Joshua 8

1The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid, nor be cowardly. Take all the men of war with you and arise, go up to Ai. Behold, I have given the king of Ai and his land into your hands.

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2You shall do to Ai as you did to Jericho and its king, and you will plunder for yourself the spoil of its cattle. Prepare for yourself an ambush from behind the city.'

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3So Joshua arose along with all the people of war to go up to Ai. Then Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men and sent them by night.

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4He commanded them, saying, 'You shall lie in ambush behind the city. Do not be far from the city, and all of you be ready.

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5But I and everyone with me will approach the city, and it shall come to pass that as the inhabitants of Ai come out to meet us, we at first shall flee from their face.

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6Then as they come out after us, we will draw them away from the city. They will say, 'They are fleeing from us as before.'

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7Then you shall rise up from the ambush and go into the city.

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8You shall do according to this word. Behold, I have commanded you.'

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9So Joshua sent them out; and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, westward of Ai.

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10Then Joshua rose early in the morning and visited the people; and he and the elders went up before the people to Ai.

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11All the men of war also went up with him; and they proceeded and came opposite the city eastward.

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12But the ambush was on the west side of the city.

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13Then it came to pass that when the king of Ai saw it, he hurried out and immediately went to meet them in battle, he and all the people with him. But he did not know that an ambush was set against him behind the city.

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14So Joshua and Israel saw and retreated from before them.

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15They pursued after the sons of Israel, but were drawn further away from the city.

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16There was no one left in Ai who did not pursue after Israel. They left the city open and pursued after them.

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17Then the Lord said to Joshua, 'Stretch out your hand with the spear in your hand toward the city, for I have given it into your hands; and the ambush will rise up quickly from their place.' So Joshua stretched out his hand with the spear toward the city,

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18and when he stretched out his hand, those in ambush rose up quickly from their place and went into the city. They seized it and quickly set the city on fire.

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19Then the inhabitants of Ai turned to look behind them and saw smoke rising from the city toward heaven. They no longer had any place to flee this way or that way.

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20Then Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush took the city, and that smoke from the city went up toward heaven; and they turned and struck down the men of Ai.

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21These came out from the city to meet them, and they were in the midst of this army, some on this side and some on that side. The army struck them down until there was not one of them left who survived and escaped.

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22But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

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23Thus, when the sons of Israel ceased killing all those in Ai who were in the plains and in the mountain on the slope, where they pursued them to the end, then Joshua returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

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24Those who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the inhabitants of Ai.

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25But the cattle and the spoils in the city, everything which the sons of Israel took as spoils, they did according to the ordinance of the Lord, in the manner the Lord commanded Joshua.

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26Then Joshua burned the city with fire; he made it an uninhabited heap forever, even to this day.

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27The king of Ai was hanged on a forked tree, and he remained on the tree until evening. When the sun went down, Joshua gave orders, and they took down the body from the tree and cast it into a pit. Then they heaped a pile of stones over him that remains to this day.

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