Add parallel Print Page Options

Ai Given to Israel

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. 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.”

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. 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. 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. 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. And you shall rise from your ambush and take possession of the city, for Yahweh your God will give it into your hand. 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.” 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

  1. Joshua 8:2 Lit Set for yourself
  2. Joshua 8:4 Lit the city
  3. Joshua 8:12 Ai
  4. Joshua 8:20 Lit behind them
  5. Joshua 8:22 Lit These came
  6. Joshua 8:22 Lit these...those
  7. Joshua 8:22 Lit he had no one
  8. Joshua 8:25 Lit men
  9. Joshua 8:32 Moses
  10. Joshua 8:35 Lit walking

Och HERREN sade till Josua: »Frukta icke och var icke förfärad; tag med dig allt krigsfolket och stå upp och drag åstad mot Ai. Se, i din hand har jag givit konungen i Ai med hans folk, hans stad och hans land.

Och du skall göra med Ai och dess konung på samma sätt som du gjorde med Jeriko och dess konung; dock mån I behålla rovet därifrån och boskapen, såsom edert byte. Lägg nu ett bakhåll mot staden, på andra sidan därom.»

Då bröt Josua upp med allt krigsfolket för att draga åstad mot Ai. Och Josua utvalde trettio tusen man, de tappraste stridsmännen, och sände dem ut om natten.

Och han bjöd dem och sade: »Given akt: I skolen lägga eder i bakhåll mot staden, på andra sidan därom, men läggen eder icke alltför långt ifrån staden; och hållen eder alla redo.

Själv skall jag, med allt det folk som är kvar hos mig, rycka fram mot staden. När de då draga ut mot oss såsom förra gången, vilja vi fly för dem.

Då skola de draga efter oss, till dess vi hava lockat dem långt bort ifrån staden; ty de skola tänka: 'De flyr för oss, nu såsom förra gången.'

Men under det att vi fly för dem, skolen I bryta fram ifrån bakhållet och intaga staden, ty HERREN, eder Gud, har givit den i eder hand.

Och så snart I haven fått staden i edert våld, skolen I tända eld på den; efter HERRENS ord skolen I så göra. Given akt på vad jag nu har bjudit eder.»

Så sände Josua dem åstad, och de gingo och lade sig i bakhåll mellan Betel och Ai, väster om Ai. Men Josua stannade över natten bland folket.

10 Och bittida följande morgon mönstrade Josua folket och drog så, med de äldste i Israel i spetsen för folket, upp till Ai.

11 Och allt det krigsfolk som var kvar hos honom drog med ditupp och ryckte allt närmare, till dess de kommo mitt emot staden; där lägrade de sig norr om Ai, med dalen mellan sig och Ai.

12 Men han tog vid pass fem tusen man och lade dem i bakhåll mellan Betel och Ai, väster om staden.

13 Och sedan folket hade blivit uppställt, såväl hela lägret, norr om staden, gick Josua den natten fram till mitten av dalen.

14 När konungen i Ai såg detta, skyndade sig männen i staden, han själv med allt sitt folk, och drogo bittida om morgonen ut till strid mot Israel, bort till den utsedda platsen, framför hedmarken; han själv visste nämligen icke att ett bakhåll var lagt mot honom på andra sidan om staden.

15 Och Josua och hela Israel läto slå sig av dem och flydde åt öknen till.

16 Då uppbådades allt folket i staden till att förfölja dem; och under det att de förföljde Josua, blevo de lockade långt bort ifrån staden.

17 Icke en enda man blev kvar i Ai eller i Betel, utan alla drogo ut efter Israel och lämnade staden öppen, i det att de förföljde Israel.

18 Och HERREN sade till Josua: »Räck ut lansen, som du har i din hand, mot Ai, ty jag skall giva det i din hand.» Då räckte Josua ut lansen, som han hade i sin hand, mot staden.

19 Och de som lågo i bakhåll bröto med hast upp från sin plats och skyndade åstad, så snart han räckte ut sin hand, och kommo in i staden och intogo den; och de tände strax eld på staden.

20 När då männen från Ai vände sig om, fingo de se röken från staden stiga upp mot himmelen; och de hade ingen utväg att fly, vare sig hit eller dit, då nu det folk som flydde åt öknen vände sig mot sina förföljare.

21 Ty när Josua och hela Israel sågo att de som lågo i bakhåll hade intagit staden, och att röken steg upp från staden, vände de om och angrepo ajiterna.

22 De andra drogo nu också ut från staden emot dem, så att de kommo mitt emellan israeliterna och fingo dem på båda sidor om sig, och dessa nedgjorde dem då och läto ingen av dem slippa undan och rädda sig.

23 Men konungen i Ai blev levande tagen till fånga och förd till Josua.

24 Och när Israel hade dräpt alla Ais invånare ute på fältet, i öknen, dit de hade förföljt dem, och dessa allasammans så hade fallit för svärdsegg och blivit nedgjorda, då vände hela Israel tillbaka till Ai och slog med svärdsegg också dem som voro där.

25 Och de som föllo på den dagen, män och kvinnor, utgjorde tillsammans tolv tusen personer, allt folket i Ai.

26 Ty Josua drog icke tillbaka sin hand, med vilken han hade räckt ut lansen, förrän alla Ais invånare hade blivit givna till spillo.

27 Allenast boskapen och rovet från denna stad togo israeliterna såsom sitt byte, efter den befallning som HERREN hade givit Josua.

28 Och Josua brände upp Ai och gjorde det till en grushög för evärdlig tid, till en ödemark, såsom det är ännu i dag.

29 Och konungen i Ai lät han hänga upp på en påle, där han fick hänga ända till aftonen. Men när solen gick ned, tog man på Josuas befallning hans döda kropp ned från pålen och kastade den vid ingången till stadsporten; och man uppkastade över den ett stort stenröse, som finnes kvar ännu i dag.

30 Då byggde Josua åt HERREN, Israels Gud, ett altare på berget Ebal,

31 såsom HERRENS tjänare Mose hade bjudit Israels barn, och såsom det var föreskrivet i Moses lagbok: ett altare av ohuggna stenar, vid vilka man icke hade kommit med något järn; och på det offrade de brännoffer åt HERREN och slaktade tackoffer.

32 Och han lät där på stenarna sätta en avskrift av Moses lag, den lag som Mose hade skrivit och förelagt Israels barn.

33 Och Israels menighet, med dess äldste och tillsyningsmän och domare, stod på båda sidor om arken, så att de hade framför sig de levitiska prästerna som buro HERRENS förbundsark, menigheten, främlingar såväl som infödingar, den ena hälften vänd mot berget Gerissim och den andra hälften mot berget Ebal, i enlighet med vad HERRENS tjänare Mose hade bjudit, nämligen att man först skulle välsigna Israels folk.

34 Därefter läste han upp alla lagens ord, välsignelsen och förbannelsen, alldeles såsom det var skrivet i lagboken.

35 Icke ett ord av allt det som Mose hade bjudit underlät Josua att uppläsa inför Israels hela församling, med kvinnor och barn, och inför de främlingar som följde med dem.

Ai Destroyed

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. 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.”

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 with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand.(I) When you have taken the city, set it on fire.(J) Do what the Lord has commanded.(K) See to it; you have my orders.”

Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush(L) and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people.

10 Early the next morning(M) Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel(N) marched before them to Ai. 11 The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. 12 Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah.(O) But he did not know(P) that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. 15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back(Q) before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.(R) 16 All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away(S) from the city. 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.

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

20 The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky,(Y) 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(Z) 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.(AA) 23 But they took the king of Ai alive(AB) and brought him to Joshua.

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.(AC) 26 For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin(AD) until he had destroyed[a](AE) all who lived in Ai.(AF) 27 But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.(AG)

28 So Joshua burned(AH) Ai[b](AI) and made it a permanent heap of ruins,(AJ) a desolate place to this day.(AK) 29 He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset,(AL) Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks(AM) over it, which remains to this day.

The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal

30 Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal(AN) an altar(AO) to the Lord, the God of Israel, 31 as Moses the servant of the Lord 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(AP) had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings.(AQ) 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses.(AR) 33 All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing the Levitical(AS) priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born(AT) were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal,(AU) as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.

34 Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law.(AV) 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.(AW)

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 8:26 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  2. Joshua 8:28 Ai means the ruin.