Joshua 8 NIV NLT Parallel

◄ Joshua 8 ►

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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.

1Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all your fighting men and attack Ai, for I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his town, 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."

2You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its king. But this time you may keep the plunder and the livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the town.”

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 and all the fighting men set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 of his best 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.

4with these orders: “Hide in ambush close behind the town and be ready for action.

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.

5When our main army attacks, the men of Ai will come out to fight as they did before, and we will run away from 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,

6We will let them chase us until we have drawn them away from the town. For they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ Then, while we are running from them,

7you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The LORD your God will give it into your hand.

7you will jump up from your ambush and take possession of the town, for the LORD your God will give it to you.

8When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the LORD has commanded. See to it; you have my orders."

8Set the town on fire, as the LORD has commanded. You have your orders.”

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 they left and went to the place of ambush between Bethel and the west side of Ai. But Joshua remained among the people in the camp that night.

10Early the next morning Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai.

10Early the next morning Joshua roused his men and started toward Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel.

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.

11All the fighting men who were with Joshua marched in front of the town and camped on the north side of Ai, with a valley between them and the town.

12Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

12That night Joshua sent about 5,000 men to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the town.

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 main army north of the town and the ambush west of the town. Joshua himself spent that night in 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.

14When the king of Ai saw the Israelites across the valley, he and all his army hurried out early in the morning and attacked the Israelites at a place overlooking the Jordan Valley. But he didn’t realize there was an ambush behind the town.

15Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.

15Joshua and the Israelite army fled toward the wilderness as though they were badly beaten.

16All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city.

16Then all the men in the town were called out to chase after them. In this way, they were lured away from the town.

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.

17There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not chase after the Israelites, and the town was left wide open.

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, “Point the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the town over to you.” Joshua did as he was commanded.

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.

19As soon as Joshua gave this signal, all the men in ambush jumped up from their position and poured into the town. They quickly captured it and set it 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 looked behind them, smoke from the town was filling the sky, and they had nowhere to go. For the Israelites who had fled in the direction of the wilderness now turned on their 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 the other Israelites saw that the ambush had succeeded and that smoke was rising from the town, they turned and attacked 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.

22Meanwhile, the Israelites who were inside the town came out and attacked the enemy from the rear. So the men of Ai were caught in the middle, with Israelite fighters on both sides. Israel attacked them, and not a single person survived or escaped.

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

23Only the king of Ai was taken alive and brought 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.

24When the Israelite army finished chasing and killing all the men of Ai in the open fields, they went back and finished off everyone inside.

25Twelve thousand men and women fell that day--all the people of Ai.

25So the entire population of Ai, including men and women, was wiped out that day—12,000 in all.

26For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai.

26For Joshua kept holding out his spear until everyone who had lived in Ai was completely destroyed.

27But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the LORD had instructed Joshua.

27Only the livestock and the treasures of the town were not destroyed, for the Israelites kept these as plunder for themselves, as the LORD had commanded Joshua.

28So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day.

28So Joshua burned the town of Ai, and it became a permanent mound of ruins, desolate to this very 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.

29Joshua impaled the king of Ai on a sharpened pole and left him there until evening. At sunset the Israelites took down the body, as Joshua commanded, and threw it in front of the town gate. They piled a great heap of stones over him that can still be seen today. The LORD’s Covenant Renewed

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, on 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.

31He followed the commands that Moses the LORD’s servant had written in the Book of Instruction: “Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been shaped with iron tools.” Then on the altar they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.

32There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses.

32And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied onto the stones of the altar the instructions Moses had given them.

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.

33Then all the Israelites—foreigners and native-born alike—along with the elders, officers, and judges, were divided into two groups. One group stood in front of Mount Gerizim, the other in front of Mount Ebal. Each group faced the other, and between them stood the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant. This was all done according to the commands that Moses, the servant of the LORD, had previously given for blessing 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.

34Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of Instruction.

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.

35Every word of every command that Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among them.

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