| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. | 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. |
| 2And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.” | 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!" |
| 3So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. | 3Joshua and the whole army marched against Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand brave warriors and sent them out at night. |
| 4And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. | 4He told them, "Look, set an ambush behind the city. Don't go very far from the city; all of you be ready! |
| 5And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. | 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. |
| 6And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So 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. |
| 7Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will give it into your hand. | 7Then you rise up from your hiding place and seize the city. The LORD your God will hand it over to you. |
| 8And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.” | 8When you capture the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD says! See, I have given you orders." |
| 9So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people. | 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. |
| 10Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. | 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. |
| 11And all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and 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. |
| 12He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. | 12He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel and Ai. |
| 13So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. | 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. |
| 14And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. | 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. |
| 15And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. | 15Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them and they retreated along the way to the desert. |
| 16So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city. | 16All the reinforcements in Ai were ordered to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city. |
| 17Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel. | 17No men were left in Ai or Bethel; they all went out after Israel. They left the city wide open and chased Israel. |
| 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.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. | 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. |
| 19And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. | 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. |
| 20So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. | 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. |
| 21And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back 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 city was going up in smoke, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai. |
| 22And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And Israel struck them down, until there was left none that survived or escaped. | 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. |
| 23But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua. | 23But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua. |
| 24When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. | 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. |
| 25And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. | 25Twelve thousand men and women died that day, including all the men of Ai. |
| 26But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction. | 26Joshua kept holding out his curved sword until Israel had annihilated all who lived in Ai. |
| 27Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the LORD that he commanded Joshua. | 27But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in accordance with the LORD's orders to Joshua. |
| 28So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day. | 28Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanently uninhabited mound (it remains that way to this very day). |
| 29And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to 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). |
| 30At that time Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, | 30Then Joshua built an altar for the LORD God of Israel on Mount Ebal, |
| 31just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings. | 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. |
| 32And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. | 32There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a duplicate of the law written by Moses. |
| 33And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, to bless the people 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. |
| 34And 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. | 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. |
| 35There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them. | 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. |
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