The Conquest of Ai

1And 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, 2and 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.’

3And 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, 4and 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, 5and 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, 6and 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, 7and ye rise from the ambush, and have occupied the city, and Jehovah your God hath given it into your hand; 8and 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.’ 9And 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.

10And Joshua riseth early in the morning, and inspecteth the people, and goeth up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai; 11and 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. 12And he taketh about five thousand men, and setteth them an ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city; 13and 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. 14And 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. 15And Joshua and all Israel [seem] stricken before them, and flee the way of the wilderness, 16and 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, 17and 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.

18And 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, 19and 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. 20And 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,— 21and 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; 22and 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; 23and the king of Ai they caught alive, and bring him near unto Joshua.

24And 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; 25and all who fall during the day, of men and of women, are twelve thousand—all men of Ai. 26And Joshua hath not brought back his hand which he stretched out with the javelin till that he hath devoted all the inhabitants of Ai; 27only, the cattle and the spoil of that city have Israel spoiled for themselves, according to the word of Jehovah which He commanded Joshua. 28And Joshua burneth Ai, and maketh it a heap age-during—a desolation unto this day; 29and the king of Ai he hath hanged on the tree till even-time, and at the going in of the sun hath Joshua commanded, and they take down his carcase from the tree, and cast it unto the opening of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones till this day.

Joshua Renews the Covenant

(Exodus 34:10-28)

30Then doth Joshua build an altar to Jehovah, God of Israel, in mount Ebal, 31as Moses, servant of Jehovah, commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses—an altar of whole stones, over which he hath not waved iron—and they cause to go up upon it burnt-offerings to Jehovah, and sacrifice peace-offerings; 32and he writeth there on the stones the copy of the law of Moses, which he hath written in the presence of the sons of Israel. 33And all Israel, and its elders, and authorities, and its judges, are standing on this side and on that of the ark, over-against the priests, the Levites, bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, as well the sojourner as the native, half of them over-against mount Gerizim, and the half of them over-against mount Ebal, as Moses servant of Jehovah commanded to bless the people of Israel at the first. 34And afterwards he hath proclaimed all the words of the law, the blessing and the reviling, according to all that is written in the book of the law; 35there hath not been a thing of all that Moses commanded which Joshua hath not proclaimed before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the infants, and the sojourner who is going in their midst.