The Conquest of Ai

1Then the LORD {YHWH} said to Joshua (YHWH saves), “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai (heap of ruins). See, I have delivered into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. 2And you shall do to Ai (heap of ruins) and its king as you did to Jericho (city of palms) and its king, except that you⁺ may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind the city.”

3So Joshua (YHWH saves) and the whole army set out to attack Ai (heap of ruins). Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out at night 4with these orders: “Pay attention. You⁺ are to lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it. All of you⁺ must be ready. 5Then I and all the troops with me will advance on the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will flee from them. 6They will pursue us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ So as we flee from them, 7you⁺ are to rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your⁺ God {YHWH Eloheikem} will deliver it into your⁺ hand. 8And when you⁺ have taken the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD {YHWH} has commanded! See, I have given you⁺ orders.”

9So Joshua (YHWH saves) sent them out, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel (house of God) and Ai (heap of ruins), to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.

10Joshua (YHWH saves) got up early the next morning and mobilized his men, and he and the elders of Israel (he wrestles with God) marched before them up to Ai (heap of ruins). 11Then all the troops who were with him marched up and approached the city. They arrived in front of Ai and camped to the north of it (heap of ruins), with the valley between them and the city.

12Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set up an ambush between Bethel (house of God) and Ai (heap of ruins), to the west of the city. 13So the forces were stationed with the main camp to the north of the city and the rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua (YHWH saves) went into the valley.

14When the king of Ai (heap of ruins) saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them (he wrestles with God) in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city. 15Joshua (YHWH saves) and all Israel (he wrestles with God) let themselves be beaten back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness. 16Then all the men of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they followed Joshua (YHWH saves) and were drawn away from the city. 17Not a man was left in Ai (heap of ruins) or Bethel (house of God) who did not go out after Israel (he wrestles with God), leaving the city wide open while they pursued Israel.

18Then the LORD {YHWH} said to Joshua (YHWH saves), “Hold out your battle lance (javelin)a toward Ai (heap of ruins), for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out his battle lance toward Ai, 19and as soon as he did so, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They rushed forward, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.

20When the men of Ai (heap of ruins) turned and looked back, the smoke of the city was rising into the sky. They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now turned against their pursuers. 21When Joshua (YHWH saves) and all Israel (he wrestles with God) saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai (heap of ruins). 22Meanwhile, those in the ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite (he wrestles with God) forces on both sides. So Israel struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained. 23But they took the king of Ai (heap of ruins) alive and brought him to Joshua (YHWH saves).

24When Israel (he wrestles with God) had finished killing all the men of Ai (heap of ruins) who had pursued them into the field and wilderness, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and put it to the sword as well. 25A total of twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai (heap of ruins). 26Joshua (YHWH saves) did not draw back the hand that held his battle lance until he had devoted to destruction {cherem}b all who lived in Ai (heap of ruins). 27Israel (he wrestles with God) took for themselves only the cattle and plunder of that city, as the LORD {YHWH} had commanded Joshua (YHWH saves).

28So Joshua (YHWH saves) burned Ai (heap of ruins)c and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolation to this day. 29He hung the king of Ai (heap of ruins) on a tree (He impaled the king of Ai on a pole)d until evening, and at sunset Joshua (YHWH saves) commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.

Joshua Renews the Covenant
(Deuteronomy 27:1–10)

30At that time Joshua (YHWH saves) built an altar on Mount Ebal (stone) to the LORD, the God {YHWH Elohe} of Israel (he wrestles with God), 31just as Moses (drawn out) the servant of the LORD {YHWH} had commanded the Israelites (God prevails). 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 has been used <Exo 20:25>.”e And on it they offered burnt offerings to the LORD, and they sacrificed peace offerings.

32And there in the presence of the Israelites (God prevails), Joshua inscribed on the stones a copy of the law of Moses (drawn out), which he had written. 33All Israel (he wrestles with God), foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD {YHWH} facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim (cuttings off) and half of them in front of Mount Ebal (stone), as Moses (drawn out) the servant of the LORD had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.

34Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. 35There was not a word of all that Moses (drawn out) had commanded that Joshua (YHWH saves) failed to read before the whole assembly of Israel (he wrestles with God), including the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.