Joshua 8
1 And the
LORD said unto
Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou
dismayed:
take all the
people of
war with thee, and
arise, go
up to
Ai: see, I have
given into thy
hand the
king of
Ai, and his
people, and his
city, and his
land: 2 And thou shalt
do to
Ai and her
king as thou
didst unto
Jericho and her
king: only the
spoil thereof, and the
cattle thereof, shall ye take for a
prey unto yourselves:
lay thee an
ambush for the
city behind it.
3 So
Joshua arose, and all the
people of
war, to go
up against
Ai: and
Joshua chose
out thirty thousand mighty men of
valour, and sent them
away by
night. 4 And he
commanded them,
saying,
Behold, ye shall lie in
wait against the
city, even
behind the
city: go not
very far from the
city, but be ye all
ready:
5 And I, and all the
people that are with me, will
approach unto the
city: and it shall come to pass, when they come
out against us, as at the
first, that we will
flee before them,
6 (For they will come
out after us) till we have
drawn them from the
city; for they will
say, They
flee before us, as at the
first: therefore we will
flee before them.
7 Then ye shall rise
up from the
ambush, and
seize upon the
city: for the
LORD your
God will
deliver it into your
hand. 8 And it shall be, when ye have
taken the
city, that ye shall
set the
city on
fire: according to the
commandment of the
LORD shall ye
do.
See, I have
commanded you.
9 Joshua therefore sent them
forth: and they
went to lie in
ambush, and
abode between
Bethel and
Ai, on the west
side of
Ai: but
Joshua lodged that
night among the
people. 10 And
Joshua rose up
early in the
morning, and
numbered the
people, and went
up, he and the
elders of
Israel, before the
people to
Ai. 11 And all the
people, even the people of
war that were with him, went
up, and drew
nigh, and
came before the
city, and
pitched on the north
side of
Ai: now there was a
valley between them and
Ai. 12 And he
took about
five thousand men, and
set them to lie in
ambush between
Bethel and
Ai, on the west
side of the
city .
13 And when they had
set the
people, even all the
host that was on the
north of the
city, and their liers in
wait on the
west of the
city, Joshua went that
night into the
midst of the
valley. 14 And it came to pass, when the
king of
Ai saw it, that they
hasted and rose up
early, and the
men of the
city went
out against Israel to
battle, he and all his
people, at a time
appointed, before the
plain; but he
wist not that there were liers in
ambush against him
behind the
city. 15 And
Joshua and all
Israel made as if they were
beaten before them, and
fled by the
way of the
wilderness. 16 And all the
people that were in
Ai were
called together to
pursue after them: and they
pursued after Joshua, and were drawn
away from the
city. 17 And there was not a
man left in
Ai or
Bethel, that went not
out after Israel: and they
left the
city open, and
pursued after
Israel. 18 And the
LORD said unto
Joshua, Stretch
out the
spear that is in thy
hand toward
Ai; for I will
give it into thine
hand. And
Joshua stretched
out the
spear that he had in his
hand toward the
city. 19 And the
ambush arose quickly out of their
place, and they
ran as soon as he had stretched
out his
hand: and they
entered into the
city, and
took it, and
hasted and
set the
city on
fire. 20 And when the
men of
Ai looked behind them, they
saw, and, behold, the
smoke of the
city ascended
up to
heaven, and they had no
power to
flee this way or that
way: and the
people that
fled to the
wilderness turned
back upon the
pursuers.
21 And when
Joshua and all
Israel saw that the
ambush had
taken the
city, and that the
smoke of the
city ascended, then they turned
again, and
slew the
men of
Ai. 22 And the
other issued
out of the
city against them; so they were in the
midst of
Israel, some on this side, and some on that side: and they
smote them, so
that they
let none of them
remain or
escape. 23 And the
king of
Ai they
took alive, and
brought him to
Joshua. 24 And it came to pass, when
Israel had made an
end of
slaying all the
inhabitants of
Ai in the
field, in the
wilderness wherein they
chased them, and when they were all
fallen on the
edge of the
sword, until they were
consumed, that all the
Israelites returned unto
Ai, and
smote it with the
edge of the
sword. 25 And so it was, that all that
fell that
day, both of
men and
women, were
twelve thousand, even all the
men of
Ai. 26 For
Joshua drew not his
hand back, wherewith he stretched
out the
spear, until he had utterly
destroyed all the
inhabitants of
Ai. 27 Only the
cattle and the
spoil of that
city Israel took for a
prey unto themselves, according unto the
word of the
LORD which he
commanded Joshua. 28 And
Joshua burnt Ai, and
made it an
heap for
ever, even a
desolation unto this
day. 29 And the
king of
Ai he
hanged on a
tree until
eventide : and as soon as the
sun was
down,
Joshua commanded that they should
take his
carcase down from the
tree, and
cast it at the
entering of the
gate of the
city, and
raise thereon a
great heap of
stones, that remaineth unto this
day. 30 Then
Joshua built an
altar unto the
LORD God of
Israel in
mount Ebal, 31 As
Moses the
servant of the
LORD 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 hath lift
up any
iron: and they
offered thereon burnt
offerings unto the
LORD, and
sacrificed peace
offerings. 32 And he
wrote there upon the
stones a
copy of the
law of
Moses, which he
wrote in the
presence of the
children of
Israel. 33 And all
Israel, and their
elders, and
officers, and their
judges,
stood on this side the
ark and on that side before the
priests the
Levites, which
bare the
ark of the
covenant of the
LORD, as well the
stranger, as he that was
born among them;
half of them
over against mount Gerizim, and
half of them over
against mount Ebal; as
Moses the
servant of the
LORD had
commanded before, that they should
bless the
people of
Israel. 34 And
afterward he
read all the
words of the
law, the
blessings and
cursings, according to all that is
written in the
book of the
law. 35 There was not a
word of all that
Moses commanded, which
Joshua read not before all the
congregation of
Israel, with the
women, and the little
ones, and the
strangers that were
conversant among them.