| English Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. | 1Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. |
| 2And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.” | 2You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city." |
| 3So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. | 3So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night |
| 4And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. | 4with these orders: "Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don't go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. |
| 5And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. | 5I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. |
| 6And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. | 6They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, 'They are running away from us as they did before.' So when we flee from them, |
| 7Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will give it into your hand. | 7you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The LORD your God will give it into your hand. |
| 8And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the LORD. See, I have commanded you.” | 8When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the LORD has commanded. See to it; you have my orders." |
| 9So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people. | 9Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai--but Joshua spent that night with the people. |
| 10Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. | 10Early the next morning Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai. |
| 11And all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. | 11The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. |
| 12He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. | 12Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. |
| 13So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. | 13So the soldiers took up their positions--with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley. |
| 14And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. | 14When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. |
| 15And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. | 15Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back before them, and they fled toward the wilderness. |
| 16So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city. | 16All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away from the city. |
| 17Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel. | 17Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel. |
| 18Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. | 18Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city." So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand. |
| 19And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. | 19As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire. |
| 20So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. | 20The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. |
| 21And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. | 21For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. |
| 22And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And Israel struck them down, until there was left none that survived or escaped. | 22Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. |
| 23But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua. | 23But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua. |
| 24When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. | 24When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. |
| 25And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. | 25Twelve thousand men and women fell that day--all the people of Ai. |
| 26But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction. | 26For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. |
| 27Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the LORD that he commanded Joshua. | 27But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the LORD had instructed Joshua. |
| 28So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day. | 28So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. |
| 29And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day. | 29He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day. |
| 30At that time Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, | 30Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, |
| 31just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings. | 31as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses--an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the LORD burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. |
| 32And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. | 32There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses. |
| 33And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. | 33All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel. |
| 34And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. | 34Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law--the blessings and the curses--just as it is written in the Book of the Law. |
| 35There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them. | 35There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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