)no one remaining for him who survived or escaped. 23 But they seized the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 Now it happened that when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them fell by the edge of the sword until they were completely destroyed, then all Israel turned back to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 25 (M)So all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000—all the [h]people of Ai. 26 For Joshua (N)did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had devoted to destruction all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 (O)Israel took only the cattle and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of Yahweh which He had commanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it (P)a heap forever, a desolation until this day. 29 (Q)And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset Joshua gave a command, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate and raised over it a great heap of stones that stands to this day.
30 Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, on (R)Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the servant of Yahweh had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, (S)an altar of uncut stones on which no man had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 And he (T)wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which [i]he had written, in the presence of the sons of Israel. 33 (U)And all Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, the sojourner as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of (V)Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of Yahweh had given a command at first to bless the people of Israel. 34 Then afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in (W)the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel (X)with the women and the little ones and the sojourners who were [j]going among them.
Footnotes
- Joshua 8:2 Lit Set for yourself
- Joshua 8:4 Lit the city
- Joshua 8:12 Ai
- Joshua 8:20 Lit behind them
- Joshua 8:22 Lit These came
- Joshua 8:22 Lit these...those
- Joshua 8:22 Lit he had no one
- Joshua 8:25 Lit men
- Joshua 8:32 Moses
- Joshua 8:35 Lit walking
Joshua 8
Expanded Bible
Ai Is Destroyed
8 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid or ·give up [be discouraged/dismayed; 1:9; 10:25]. Lead ·all your fighting men [the whole army] to Ai. I ·will help you defeat [L have given into your hand] the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. 2 You will do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king. Only this time you may ·take all the wealth [L plunder its goods and livestock] and keep it for yourselves. Now ·tell some of your soldiers to set up [L set] an ambush behind the city.”
3 So Joshua ·led his whole army toward [L and all the people rose to go up against] Ai. Then he chose thirty thousand ·of his best fighting men [brave warriors] and sent them out at night. 4 Joshua gave them these orders: “·Listen carefully [Look; T Behold]. You must set up an ambush behind the city. Don’t go far from it, but continue to watch and be ready. 5 I and the men who are with me will march toward the city, and the men in the city will come out to fight us, just as they did before. Then we will ·turn and run away from [L flee before] them. 6 They will chase us away from the city, thinking we are running away from them as we did before. When we run away, 7 come out from your ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give ·you the power to win [L it into your hand]. 8 After you take the city, burn it. ·See to it [L Look; T Behold]! You have your orders.”
9 Then Joshua sent them to wait in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua stayed the night ·with his [among the] people.
10 Early the next morning Joshua ·gathered his men together [mustered the army]. He and the ·older leaders [elders] of Israel led them up to Ai. 11 All of the soldiers who were with Joshua marched up to Ai and stopped in front of the city and made camp north of it. There was a valley between them and the city. 12 Then Joshua chose about five thousand men and set them in ambush in the area west of the city between Bethel and Ai. 13 So the people took their positions; the main camp was north of the city, and the ·other men [rear guard; ambush] were hiding to the west. That night Joshua went down into[a] the valley.
14 Now when the king of Ai saw the army of Israel, he and his people got up early the next morning and hurried out to fight them. They went out to ·a place east of the city [or the meeting/appointed place near the Arabah/desert plain], but the king did not know soldiers were waiting in ambush behind the city. 15 Joshua and all the men of Israel ·let the army of Ai push them back [pretended to be defeated]. Then they ran toward the ·desert [wilderness]. 16 All the men in Ai were called to chase Joshua and his men, so they ·left the city and went after them [were lured away from the city]. 17 All the men of Ai and Bethel chased the army of Israel [C nearby Bethel must have been closely allied with Ai]. The city was left ·open [unguarded]; not a man ·stayed to protect it [L was left in Ai or Bethel].
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold ·your spear [L the spear/javelin that is in your hand] toward Ai, because I will give ·you that city [L it into your hand].” So Joshua held ·his spear [L the spear/javelin that was in his hand] toward the city of Ai. 19 When the Israelites who were in ambush saw this, they quickly came out of their hiding place and hurried toward the city. They entered the city, ·took control of [captured] it, and quickly set it on fire.
20 When the men of Ai looked back, ·they saw [L look; T behold] smoke rising [L into the sky] from their city. At the same time the Israelites stopped running and turned against ·the men of Ai [L their pursuers], who could not escape in any direction. 21 When Joshua and all ·his men [L Israel] saw that the ·army [men in ambush] had taken control of the city and saw the smoke rising from it, they stopped running and turned to ·fight [strike down] the men of Ai. 22 The men who were in ambush also came out of the city to help with the fight. So the men of Ai were caught between the armies of Israel. None of the enemy escaped. The Israelites ·fought [struck them down] until not one of the men of Ai ·was left alive [L either survived or escaped], except 23 the king of Ai, and they brought him to Joshua.
A Review of the Fighting
24 During the fighting the army of Israel chased the men of Ai into the fields and ·desert [wilderness] and killed all of them. Then they went back to Ai and killed everyone there. 25 All the people of Ai died that day, twelve thousand men and women. 26 Joshua ·had held his spear toward Ai, as a sign to destroy the city, and did not draw it back [L did not draw back the hand that held his spear/javelin] until all the people of Ai were ·destroyed [devoted to destruction; 2:10; 6:17]. 27 The people of Israel kept for themselves the animals and the ·other things the people of Ai had owned [plunder of the city], as the Lord had commanded Joshua to do.
28 Then Joshua burned the city of Ai and made it [L permanently; forever] a pile of ruins. And it is still like that today. 29 Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree and left him there until evening [C an act of humiliation and shame; Deut. 21:23]. At sunset Joshua told his men to take the king’s body down from the tree and to throw it down at the city gate. Then they covered it with a pile of rocks [7:26], which is still there today.
30 Joshua built an altar for the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, as 31 Moses, the Lord’s servant, had commanded the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel]. Joshua built the altar as it was explained in the Book of the ·Teachings [Law] of Moses. It was made from ·uncut [whole] stones; no tool was ever used on them. On that altar the Israelites offered burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] to the Lord and ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offerings [Lev. 3:1]. 32 There Joshua ·wrote [made a copy of] the teachings of Moses on stones for all the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel to see. 33 The elders, officers, judges, and all the Israelites were there; ·Israelites and non-Israelites [native-born and foreigners] were all standing around the Ark of the ·Agreement with [Covenant of] the Lord in front of the priests, the Levites who had carried the Ark. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Ebal, and half stood in front of Mount Gerizim. This was the way the Lord’s servant Moses had earlier commanded the people to be blessed [Deut. 11:29; 27:11–26].
34 Then Joshua read all the words of the ·teachings [law; instruction], the blessings and the curses, exactly as they were written in the Book of the ·Teachings [Law]. 35 All the Israelites were gathered together—men, women, and children—along with the ·non-Israelites [foreigners] who lived among them. Joshua read every ·command [word] that Moses had given.
Footnotes
- Joshua 8:13 went down into Some Hebrew copies read “spent the time in” instead of “went down into.”
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