| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1The LORD then told Joshua, "Don't be afraid or lose heart! Take all the fighting men with you, and go up right now to Ai. Take note that I have handed over the king of Ai into your control, along with his people, his city, and his land. | 1The LORD told Joshua, "Don't be afraid and don't panic! Take the whole army with you and march against Ai! See, I am handing over to you the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land. |
| 2Do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, but take its spoil and its livestock as war booty for yourselves. Set an ambush around the city." | 2Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!" |
| 3So Joshua and all of the fighting men prepared to go out against Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 valiant warriors and sent them out by night, | 3Joshua and the whole army marched against Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand brave warriors and sent them out at night. |
| 4telling them, "Pay attention now! You are to set up an ambush around the city. Don't go very far from the city, and all of you remain on alert. | 4He told them, "Look, set an ambush behind the city. Don't go very far from the city; all of you be ready! |
| 5I and all of the army with me will advance upon the city. When they come out after us like they did before, we'll run away from them. | 5I and all the troops who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to fight us like before, we will retreat from them. |
| 6They'll come after us until we've drawn them away from the city, because they'll say, 'They're running away from us just like they did before.' While we're running away from them, | 6They will attack us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say, 'They are retreating from us like before.' We will retreat from them. |
| 7you get up from the ambush and seize the city, because the LORD your God will give it into your control. | 7Then you rise up from your hiding place and seize the city. The LORD your God will hand it over to you. |
| 8When you've taken the city, set it on fire, just as the LORD ordered. Look! These are your orders!" | 8When you capture the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD says! See, I have given you orders." |
| 9So Joshua sent them out, and they set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. Joshua spent that night in the camp among the army. | 9Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place west of Ai, between Bethel and Ai. Joshua spent that night with the army. |
| 10In the morning, Joshua got up early, mustered his army, and set off for Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel in full view of the army. | 10Bright and early the next morning Joshua gathered the army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched at the head of it to Ai. |
| 11The entire fighting force with him attacked, approaching the city, and camped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. | 11All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city. They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley. |
| 12Taking about 5,000 men, he set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai to the west of the city, | 12He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel and Ai. |
| 13stationing their forces with its main encampment north of the city and its rear guard to the west. Joshua spent that night in the valley. | 13The army was in position--the main army north of the city and the rear guard west of the city. That night Joshua went into the middle of the valley. |
| 14When the king of Ai saw what had happened, he and his army quickly got up early and went out to meet Israel in battle. He and all his people met at the place adjacent to the desert plain. But he didn't know about the ambush that had been set for him on the other side of the city. | 14When the king of Ai saw Israel, he and his whole army quickly got up the next day and went out to fight Israel at the meeting place near the Arabah. But he did not realize men were hiding behind the city. |
| 15Because Joshua and the entire fighting force of Israel pretended to lose the battle by running away in front of them toward the wilderness, | 15Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them and they retreated along the way to the desert. |
| 16everyone in the city followed after them. As they pursued Joshua, they were drawn away from the town. | 16All the reinforcements in Ai were ordered to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city. |
| 17There wasn't a single man left in Ai or Bethel who didn't run out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel. | 17No men were left in Ai or Bethel; they all went out after Israel. They left the city wide open and chased Israel. |
| 18Then the LORD told Joshua, "Stretch out the battle lance that's in your hand toward Ai, because I will give it into your control." So Joshua stretched out the battle lance that was in his hand toward the city. | 18The LORD told Joshua, "Hold out toward Ai the curved sword in your hand, for I am handing the city over to you." So Joshua held out toward Ai the curved sword in his hand. |
| 19As soon as he stretched out his hand, the troops in ambush quickly got up from their place of hiding and attacked. They entered the city, seized it, and immediately set it on fire. | 19When he held out his hand, the men waiting in ambush rose up quickly from their place and attacked. They entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire. |
| 20Then the men of Ai looked back behind them—and all of a sudden!—smoke from the city was rising into the sky. They were unable to run in any direction, because the Israelis who had fled toward the wilderness had turned around to attack their pursuers. | 20When the men of Ai turned around, they saw the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers. |
| 21When Joshua and the entire fighting force of Israel observed that the men who had been in ambush had seized the city and that the smoke from the city was rising, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. | 21When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the city was going up in smoke, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai. |
| 22Then the others came out from the city against them, so the men of Ai were surrounded by the Israelis, some on one side and some on the other. Israel attacked them until no one was left to survive or escape. | 22At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle. The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees. |
| 23But the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua. | 23But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua. |
| 24When Israel had completed executing all of the residents of Ai in the open wilderness where they had chased them, and after all of them—to the very last of them—had been killed by swords, the entire fighting force of Israel returned to Ai and attacked it with swords. | 24When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had chased them toward the desert (they all fell by the sword), all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it. |
| 25The total of all who fell that day, including men and women, was 12,000—the entire population of Ai. | 25Twelve thousand men and women died that day, including all the men of Ai. |
| 26Joshua did not cease his attack until he had completely destroyed every inhabitant of Ai. | 26Joshua kept holding out his curved sword until Israel had annihilated all who lived in Ai. |
| 27Israel took only the livestock and the spoil of that city as their war booty, in accordance with what the LORD had commanded to Joshua. | 27But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in accordance with the LORD's orders to Joshua. |
| 28Joshua burned Ai, turning it into a permanent mound of ruins, and it remains so to this day. | 28Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanently uninhabited mound (it remains that way to this very day). |
| 29He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until dusk, and at sunset Joshua ordered his body brought down from the tree and laid at the entrance to the gate of the town. There he raised over it a large mound of stones, which stands there to this day. | 29He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening. At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree. They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and erected over it a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day). |
| 30Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, | 30Then Joshua built an altar for the LORD God of Israel on Mount Ebal, |
| 31just the way Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelis in the Book of the Law of Moses: "…an altar of uncut stones that hasn't been worked with iron tools…" and they offered burnt offerings to the LORD on it, along with peace offerings. | 31just as Moses the LORD's servant had commanded the Israelites. As described in the law scroll of Moses, it was made with uncut stones untouched by an iron tool. They offered burnt sacrifices on it and sacrificed tokens of peace. |
| 32There Joshua inscribed on stones a copy of the Law of Moses that Moses had presented to the Israelis. | 32There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a duplicate of the law written by Moses. |
| 33All Israel, both foreigners and citizens, together with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on opposite sides of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD. Half stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half stood in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the LORD's servant had commanded at the first, so that they could bless the people of Israel. | 33All the people, rulers, leaders, and judges were standing on either side of the ark, in front of the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD. Both resident foreigners and native Israelites were there. Half the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the LORD's servant had previously instructed to them to do for the formal blessing ceremony. |
| 34Afterwards, Joshua read all the words of the Law—both the blessings and the curses—according to everything written in the Book of the Law. | 34Then Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll. |
| 35There wasn't one word of everything Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read in front of the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, their little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them. | 35Joshua read aloud every commandment Moses had given before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, children, and resident foreigners who lived among them. |
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