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Joshua 10:2
All Jerusalem was terrified because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai and all its men were warriors.
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Joshua 9:17
So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities– Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim.
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2 Samuel 21 1-2 Samuel 21 2
During David’s reign there was a famine for three consecutive years. So David inquired of the LORD. The LORD said,“ It is because of Saul and his bloodstained family, because he murdered the Gibeonites.”So the king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke with them.( Now the Gibeonites were not descendants of Israel; they were a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had made a promise to them, but Saul tried to kill them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)
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Joshua 8:1-35
The LORD told Joshua,“ Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! Take the whole army with you and march against Ai! See, I am handing over to you the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land.Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!”Joshua and the whole army marched against Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand brave warriors and sent them out at night.He told them,“ Look, set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city; all of you be ready!I and all the troops who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to fight us like before, we will retreat from them.They will attack us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say,‘ They are retreating from us like before.’ We will retreat from them.Then you rise up from your hiding place and seize the city. The LORD your God will hand it over to you.When you capture the city, set it on fire. Do as the LORD says! See, I have given you orders.”Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place west of Ai, between Bethel and Ai. Joshua spent that night with the army.Bright and early the next morning Joshua gathered the army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched at the head of it to Ai.All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city. They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley.He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel and Ai.The army was in position– the main army north of the city and the rear guard west of the city. That night Joshua went into the middle of the valley.When the king of Ai saw Israel, he and his whole army quickly got up the next day and went out to fight Israel at the meeting place near the Arabah. But he did not realize men were hiding behind the city.Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them and they retreated along the way to the desert.All the reinforcements in Ai were ordered to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city.No men were left in Ai or Bethel; they all went out after Israel. They left the city wide open and chased Israel.The LORD told Joshua,“ Hold out toward Ai the curved sword in your hand, for I am handing the city over to you.” So Joshua held out toward Ai the curved sword in his hand.When he held out his hand, the men waiting in ambush rose up quickly from their place and attacked. They entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.When the men of Ai turned around, they saw the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers.When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the city was going up in smoke, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai.At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle. The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees.But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had chased them toward the desert( they all fell by the sword), all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it.Twelve thousand men and women died that day, including all the men of Ai.Joshua kept holding out his curved sword until Israel had annihilated all who lived in Ai.But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in accordance with the LORD’s orders to Joshua.Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanently uninhabited mound( it remains that way to this very day).He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening. At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree. They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and erected over it a large pile of stones( it remains to this very day).Then Joshua built an altar for the LORD God of Israel on Mount Ebal,just as Moses the LORD’s servant had commanded the Israelites. As described in the law scroll of Moses, it was made with uncut stones untouched by an iron tool. They offered burnt sacrifices on it and sacrificed tokens of peace.There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a duplicate of the law written by Moses.All the people, rulers, leaders, and judges were standing on either side of the ark, in front of the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD. Both resident foreigners and native Israelites were there. Half the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the LORD’s servant had previously instructed to them to do for the formal blessing ceremony.Then Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll.Joshua read aloud every commandment Moses had given before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, children, and resident foreigners who lived among them.
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Joshua 6:1-27
Now Jericho was shut tightly because of the Israelites. No one was allowed to leave or enter.The LORD told Joshua,“ See, I am about to defeat Jericho for you, along with its king and its warriors.Have all the warriors march around the city one time; do this for six days.Have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the horns.When you hear the signal from the ram’s horn, have the whole army give a loud battle cry. Then the city wall will collapse and the warriors should charge straight ahead.”So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and instructed them,“ Pick up the ark of the covenant, and seven priests must carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the LORD.”And he told the army,“ Move ahead and march around the city, with armed troops going ahead of the ark of the LORD.”When Joshua gave the army its orders, the seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns before the LORD moved ahead and blew the horns as the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed behind.Armed troops marched ahead of the priests blowing the horns, while the rear guard followed along behind the ark blowing rams’ horns.Now Joshua had instructed the army,“ Do not give a battle cry or raise your voices; say nothing until the day I tell you,‘ Give the battle cry.’ Then give the battle cry!”So Joshua made sure they marched the ark of the LORD around the city one time. Then they went back to the camp and spent the night there.Bright and early the next morning Joshua had the priests pick up the ark of the LORD.The seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD marched along blowing their horns. Armed troops marched ahead of them, while the rear guard followed along behind the ark of the LORD blowing rams’ horns.They marched around the city one time on the second day, then returned to the camp. They did this six days in all.On the seventh day they were up at the crack of dawn and marched around the city as before– only this time they marched around it seven times.The seventh time around, the priests blew the rams’ horns and Joshua told the army,“ Give the battle cry, for the LORD is handing the city over to you!The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the LORD, except for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies we sent.But be careful when you are setting apart the riches for the LORD. If you take any of it, you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation and cause a disaster.All the silver and gold, as well as bronze and iron items, belong to the LORD. They must go into the LORD’s treasury.”The rams’ horns sounded and when the army heard the signal, they gave a loud battle cry. The wall collapsed and the warriors charged straight ahead into the city and captured it.They annihilated with the sword everything that breathed in the city, including men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeys.Joshua told the two men who had spied on the land,“ Enter the prostitute’s house and bring out the woman and all who belong to her as you promised her.”So the young spies went and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and took them to a place outside the Israelite camp.But they burned the city and all that was in it, except for the silver, gold, and bronze and iron items they put in the treasury of the LORD’s house.Yet Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family, and all who belonged to her. She lives in Israel to this very day because she hid the messengers Joshua sent to spy on Jericho.At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration:“ The man who attempts to rebuild this city of Jericho will stand condemned before the LORD. He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!”The LORD was with Joshua and he became famous throughout the land.
