Joshua 8:1-28

The Capture and Destruction of Ai

8¹ And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, 'Fear not, nor be affrighted, take with thee all the people of war, and rise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land, ² and thou hast done to Ai and to her king as thou hast done to Jericho and to her king; only, its spoil and its cattle ye spoil for yourselves; set for thee an ambush for the city at its rear.'

³ And Joshua riseth, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai, and Joshua chooseth thirty thousand men, mighty ones of valour, and sendeth them away by night, ⁴ and commandeth them, saying, 'See, ye are liers in wait against the city, at the rear of the city, ye go not very far off from the city, and all of you have been prepared, ⁵ and I and all the people who 'are' with me draw near unto the city, and it hath come to pass when they come out to meet us as at the first, and we have fled before them, ⁶ and they have come out after us till we have drawn them out of the city, for they say, They are fleeing before us as at the first, and we have fled before them, ⁷ and ye rise from the ambush, and have occupied the city, and Jehovah your God hath given it into your hand; ⁸ and it hath been, when ye capture the city, ye burn the city with fire, according to the word of Jehovah ye do, see, I have commanded you.' ⁹ And Joshua sendeth them away, and they go unto the ambush, and abide between Bethel and Ai, on the west of Ai; and Joshua lodgeth on that night in the midst of the people. ¹⁰ And Joshua riseth early in the morning, and inspecteth the people, and goeth up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai; ¹¹ and all the people of war who 'are' with him have gone up, and draw nigh and come in over-against the city, and encamp on the north of Ai; and the valley 'is' between him and Ai. ¹² And he taketh about five thousand men, and setteth them an ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city; ¹³ and they set the people, all the camp which 'is' on the north of the city, and its rear on the west of the city, and Joshua goeth on that night into the midst of the valley. ¹⁴ And it cometh to pass, when the king of Ai seeth 'it', that hasten, and rise early, and go out do the men of the city to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people, at the appointed season, at the front of the plain, and he hath not known that an ambush 'is' against him, on the rear of the city. ¹⁵ And Joshua and all Israel 'seem' stricken before them, and flee the way of the wilderness, ¹⁶ and all the people who 'are' in the city are called to pursue after them, and they pursue after Joshua, and are drawn away out of the city, ¹⁷ and there hath not been left a man in Ai and Bethel who hath not gone out after Israel, and they leave the city open, and pursue after Israel. ¹⁸ And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, 'Stretch out with the javelin which 'is' in thy hand towards Ai, for into thy hand I give it;' and Joshua stretcheth out with the javelin which 'is' in his hand toward the city, ¹⁹ and the ambush hath risen 'with' haste, out of its place, and they run at the stretching out of his hand, and go into the city, and capture it, and hasten, and burn the city with fire. ²⁰ And the men of Ai look behind them, and see, and lo, the smoke of the city hath gone up unto the heavens, and there hath not been in them power to flee hither and thither—and the people who are fleeing to the wilderness have turned against the pursuer,— ²¹ and Joshua and all Israel have seen that the ambush hath captured the city, and that the smoke of the city hath gone up, and they turn back and smite the men of Ai; ²² and these have come out from the city to meet them, and they are in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that, and they smite them till he hath not left to them a remnant and escaped one;

²³ and the king of Ai they caught alive, and bring him near unto Joshua. ²⁴ And it cometh to pass, at Israel's finishing to slay all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they pursued them (and they fall all of them by the mouth of the sword till their consumption), that all Israel turn back to Ai, and smite it by the mouth of the sword; ²⁵ and all who fall during the day, of men and of women, are twelve thousand—all men of Ai. ²⁶ And Joshua hath not brought back his hand which he stretched out with the javelin till that he hath devoted all the inhabitants of Ai; ²⁷ only, the cattle and the spoil of that city have Israel spoiled for themselves, according to the word of Jehovah which He commanded Joshua. ²⁸ And Joshua burneth Ai, and maketh it a heap age-during—a desolation unto this day;