Joshua 8:1-21 ▼

1 AND the LORD said to Joshua, Fear not, neither be dismayed; take all the men of war with you, and arise and go up to Ai; because I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai and his people, his city and his land;

2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king; only the spoil and the cattle shall you take as a prey for yourselves; lay an ambush against the city, from behind it.

3 So Joshua arose, and all the men of war, to go up against Ai; and Joshua chose three thousand mighty men of valor, and sent them away by night.

4 And he commanded them, saying. Behold, when you shall lie in wait against the city, from behind it, do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready;

5 And I and the men that are with me will approach the city; and it shall come to pass, when they first come out against us, we will flee before them;

6 For they will come out after us, and drive us away from the city, and they will say, They are fleeing before us, as at first; and behold, as we flee before them,

7 Then you shall rise up from your ambush, and seize upon the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hands.

8 And it shall be, when you have taken the city, you shall set it on fire; according to the commandment of the LORD you shall do. See, I have commanded you.

9 So Joshua sent them forth; and they went to the place of ambush, and lay between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.

10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and counted the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

11 And all the men of war that were with him went up and drew near to the city, and encamped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between them and Ai;

12 And Joshua took five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beth-el and Ai, on the west side of the city;

13 And when he had set his men and all his host on the north side of the city, and the rear guard on the west of the city, Joshua went that night among the people.

14 And when the king of Ai saw it, he hastened, and the men of the city rose up, and went out against Israel to battle; so all the people of Ai were in the plain; and they did not know that there was an ambush against them from behind the city.

15 And Joshua and all Israel scattered before them to flee by way of the wilderness.

16 And all the people of Ai shouted as they pursued them; and they followed Joshua, and were drawn out of the city.

17 And there was not a man left in Ai or Beth-el who did not go out after Israel; and they left the city open, and pursued Israel.

18 And the LORD said to Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai; for I have delivered it into your hands. And Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city.

19 And the men in ambush arose quickly from their places, 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 the smoke of their city going up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way; and the people of Israel that fled to the wilderness turned back upon their pursuers.

21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the city was going up in smoke, then they turned back and slew the men of Ai.