| New International Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his 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. |
| 2You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. 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." |
| 3So 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 | 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. |
| 4with 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. | 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 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. | 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 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, | 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. |
| 7you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The LORD your God will give it into your hand. | 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 have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the LORD has commanded. See to it; you have my 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." |
| 9Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai--but Joshua spent that night with the people. | 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. |
| 10Early the next morning Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them 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. |
| 11The 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. | 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. |
| 12Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. | 12And he took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. |
| 13So 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. | 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 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. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him 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 let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness. | 15Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. |
| 16All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued 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. |
| 17Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of 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. |
| 18Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city." So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was 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. |
| 19As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly 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. |
| 20The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, 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. | 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. |
| 21For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, 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 smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and slew the men of Ai. |
| 22Those 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. | 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 took 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 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. | 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 fell that day--all the people of Ai. | 25All who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000-- all the people of Ai. |
| 26For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed 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 carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the LORD had instructed 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. |
| 28So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. | 28So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation until this day. |
| 29He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, 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 over it, which remains to this 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 on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, | 30Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal, |
| 31as 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 had been used. On it they offered to the LORD burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. | 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 wrote on stones a copy of the law of 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 Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel. | 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. |
| 34Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law--the blessings and the curses--just as it is written in the Book of the Law. | 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. |
| 35There 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. | 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. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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