Joshua 8
Christian Standard Bible Anglicised
Conquest of Ai
8 The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged.(A) Take all the troops with you and go and attack Ai. Look, I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, city, and land.(B) 2 Treat Ai and its king as you did Jericho and its king,(C) except that you may plunder its spoil and livestock for yourselves.(D) Set an ambush behind the city.’(E)
3 So Joshua and all the troops set out to attack Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand of his best soldiers and sent them out at night. 4 He commanded them, ‘Pay attention. Lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it, and all of you be ready.(F) 5 Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will flee from them. 6 They will come after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, “They are fleeing from us as before.” While we are fleeing from them, 7 you are to come out of your ambush and seize the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you. 8 After taking the city, set it on fire. Follow the Lord’s command – see that you do as I have ordered you.’ 9 So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But he spent that night with the troops.
10 Joshua started early the next morning and mobilised them. Then he and the elders of Israel led the people up to Ai. 11 All the troops who were with him went up and approached the city, arriving opposite Ai, and camped to the north of it, with a valley between them and the city. 12 Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 The troops were stationed in this way: the main[a] camp to the north of the city and its rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.
14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, the men of the city hurried and went out early in the morning so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle at a suitable place facing the Arabah. But he did not know there was an ambush waiting for him behind the city. 15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten back by them and fled towards the wilderness.(G) 16 Then all the troops of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. 17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city exposed while they pursued Israel.
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Hold out the javelin in your hand towards Ai, for I will hand the city over to you.’ So Joshua held out his javelin towards it. 19 When he held out his hand, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They ran, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.
20 The men of Ai turned and looked back, and smoke from the city was rising to the sky! They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers. 21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22 Then men in ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces, some on one side and some on the other. They struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained,(H) 23 but they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing everyone living in Ai who had pursued them into the open country, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the sword. 25 The total of those who fell that day, both men and women, was twelve thousand – all the people of Ai. 26 Joshua did not draw back his hand that was holding the javelin until all the inhabitants of Ai were completely destroyed.(I) 27 Israel plundered only the cattle and spoil of that city for themselves, according to the Lord’s command that he had given Joshua.
28 Joshua burned Ai and left it a permanent ruin, still desolate today.(J) 29 He hung[b] the body of the king of Ai on a tree[c] until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree.(K) They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and put a large pile of rocks over it, which still remains today.
Renewed Commitment to the Law
30 At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal(L) to the Lord, the God of Israel, 31 just as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used.(M) Then they offered burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings on it. 32 There on the stones, Joshua copied the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the Israelites.(N) 33 All Israel – resident foreigner and citizen alike – with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on either side of the ark of the Lord’s covenant facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal,(O) as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded earlier concerning blessing the people of Israel.(P) 34 Afterwards, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law – the blessings as well as the curses – according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, the dependents, and the resident foreigners who lived among them.(Q)
Yehoshua 8
Orthodox Jewish Bible
8 And Hashem said unto Yehoshua, Fear not, neither be thou discouraged; take kol Am HaMilchamah with thee, and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into thy yad the melech HaAi, and his people, and his city, and his land;
2 And thou shalt do to Ai and her melech just as thou didst unto Yericho and her melech; only the plunder thereof, and the livestock thereof, shall ye carry off for yourselves. Behind it set thee an ambush for the Ir (city [of Ai]).
3 So Yehoshua arose, and kol Am HaMilchamah, to go up against Ai; and Yehoshua chose out shloshim elef ish gibborei hachayil, and sent them out by lailah.
4 And he commanded them, saying, See, ye shall set an ambush against the Ir, even behind the Ir; go not very far from the Ir, but be ye all nekhonim (ready, on alert, set, prepared);
5 And I, and Kol HaAm that are with me, will approach unto the Ir; and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the rishonah, that we will flee before them,
6 (For they will come out after us) until we have drawn them from the Ir; for they will say, They flee before us, just as at the rishonah; therefore we will flee before them.
7 Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the Ir; for Hashem Eloheichem will deliver it into your yad.
8 And it shall be, when ye have taken the Ir, that ye shall set eish to the Ir; according to the Davar Hashem shall ye do. See, I have commanded you.
9 Yehoshua therefore sent them forth; and they went to the place of ambush, and waited between Beit-El and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Yehoshua spent that lailah among HaAm.
10 And Yehoshua rose up early in the boker, and mustered HaAm, and went up, he and the Ziknei Yisroel, before HaAm to Ai.
11 And Kol HaAm HaMilchamah that were with him, went up, and drew near, and came before the Ir, and encamped on the north side of Ai; now there was the gey (valley) between them and Ai.
12 And he took about chameshet alafim ish, and set them to lie in ambush between Beit-El and Ai, on the west side of the Ir.
13 And when they had set HaAm, even Kol HaMachaneh that was on the north of the Ir, and the ambush to the west of the Ir, Yehoshua went that lailah into the midst of the emek (valley).
14 And it came to pass, when the melech of Ai saw it, that they hastened and rose up early, and the anshei HaIr went out against Yisroel in the milchamah, he and all his people, at the place, before the Aravah; but he had no da’as that there was an ambush against him set up behind the Ir.
15 And Yehoshua and kol Yisroel let themselves be driven before them, and fled by the derech hamidbar.
16 And kol HaAm that were in Ai were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Yehoshua, and were lured from the Ir.
17 And there was not an ish left in Ai or Beit-El, that went not out after Yisroel; and they left the Ir open, and pursued after Yisroel.
18 And Hashem said unto Yehoshua, Stretch out the kidon (javelin) that is in thy yad toward Ai; for I will give it into thine yad. And Yehoshua stretched out the kidon that he had in his yad toward the Ir.
19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their makom, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his yad; and they entered into the Ir, and took it, and hastened and set eish to the Ir.
20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and, hinei, the ashan HaIr (smoke of the city) ascended up to Shomayim, and they had no way to flee here or there; and HaAm that fled to the midbar turned back upon the pursuers.
21 And when Yehoshua and kol Yisroel saw that the ambush had taken the Ir, and that the ashan HaIr ascended, then they turned again, and attacked the anshei HaAi.
22 Then these came out of the Ir against them; so they were in the midst of Yisroel, some on this side, and some on that side; and they struck them down, until they left none of them sarid (remnant, survivor) or palit (refugee, fugitive).
23 And the melech HaAi (literally, the King of Ruin) they took alive, and brought him to Yehoshua.
24 And it came to pass, when Yisroel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the sadeh, in the midbar wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the cherev, until they were consumed, that kol Yisroel returned unto Ai, and struck it with the edge of the cherev.
25 And so it was, that all that fell that yom, both of ish and isha, were sheneym asar elef, even kol anshei HaAi.
26 For Yehoshua drew not his yad back, wherewith he stretched out the kidon, until he had utterly destroyed kol yoshvei HaAi.
27 Only the behemah and the plunder of that Ir Yisroel carried off for themselves, according to the Davar Hashem which He commanded Yehoshua.
28 And Yehoshua burned Ai, and made it a tel olam (heap forever), even a desolation unto yom hazeh.
29 And the melech HaAi he hanged on HaEtz until the time of erev; and as soon as the shemesh was down, Yehoshua commanded that they should take his nevelah (body) down from HaEtz, and cast it at the petach sha’ar HaIr, and raised thereon a pile of avanim, that remaineth unto Yom Hazeh.
30 Then Yehoshua built a Mizbe’ach unto Hashem Elohei Yisroel in Har Eval,
31 Just as Moshe Eved Hashem commanded the Bnei Yisroel, as it is written in the Sefer Torah Moshe, a Mizbe’ach avanim shelemot, over which no man hath lift up any barzel (iron); and they offered thereon olot unto Hashem, and sacrificed shelamim.
32 And he wrote there upon the avanim a mishneh (copy) Torat Moshe, which he wrote in the presence of the Bnei Yisroel.
33 And Kol Yisroel, and their Zekenim, and shoterim, and their shofetim, stood on this side the Aron and on that side facing the Kohanim the Levi’im, which bore the Aron Brit Hashem, as well the ger as the ezrach (he that was born among them); half of them over against Har Gerizim, and half of them over against Har Eval; just as Moshe Eved Hashem had commanded before, in connection with the blessing of HaAm Yisroel.
34 And afterward he read kol divrei HaTorah, the brocha and kelalah, according to all that is written in the Sefer HaTorah.
35 There was not a davar of all that Moshe commanded, which Yehoshua read not before kol Kehal Yisroel, with the nashim, and the little ones, and the ger that were living among them.
Josué 8
Nueva Biblia de las Américas
La conquista de Hai
8 Entonces el Señor dijo a Josué: «No temas ni te acobardes(A). Toma contigo a todo el pueblo de guerra y levántate, sube a Hai. Mira, he entregado en tu mano(B) al rey de Hai, su pueblo, su ciudad y su tierra. 2 Harás con Hai y con su rey lo mismo que hiciste con Jericó y con su rey. Tomarán para ustedes como botín solamente los despojos y el ganado(C). Prepara[a] una emboscada a la ciudad detrás de ella».
3 Josué se levantó con todo el pueblo de guerra para subir a Hai. Y escogió Josué 30,000 hombres, valientes guerreros, y los envió de noche.
4 Josué les dio órdenes, diciéndoles: «Miren, ustedes van a poner emboscada a la ciudad por detrás de ella[b](D). No se alejen mucho de la ciudad, sino estén todos alerta. 5 Entonces yo y todo el pueblo que me acompaña nos acercaremos a la ciudad. Cuando ellos salgan a nuestro encuentro como la primera vez, nosotros huiremos delante de ellos(E), 6 y ellos saldrán tras nosotros hasta que los hayamos alejado de la ciudad, porque dirán: “Huyen ante nosotros como la primera vez”. Huiremos, pues, ante ellos. 7 Ustedes saldrán[c] de la emboscada y se apoderarán de la ciudad, porque el Señor su Dios la entregará en sus manos. 8 Cuando hayan tomado la ciudad, le[d] prenderán fuego. Lo harán conforme a la palabra del Señor. Miren que yo se lo he mandado(F)».
9 Josué los envió, y fueron al lugar de la emboscada y se quedaron entre Betel[e] y Hai, al occidente de Hai; pero Josué pasó la noche entre el pueblo.
10 Josué se levantó muy de mañana, pasó revista al pueblo y subió con los ancianos de Israel frente al pueblo de Hai(G). 11 Entonces todos los hombres[f] de guerra que estaban con él subieron y se acercaron, y llegaron frente a la ciudad, y acamparon al lado norte de Hai. Había un valle entre él y Hai. 12 Josué tomó unos 5,000 hombres y los puso en emboscada entre Betel(H) y Hai(I), al occidente de la ciudad[g]. 13 Y apostaron al pueblo: todo el ejército que acampó al norte de la ciudad, y su retaguardia que acampó al occidente de la ciudad. Y Josué pasó[h] aquella noche en medio del valle.
14 Al ver esto el rey de Hai, los hombres de la ciudad se apresuraron, se levantaron temprano y salieron para enfrentarse a Israel en batalla, él y todo su pueblo, en el lugar señalado frente a la llanura del desierto, sin saber que había una emboscada contra él por detrás de la ciudad. 15 Josué y todo Israel se fingieron vencidos delante de ellos, y huyeron camino del desierto(J). 16 Y todo el pueblo que estaba en la ciudad fue llamado para perseguirlos, y persiguieron a Josué, y se alejaron de la ciudad(K). 17 No quedó hombre en Hai o Betel que no saliera tras Israel, y dejaron la ciudad sin protección[i] por perseguir a Israel.
18 Entonces el Señor dijo a Josué: «Extiende la jabalina que está en tu mano hacia Hai, porque la entregaré en tu mano». Y Josué extendió hacia la ciudad la jabalina que estaba en su mano(L). 19 Los que estaban emboscados se levantaron rápidamente de su lugar, y corrieron cuando él extendió su mano, entraron en la ciudad y se apoderaron de ella, inmediatamente le prendieron fuego a la ciudad.
20 Cuando los hombres de Hai se volvieron y miraron, vieron que el humo de la ciudad subía al cielo y no tenían lugar adónde huir, ni por un lado ni por el otro, porque el pueblo que iba huyendo hacia el desierto se volvió contra sus perseguidores. 21 Al ver Josué y todo Israel que los emboscados habían tomado la ciudad y que el humo de la ciudad subía, se volvieron y comenzaron a matar[j] a los hombres de Hai.
22 Y los de la emboscada[k] salieron de la ciudad a su encuentro, así que los de Hai quedaron en medio de Israel, unos[l] por un lado y otros[m] por el otro. Los mataron[n] hasta no quedar de ellos[o] ni sobreviviente ni fugitivo(M). 23 Pero al rey de Hai lo tomaron vivo, y lo trajeron a Josué.
24 Cuando Israel acabó de matar a todos los habitantes de Hai en el campo y en el desierto, adonde ellos los habían perseguido y todos habían caído a filo de espada hasta ser exterminados, todo Israel volvió a Hai y la hirieron a filo de espada. 25 El total de los que cayeron aquel día, tanto hombres como mujeres, fue de 12,000; todo el pueblo[p] de Hai(N).
26 Josué no retiró su mano con la cual tenía extendida la jabalina(O), hasta que hubo exterminado por completo[q] a todos los habitantes de Hai. 27 Solo el ganado y los despojos de aquella ciudad tomó Israel para sí como botín, conforme a la palabra que el Señor había ordenado a Josué(P).
28 Josué incendió la ciudad de Hai y la convirtió en un montón de ruinas para siempre(Q), en una desolación hasta el día de hoy. 29 También colgó al rey de Hai en un árbol hasta la tarde. A la puesta del sol Josué dio orden que bajaran su cadáver del árbol. Lo arrojaron a la entrada de la puerta de la ciudad y levantaron sobre él un gran montón de piedras que permanece hasta el día de hoy(R).
La lectura de la ley
30 (S)Entonces Josué edificó un altar al Señor, Dios de Israel, en el monte Ebal, 31 tal como Moisés, siervo del Señor, había ordenado a los israelitas, como está escrito en el libro de la ley de Moisés, un altar de piedras sin labrar[r], sobre las cuales nadie había alzado herramienta de hierro(T). Sobre él ofrecieron holocaustos al Señor y sacrificaron ofrendas de paz.
32 Allí, sobre las piedras, Josué escribió una copia de la ley que Moisés(U) había escrito, en presencia de los israelitas. 33 Todo Israel, con sus ancianos, oficiales y jueces, estaba de pie a ambos lados del arca, delante de los sacerdotes levitas que llevaban el arca del pacto del Señor, tanto el extranjero como el nativo. La mitad de ellos estaba frente al monte Gerizim(V), y la otra mitad frente al monte Ebal(W), tal como Moisés, siervo del Señor, había ordenado la primera vez, para que bendijeran al pueblo de Israel.
34 Después Josué leyó todas las palabras de la ley, la bendición y la maldición, conforme a todo lo que está escrito en el libro de la ley(X). 35 No hubo ni una palabra de todo lo que había ordenado Moisés que Josué no leyera delante de toda la asamblea de Israel, incluyendo las mujeres, los niños y los extranjeros que vivían[s] entre ellos(Y).
Footnotes
- 8:2 Lit. Prepárate.
- 8:4 Lit. la ciudad.
- 8:7 Lit. se levantarán.
- 8:8 Lit. a la ciudad.
- 8:9 O Casa de Dios.
- 8:11 Lit. todo el pueblo.
- 8:12 I.e. Hai.
- 8:13 Lit. anduvo.
- 8:17 Lit. abierta.
- 8:21 Lit. e hirieron.
- 8:22 Lit. estos.
- 8:22 Lit. estos.
- 8:22 Lit. estos.
- 8:22 Lit. hirieron.
- 8:22 Lit. para él.
- 8:25 Lit. todos los hombres.
- 8:26 O dedicado al anatema.
- 8:31 Lit. enteras.
- 8:35 Lit. andaban.
Copyright © 2024 by Holman Bible Publishers.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International
Nueva Biblia de las Américas™ NBLA™ Copyright © 2005 por The Lockman Foundation
