8The Lord then said to 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.H3068H559H3091H3372H2865H3947H5971H4421H6965H5927H5857H7200H5414H3027H4428H5857H5971H5892H776 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."H6213H5857H4428H6213H3405H4428H7998H929H962H7760H693H5892H310 3S 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,H3091H6965H5971H4421H5927H5857H3091H977H7970H505H1368H376H2428H7971H3915 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.H6680H559H7200H693H5892H310H5892H7368H3966H7368H5892H3559 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.H5971H7126H5892H3318H7125H7223H5127H6440 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,H3318H310H5423H5892H559H5127H6440H7223H5127H6440 7you get up from the ambush and seize the city, because the Lord your God will give it into your control.H6965H693H3423H5892H3068H430H5414H3027 8When you've taken the city, set it on fire, just as the Lord ordered. Look! These are your orders!"H8610H5892H3341H5892H784H1697H3068H6213H7200H6680 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.H3091H7971H3212H3993H3427H1008H5857H3220H5857H3091H3885H3915H8432H5971 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.H3091H7925H1242H6485H5971H5927H2205H3478H6440H5971H5857 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.H5971H4421H5927H5066H935H5892H2583H6828H5857H1516H5857 12Taking about 5,000 men, he set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai to the west of the city,H3947H2568H505H376H7760H693H1008H5857H3220H5857H5892 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.H7760H5971H4264H6828H5892H6119H3220H5892H3091H3212H3915H8432H6010 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.H4428H5857H7200H4116H7925H582H5892H3318H7125H3478H4421H5971H4150H6440H6160H3045H693H310H5892 15Because Joshua and the entire fighting force of Israel pretended to lose the battle by running away in front of them toward the wilderness,H3091H3478H5060H6440H5127H1870H4057 16everyone in the city followed after them. As they pursued Joshua, they were drawn away from the town.H5971H5857H5892H2199H7291H310H7291H310H3091H5423H5892 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.H376H7604H5857H1008H3318H310H3478H5800H5892H6605H7291H3478 18Then the Lord said to 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.H3068H559H3091H5186H3591H3027H5857H5414H3027H3091H5186H3591H3027H5892 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.H693H6965H4120H4725H7323H5186H3027H935H5892H3920H4116H3341H5892H784 20Then the men of Ai looked back behind them. Look! Smoke from the city was rising into the sky. They were unable to run in any direction, because the Israelites who had fled toward the wilderness had turned around to attack their pursuers.H582H5857H6437H310H7200H6227H5892H5927H8064H3027H5127H2008H5971H5127H4057H2015H7291 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.H3091H3478H7200H693H3920H5892H6227H5892H5927H7725H5221H582H5857 22Then the others came out from the city against them, so the men of Ai were surrounded by the Israelites, some on one side and some on the other. Israel attacked them until no one was left to survive or escape.H428H3318H5892H7125H8432H3478H5221H5704H7604H8300H6412 23But the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua.H4428H5857H8610H2416H7126H3091 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.H3478H3615H2026H3427H5857H7704H4057H7291H5307H6310H2719H8552H3478H7725H5857H5221H6310H2719 25The total of all who fell that day, including men and women, was 12,000 - the entire population of Ai.H5307H3117H376H802H8147H6240H505H582H5857 26Joshua did not cease his attack until he had completely destroyed every inhabitant of Ai.H3091H7725H3027H7725H5186H3591H2763H3427H5857 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.H929H7998H5892H3478H962H1697H3068H6680H3091 28Joshua burned Ai, turning it into a permanent ruin, and it remains so to this day.H3091H8313H5857H7760H8510H5769H8077H3117 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.827H4428H5857H8518H6086H6256H6153H8121H935H3091H6680H3381H5038H3381H6086H7993H6607H8179H5892H6965H1419H1530H68H3117 30Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,H3091H1129H4196H3068H430H3478H2022H5858 31just the way Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites 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.H4872H5650H3068H6680H1121H3478H3789H5612H8451H4872H4196H8003H68H5130H1270H5927H5930H3068H2076H8002 32There Joshua inscribed on stones a copy of the Law of Moses that Moses had presented to the Israelites.H3789H68H4932H8451H4872H3789H6440H1121H3478 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.H3478H2205H7860H8199H5975H727H3548H3881H5375H727H1285H3068H1616H249H2677H413H4136H2022H1630H2677H4136H2022H5858H4872H5650H3068H6680H7223H1288H5971H3478 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.H310H7121H1697H8451H1293H7045H3789H5612H8451 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.H1697H4872H6680H3091H7121H6951H3478H802H2945H1616H1980H7130
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