Joshua 8:1-35
And Jehovah 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;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: set thee an ambush for the city behind it.So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them forth by night.And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city; go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready: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;and they will come out after us, till we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: so we will flee before them;and ye shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city: for Jehovah your God will deliver it into your hand.And it shall be, when ye have seized upon the city, that ye shall set the city on fire; according to the word of Jehovah shall ye do: see, I have commanded you.And Joshua sent them forth; and they went to the ambushment, and abode between Beth- el and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that night among the people.And Joshua arose up early in the morning, and mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.And all the people, even the men of war that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and came before the city, and encamped on the north side of Ai: now there was a valley between him and Ai.And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Beth- el and Ai, on the west side of the city.So they set the people, even all the host that was on the north of the city, and their liers- in- wait that were on the west of the city; and Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley.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 the time appointed, before the Arabah; but he knew not that there was an ambush against him behind the city.And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.And all the people that were in the city were called together to pursue after them: and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.And there was not a man left in Ai or Beth- el, that went not out after Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.And Jehovah said unto Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thy hand. And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and entered into the city, and took it; and they hasted and set the city on fire.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.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.And the others came forth 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.And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.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 pursued them, and they were all fallen by the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all Israel returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.And all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.For Joshua drew not back his hand, wherewith he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for prey unto themselves, according unto the word of Jehovah which he commanded Joshua.So Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap for ever, even a desolation, unto this day.And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the eventide: and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised thereon a great heap of stones, unto this day.Then Joshua built an altar unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, in mount Ebal,as Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of unhewn stones, upon which no man had lifted up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt- offerings unto Jehovah, and sacrificed peace- offerings.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.And all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, that bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, as well the sojourner as the homeborn; half of them in front of mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.And 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.There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners that were among them.
Joshua 6:1-27
Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.And Jehovah said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor.And ye shall compass the city, all the men of war, going about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.And it shall be, that, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him.And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of Jehovah.And they said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of Jehovah.And it was so, that, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before Jehovah passed on, and blew the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah followed them.And the armed men went before the priests that blew the trumpets, and the rearward went after the ark, the priests blowing the trumpets as they went.And Joshua commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.So he caused the ark of Jehovah to compass the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of Jehovah.And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of Jehovah went on continually, and blew the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; and the rearward came after the ark of Jehovah, the priests blowing the trumpets as they went.And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for Jehovah hath given you the city.And the city shall be devoted, even it and all that is therein, to Jehovah: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when ye have devoted it, ye take of the devoted thing; so would ye make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are holy unto Jehovah: they shall come into the treasury of Jehovah.So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.And Joshua said unto the two men that had spied out the land, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.And the young men the spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; all her kindred also they brought out; and they set them without the camp of Israel.And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein; only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of Jehovah.But Rahab the harlot, and her father’s household, and all that she had, did Joshua save alive; and she dwelt in the midst of Israel unto this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.And Joshua charged them with an oath at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before Jehovah, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: with the loss of his first- born shall he lay the foundation thereof, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.So Jehovah was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.
