8The LORD said to Joshua, "Take all the soldiers with you and go on up to Ai. Don't be afraid or discouraged. I will give you victory over the king of Ai; his people, city, and land will be yours.H3068H559H3091H3372H2865H3947H5971H4421H6965H5927H5857H7200H5414H3027H4428H5857H5971H5892H776 2You are to do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, but this time you may keep its goods and livestock for yourselves. Prepare to attack the city by surprise from the rear."H6213H5857H4428H6213H3405H4428H7998H929H962H7760H693H5892H310 3So Joshua got ready to go to Ai with all his soldiers. He picked out thirty thousand of his best troops and sent them out at nightH3091H6965H5971H4421H5927H5857H3091H977H7970H505H1368H376H2428H7971H3915 4with these orders: "Hide on the other side of the city, but not too far away from it; be ready to attack.H6680H559H7200H693H5892H310H5892H7368H3966H7368H5892H3559 5My men and I will approach the city. When the men of Ai come out against us, we will turn and run, just as we did the first time.H5971H7126H5892H3318H7125H7223H5127H6440 6They will pursue us until we have led them away from the city. They will think that we are running from them, as we did before.H3318H310H5423H5892H559H5127H6440H7223H5127H6440 7Then you will come out of hiding and capture the city. The LORD your God will give it to you.H6965H693H3423H5892H3068H430H5414H3027 8After you have taken the city, set it on fire, just as the LORD has commanded. These are your orders."H8610H5892H3341H5892H784H1697H3068H6213H7200H6680 9So Joshua sent them out, and they went to their hiding place and waited there, west of Ai, between Ai and Bethel. Joshua spent the night in camp.H3091H7971H3212H3993H3427H1008H5857H3220H5857H3091H3885H3915H8432H5971 10Early in the morning Joshua got up and called the soldiers together. Then he and the leaders of Israel led them to Ai.H3091H7925H1242H6485H5971H5927H2205H3478H6440H5971H5857 11The soldiers with him went toward the main entrance to the city and set up camp on the north side, with a valley between themselves and Ai.H5971H4421H5927H5066H935H5892H2583H6828H5857H1516H5857 12He took about five thousand men and put them in hiding west of the city, between Ai and Bethel.H3947H2568H505H376H7760H693H1008H5857H3220H5857H5892 13The soldiers were arranged for battle with the main camp north of the city and the rest of the men to the west. Joshua spent the night in the valley.H7760H5971H4264H6828H5892H6119H3220H5892H3091H3212H3915H8432H6010 14When the king of Ai saw Joshua's men, he acted quickly. He and all his men went out toward the Jordan Valley to fight the Israelites at the same place as before, not knowing that he was about to be attacked from the rear.H4428H5857H7200H4116H7925H582H5892H3318H7125H3478H4421H5971H4150H6440H6160H3045H693H310H5892 15Joshua and his men pretended that they were retreating, and ran away toward the barren country.H3091H3478H5060H6440H5127H1870H4057 16All the men in the city had been called together to go after them, and as they pursued Joshua, they kept getting farther away from the city.H5971H5857H5892H2199H7291H310H7291H310H3091H5423H5892 17Every man in Ai went after the Israelites, and the city was left wide open, with no one to defend it.H376H7604H5857H1008H3318H310H3478H5800H5892H6605H7291H3478 18Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Point your spear at Ai; I am giving it to you." Joshua did as he was told,H3068H559H3091H5186H3591H3027H5857H5414H3027H3091H5186H3591H3027H5892 19and as soon as he lifted his hand, the men who had been hiding got up quickly, ran into the city and captured it. They immediately set the city on fire.H693H6965H4120H4725H7323H5186H3027H935H5892H3920H4116H3341H5892H784 20When the men of Ai looked back, they saw the smoke rising to the sky. There was no way for them to escape, because the Israelites who had run toward the barren country now turned around to attack them.H582H5857H6437H310H7200H6227H5892H5927H8064H3027H5127H2008H5971H5127H4057H2015H7291 21When Joshua and his men saw that the others had taken the city and that it was on fire, they turned around and began killing the men of Ai.H3091H3478H7200H693H3920H5892H6227H5892H5927H7725H5221H582H5857 22The Israelites in the city now came down to join the battle. So the men of Ai found themselves completely surrounded by Israelites, and they were all killed. No one got away, and no one lived through itH428H3318H5892H7125H8432H3478H5221H5704H7604H8300H6412 23except the king of Ai. He was captured and taken to Joshua.H4428H5857H8610H2416H7126H3091 24The Israelites killed every one of the enemy in the barren country where they had chased them. Then they went back to Ai and killed everyone there.H3478H3615H2026H3427H5857H7704H4057H7291H5307H6310H2719H8552H3478H7725H5857H5221H6310H2719 25Joshua kept his spear pointed at Ai and did not put it down until every person there had been killed.H5307H3117H376H802H8147H6240H505H582H5857 26The whole population of Ai was killed that day - twelve thousand men and women.H3091H7725H3027H7725H5186H3591H2763H3427H5857 27The Israelites kept for themselves the livestock and goods captured in the city, as the LORD had told Joshua.H929H7998H5892H3478H962H1697H3068H6680H3091 28Joshua burned Ai and left it in ruins. It is still like that today.H3091H8313H5857H7760H8510H5769H8077H3117 29He hanged the king of Ai from a tree and left his body there until evening. At sundown Joshua gave orders for the body to be removed, and it was thrown down at the entrance to the city gate. They covered it with a huge pile of stones, which is still there today.H4428H5857H8518H6086H6256H6153H8121H935H3091H6680H3381H5038H3381H6086H7993H6607H8179H5892H6965H1419H1530H68H3117 30Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel.H3091H1129H4196H3068H430H3478H2022H5858 31He made it according to the instructions that Moses, the LORD's servant, had given the Israelites, as it says in the Law of Moses: "an altar made of stones which have not been cut with iron tools." On it they offered burnt sacrifices to the LORD, and they also presented their fellowship offerings.H4872H5650H3068H6680H1121H3478H3789H5612H8451H4872H4196H8003H68H5130H1270H5927H5930H3068H2076H8002 32There, with the Israelites looking on, Joshua made on the stones a copy of the Law which Moses had written.H3789H68H4932H8451H4872H3789H6440H1121H3478 33The Israelites, with their leaders, officers, and judges, as well as the foreigners among them, stood on two sides of the LORD's Covenant Box, facing the levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood with their backs to Mount Gerizim and the other half with their backs to Mount Ebal. The LORD's servant Moses had commanded them to do this when the time came for them to receive the blessing.H3478H2205H7860H8199H5975H727H3548H3881H5375H727H1285H3068H1616H249H2677H413H4136H2022H1630H2677H4136H2022H5858H4872H5650H3068H6680H7223H1288H5971H3478 34Joshua then read aloud the whole Law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the book of the Law.H310H7121H1697H8451H1293H7045H3789H5612H8451 35Every one of the commandments of Moses was read by Joshua to the whole gathering, which included women and children, as well as the foreigners living among them.H1697H4872H6680H3091H7121H6951H3478H802H2945H1616H1980H7130
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