Joshua

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:

1The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid. Do not give up. Take your whole army and go up to the city of Ai. Look, I am giving you the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land."

2And 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.

2"Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king. But this time you may keep the goods and the animals for yourselves. Hide some soldiers behind the city."

Note"Spoil" and "prey" here mean the goods and farm animals taken from a captured city. "Prey" does not mean a hunted animal.

3So 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.

3So Joshua and the whole army got ready to attack Ai. Joshua picked thirty thousand of his bravest fighters. He sent them out at night.

4And 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:

4He gave them orders. "Listen carefully. Go hide behind the city. Do not go far from it. All of you stay ready."

5And 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,

5"I and the men with me will walk up to the city. The men of Ai will come out to fight us, like they did before. Then we will run away from 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.

6"They will chase us until they are far away from their city. They will say, 'They are running from us, just like last time.' So we will run from them."

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

7"Then you must jump up from your hiding place and take the city. The LORD your God will hand it over to you."

8And 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.

8"After you take the city, set it on fire. Do what the LORD said to do. Listen, these are my orders to you."

9Joshua 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.

9So Joshua sent them out. They went and hid between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai. Joshua spent that night with the rest of the people.

10And 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.

10Early the next morning Joshua counted his men. Then he and the leaders of Israel marched ahead of them toward Ai.

11And 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.

11All the soldiers with him marched up close to the city. They set up camp north of Ai. A valley lay between them and the city.

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

12Joshua had taken about five thousand men. He put them in a hiding place between Bethel and Ai, west of the city.

13And 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.

13So the main camp was north of the city, and the hidden men were west of it. That night Joshua went down into the valley.

14And 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.

14The king of Ai saw the Israelites. Early in the morning he hurried out with all his men to fight. They went to the meeting place near the flat land. But he did not know that soldiers were hiding behind his city.

Note"He wist not" is old English for "he did not know."

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

15Joshua and all Israel acted as if they were losing the fight. They ran away toward the desert.

16And 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.

16All the men in Ai were called to chase them. They ran after Joshua and got far away from their city.

17And 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.

17Not one man was left in Ai or Bethel. They all went out after Israel. They left the city wide open while they chased Israel.

18And 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.

18The LORD said to Joshua, "Hold out the spear in your hand toward Ai. I will give the city to you." So Joshua held out his spear toward the city.

19And 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.

19The moment he held out his hand, the hidden men jumped up. They ran into the city and took it. They quickly set it on fire.

20And 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.

20The men of Ai looked back and saw smoke rising high into the sky. They had no way to run, this way or that. And the Israelites who had run to the desert now turned around on them.

21And 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.

21Joshua and all Israel saw that the hidden men had taken the city. They saw the smoke going up. So they turned around and struck down the men of Ai.

22And 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.

22The men from inside the city came out at them too. Now the men of Ai were caught with Israel on both sides. Israel struck them down, and not one of them was left or got away.

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

23But they took the king of Ai alive. They brought him 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 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.

24Israel killed all the men of Ai out in the fields and the desert where they had chased them. Every one of them died by the sword. Then all the Israelites went back to Ai and killed the people there too.

25And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.

25Twelve thousand people died that day, both men and women. That was everyone who lived in Ai.

26For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

26Joshua kept his hand held out with the spear. He did not pull it back until all the people of Ai were destroyed.

27Only 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.

27Israel kept only the animals and the goods of that city for themselves. This is what the LORD had told Joshua they could do.

28And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day.

28Joshua burned Ai down. He left it as a pile of ruins. It is still an empty ruin today.

29And 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.

29He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening. When the sun went down, Joshua told his men to take the body off the tree. They threw it down at the city gate. Then they piled a big heap of stones over it. That heap is still there today.

30Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal,

30Then Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal for the LORD, the God of Israel. An altar is a stone table for giving gifts to God.

31As 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.

31He did just what Moses, the servant of the LORD, had told the people to do. The book of the law of Moses says the altar must be made of whole stones, cut by no iron tool. On it they burned animal gifts to the LORD. They also gave peace offerings, gifts that were shared as a meal.

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

32There Joshua wrote a copy of the law of Moses on the stones. He wrote it while all the people of Israel watched.

33And 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.

33All Israel stood on both sides of the ark, the special box that held God's agreement. The priests from the family of Levi carried it. Leaders, officers, and judges were there. So were people born in Israel and people from other lands who lived with them. Half the people stood facing Mount Gerizim and half facing Mount Ebal. Moses, the servant of the LORD, had told them long before to bless the people this way.

34And 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.

34After that, Joshua read out loud all the words of the law. He read the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the book of the law.

35There 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.

35Joshua read every single word that Moses had commanded. He left nothing out. All Israel listened, including the women, the little children, and the people from other lands who lived among them.

Note"Strangers that were conversant among them" means people from other lands who lived with Israel. "Conversant" here means living among them, not talking with them.