NET Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

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.

1Now the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.

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!"

2"You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall take only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it."

3Joshua and the whole army marched against Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand brave warriors and sent them out at night.

3So 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.

4He told them, "Look, set an ambush behind the city. Don't go very far from the city; all of you be ready!

4He commanded them, saying, "See, you are going to ambush the city from behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

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.

5"Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out to meet us as at the first, we will flee before 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.

6"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.

7Then you rise up from your hiding place and seize the city. The LORD your God will hand it over to you.

7"And you shall rise from your ambush and take possession of the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

8When you capture the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD says! See, I have given you orders."

8"Then it will be when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you."

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.

9So 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.

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.

10Now Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to 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.

11Then 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.

12He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel and Ai.

12And he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

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.

13So they stationed 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 spent that night in the midst of the valley.

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.

14It came about when the king of Ai saw it, that 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.

15Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them and they retreated along the way to the desert.

15Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

16All the reinforcements in Ai were ordered to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city.

16And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

17No men were left in Ai or Bethel; they all went out after Israel. They left the city wide open and chased Israel.

17So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel, and they left the city unguarded and pursued Israel.

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.

18Then the LORD said to Joshua, "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.

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.

19The 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.

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.

20When the men of Ai turned back and looked, 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.

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.

21When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and slew the men of Ai.

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.

22The others came out from the city to encounter them, so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side; and they slew them until no one was left of those who survived or escaped.

23But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

23But they took alive the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua.

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.

24Now when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them were fallen by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

25Twelve thousand men and women died that day, including all the men of Ai.

25All who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000-- all the people of Ai.

26Joshua kept holding out his curved sword until Israel had annihilated all who lived in Ai.

26For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

27But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in accordance with the LORD's orders to Joshua.

27Israel took only the cattle and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua.

28Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanently uninhabited mound (it remains that way to this very day).

28So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation until 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).

29He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset Joshua gave 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.

30Then Joshua built an altar for the LORD God of Israel on Mount Ebal,

30Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal,

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.

31just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no man had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.

32There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a duplicate of the law written by Moses.

32He wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written, in the presence of the sons 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.

33All 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 the LORD, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had given command at first to bless the people of Israel.

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.

34Then afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.

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.

35There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel with the women and the little ones and the strangers who were living among them.

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