Joshua 8 NKJV ISV Parallel

◄ Joshua 8 ►

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1Now the LORD said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid, nor 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.

1The LORD then told Joshua, "Don't be afraid or lose heart! Take all the fighting men with you, and go up right now to Ai. Take note that I have handed over the king of Ai into your control, along with his people, his city, and his land.

2And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it.”

2Do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, but take its spoil and its livestock as war booty for yourselves. Set an ambush around the city."

3So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night.

3So Joshua and all of the fighting men prepared to go out against Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 valiant warriors and sent them out by night,

4And he commanded them, saying: “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

4telling them, "Pay attention now! You are to set up an ambush around the city. Don't go very far from the city, and all of you remain on alert.

5Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city; and it will come about, when they come out against us as at the first, that we shall flee before them.

5I and all of the army with me will advance upon the city. When they come out after us like they did before, we'll run away from them.

6For they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us as at the first.’ Therefore we will flee before them.

6They'll come after us until we've drawn them away from the city, because they'll say, 'They're running away from us just like they did before.' While we're running away from them,

7Then you shall rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

7you get up from the ambush and seize the city, because the LORD your God will give it into your control.

8And it will be, when you have taken the city, that you shall set the city on fire. According to the commandment of the LORD you shall do. See, I have commanded you.”

8When you've taken the city, set it on fire, just as the LORD ordered. Look! These are your orders!"

9Joshua therefore sent them out; and they went to lie in ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua lodged that night among the people.

9So Joshua sent them out, and they set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. Joshua spent that night in the camp among the army.

10Then Joshua rose up early in the morning and mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

10In the morning, Joshua got up early, mustered his army, and set off for Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel in full view of the army.

11And all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near; and they came before the city and camped on the north side of Ai. Now a valley lay between them and Ai.

11The entire fighting force with him attacked, approaching the city, and camped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai.

12So he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

12Taking about 5,000 men, he set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai to the west of the city,

13And when they had set the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.

13stationing their forces with its main encampment north of the city and its rear guard to the west. Joshua spent that night in the valley.

14Now it happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at an appointed place before the plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

14When the king of Ai saw what had happened, he and his army quickly got up early and went out to meet Israel in battle. He and all his people met at the place adjacent to the desert plain. But he didn't know about the ambush that had been set for him on the other side of the city.

15And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

15Because Joshua and the entire fighting force of Israel pretended to lose the battle by running away in front of them toward the wilderness,

16So all the people who were in Ai were called together to pursue them. And they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

16everyone in the city followed after them. As they pursued Joshua, they were drawn away from the town.

17There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. So they left the city open and pursued Israel.

17There wasn't a single man left in Ai or Bethel who didn't run out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.

18Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city.

18Then the LORD told Joshua, "Stretch out the battle lance that's in your hand toward Ai, because I will give it into your control." So Joshua stretched out the battle lance that was in his hand toward the city.

19So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place; they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried to set the city on fire.

19As soon as he stretched out his hand, the troops in ambush quickly got up from their place of hiding and attacked. They entered the city, seized it, and immediately set it on fire.

20And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to heaven. So they had no power to flee this way or that way, and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.

20Then the men of Ai looked back behind them—and all of a sudden!—smoke from the city was rising into the sky. They were unable to run in any direction, because the Israelis who had fled toward the wilderness had turned around to attack their pursuers.

21Now when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.

21When Joshua and the entire fighting force of Israel observed that the men who had been in ambush had seized the city and that the smoke from the city was rising, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai.

22Then the others came out of the city against them; so they were caught in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them down, so that they let none of them remain or escape.

22Then the others came out from the city against them, so the men of Ai were surrounded by the Israelis, some on one side and some on the other. Israel attacked them until no one was left to survive or escape.

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

23But the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua.

24And it came to pass when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness where they pursued them, and when they all had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

24When Israel had completed executing all of the residents of Ai in the open wilderness where they had chased them, and after all of them—to the very last of them—had been killed by swords, the entire fighting force of Israel returned to Ai and attacked it with swords.

25So it was that all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people of Ai.

25The total of all who fell that day, including men and women, was 12,000—the entire population of Ai.

26For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

26Joshua did not cease his attack until he had completely destroyed every inhabitant of Ai.

27Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua.

27Israel took only the livestock and the spoil of that city as their war booty, in accordance with what the LORD had commanded to Joshua.

28So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day.

28Joshua burned Ai, turning it into a permanent mound of ruins, and it remains so to this day.

29And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until evening. And as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his corpse down from the tree, cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones that remains to this day.

29He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until dusk, and at sunset Joshua ordered his body brought down from the tree and laid at the entrance to the gate of the town. There he raised over it a large mound of stones, which stands there to this day.

30Now Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel in Mount Ebal,

30Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

31as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.

31just the way Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelis in the Book of the Law of Moses: "…an altar of uncut stones that hasn't been worked with iron tools…" and they offered burnt offerings to the LORD on it, along with peace offerings.

32And there, in the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.

32There Joshua inscribed on stones a copy of the Law of Moses that Moses had presented to the Israelis.

33Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.

33All Israel, both foreigners and citizens, together with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on opposite sides of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD. Half stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half stood in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the LORD's servant had commanded at the first, so that they could bless the people of Israel.

34And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.

34Afterwards, Joshua read all the words of the Law—both the blessings and the curses—according to everything written in the Book of the Law.

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, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them.

35There wasn't one word of everything Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read in front of the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, their little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.

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