Joshua 1:1-8:29

English Standard Version

God Commissions Joshua

1 After the death of Moses the ^(A)servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' ^(B)assistant, ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. ^3 (C)Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. ^4 (D)From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. ^5 (E)No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just ^(F)as I was with Moses, so ^(G)I will be with you. ^(H)I will not leave you or forsake you. ^6 (I)Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and ^(J)very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law ^(K)that Moses my servant commanded you. ^(L)Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success^[a] wherever you go. ⁸ This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but ^(M)you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? ^(N)Be strong and courageous. ^(O)Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua Assumes Command

¹⁰ And Joshua commanded the ^(P)officers of the people, ¹¹ “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for ^(Q)within three days ^(R)you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’”

¹² And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said, ¹³ “Remember the word that ^(S)Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them, ^15 (T)until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. ^(U)Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶ And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷ Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God ^(V)be with you, as he was with Moses! ¹⁸ Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. ^(W)Only be strong and courageous.”

Rahab Hides the Spies

2 And Joshua the son of Nun ^(X)sent^[b] two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of ^(Y)a prostitute whose name was ^(Z)Rahab and lodged there. ² And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” ³ Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” ⁴ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵ And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” ⁶ But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. ⁷ So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan ^(AA)as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

⁸ Before the men^[c] lay down, she came up to them on the roof ⁹ and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, ^(AB)and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land ^(AC)melt away before you. ¹⁰ For we have heard how the Lord ^(AD)dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and ^(AE)what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to ^(AF)Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.^{[d] 11} And ^(AG)as soon as we heard it, ^(AH)our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for ^(AI)the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. ¹² Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and ^(AJ)give me a sure sign ¹³ that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” ¹⁴ And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land ^(AK)we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

¹⁵ Then she ^(AL)let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. ¹⁶ And she said^[e] to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.” ¹⁷ The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. ^18 (AM)Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, ^(AN)and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father's household. ¹⁹ Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, ^(AO)his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. ²⁰ But if you ^(AP)tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” ²¹ And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

²² They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned, and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. ²³ Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and ^(AQ)passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them. ²⁴ And they said to Joshua, “Truly ^(AR)the Lord has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land ^(AS)melt away because of us.”

Israel Crosses the Jordan

3 Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out ^(AT)from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. ^2 (AU)At the end of three days the officers went through the camp ³ and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by ^(AV)the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. ^4 (AW)Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits^[f] in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” ⁵ Then Joshua said to the people, ^(AX)“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” ⁶ And Joshua said to the priests, ^(AY)“Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

⁷ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to ^(AZ)exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, ^(BA)as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. ⁸ And as for you, command ^(BB)the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, ^(BC)you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” ⁹ And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰ And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that ^(BD)the living God is among you and that he will without fail ^(BE)drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. ¹¹ Behold, the ark of the covenant of ^(BF)the Lord of all the earth^{[g] (BG)}is passing over before you into the Jordan. ¹² Now therefore ^(BH)take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, ^(BI)from each tribe a man. ¹³ And ^(BJ)when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, ^(BK)the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall ^(BL)stand in one heap.”

¹⁴ So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing ^(BM)the ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵ and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and ^(BN)the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now ^(BO)the Jordan overflows all its banks ^(BP)throughout the time of harvest), ¹⁶ the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside ^(BQ)Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of ^(BR)the Arabah, ^(BS)the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, ^(BT)and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

Twelve Memorial Stones from the Jordan

4 When all the nation had finished passing ^(BU)over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ^2 (BV)“Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take ^(BW)twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place ^(BX)where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in ^(BY)the place where you lodge tonight.’” ⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. ⁵ And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you. ^(BZ)When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ ⁷ then you shall tell them that ^(CA)the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel ^(CB)a memorial forever.”

⁸ And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down^[h] there. ⁹ And Joshua set up^[i] twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, ^(CC)in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. ¹⁰ For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua.

The people passed over in haste. ¹¹ And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people. ¹² The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh ^(CD)passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. ¹³ About 40,000 ready for war passed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day the Lord ^(CE)exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵ And the Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests bearing ^(CF)the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan.” ¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” ¹⁸ And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, ^(CG)as before.

¹⁹ The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at ^(CH)Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. ²⁰ And ^(CI)those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. ²¹ And he said to the people of Israel, ^(CJ)“When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² then you shall let your children know, ^(CK)‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ ²³ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, ^(CL)which he dried up for us until we passed over, ^24 (CM)so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is ^(CN)mighty, that you may ^(CO)fear the Lord your God forever.”^[j]

The New Generation Circumcised

5 As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites ^(CP)who were by the sea, ^(CQ)heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts ^(CR)melted and ^(CS)there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.

² At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make ^(CT)flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.^{[k] 4} And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: ^(CU)all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. ⁵ Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. ⁶ For the people of Israel walked ^(CV)forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord ^(CW)swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, ^(CX)a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ So it was ^(CY)their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

⁸ When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. ⁹ And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the ^(CZ)reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called ^(DA)Gilgal^[l] to this day.

First Passover in Canaan

¹⁰ While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover ^(DB)on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. ¹¹ And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹² And ^(DC)the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

The Commander of the Lord's Army

¹³ When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(DD)a man was standing before him ^(DE)with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” ¹⁴ And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua ^(DF)fell on his face to the earth and worshiped^[m] and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” ¹⁵ And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, ^(DG)“Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

The Fall of Jericho

6 Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. ² And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, ^(DH)I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. ³ You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. ⁴ Seven priests shall bear seven ^(DI)trumpets of ^(DJ)rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and ^(DK)the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵ And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat,^[n] and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” ⁶ So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord.” ⁷ And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let ^(DL)the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”

⁸ And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. ⁹ The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the ^(DM)rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. ¹⁰ But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” ¹¹ So he caused the ark of the Lord to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹² Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and ^(DN)the priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. ¹⁴ And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. ¹⁶ And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷ And the city and all that is within it shall be ^(DO)devoted to the Lord for destruction.^[o] Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she ^(DP)hid the messengers whom we sent. ¹⁸ But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel ^(DQ)a thing for destruction and ^(DR)bring trouble upon it. ¹⁹ But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” ²⁰ So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and ^(DS)the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. ²¹ Then they ^(DT)devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

²² But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute's house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, ^(DU)as you swore to her.” ²³ So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and ^(DV)her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. ²⁴ And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. ^(DW)Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. ²⁵ But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And ^(DX)she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶ Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, ^(DY)“Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho.

^27 (DZ)So the Lord was with Joshua, and ^(EA)his fame was in all the land.

Israel Defeated at Ai

7 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for ^(EB)Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

² Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near ^(EC)Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. ³ And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” ⁴ So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And ^(ED)they fled before the men of Ai, ⁵ and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people ^(EE)melted and became as water.

⁶ Then Joshua ^(EF)tore his clothes and ^(EG)fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put ^(EH)dust on their heads. ⁷ And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, ^(EI)why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! ⁸ O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! ⁹ For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and ^(EJ)cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?”

The Sin of Achan

¹⁰ The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have ^(EK)transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the ^(EL)devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. ^12 (EM)Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They ^(EN)turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become ^(EO)devoted for destruction.^[p] I will be with you no more, unless you destroy ^(EP)the devoted things from among you. ¹³ Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ^(EQ)‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” ¹⁴ In the morning therefore you shall be brought near ^(ER)by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. ^15 (ES)And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has ^(ET)transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done ^(EU)an outrageous thing in Israel.’”

¹⁶ So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. ¹⁷ And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the ^(EV)Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. ¹⁸ And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. ¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, ^(EW)give glory to the Lord God of Israel and ^(EX)give praise^[q] to him. And ^(EY)tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” ²⁰ And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly ^(EZ)I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: ²¹ when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels,^[r] then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

²² So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. ²³ And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. ²⁴ And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the ^(FA)Valley of Achor. ²⁵ And Joshua said, “Why did you ^(FB)bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel ^(FC)stoned him with stones. ^(FD)They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. ²⁶ And they raised over him ^(FE)a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then ^(FF)the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.^[s]

The Fall of Ai

8 And the Lord said to Joshua, ^(FG)“Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, ^(FH)I have given into your hand 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 ^(FI)to Jericho and its king. Only ^(FJ)its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”

³ So 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. ⁴ And he commanded them, “Behold, ^(FK)you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. ⁵ And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us ^(FL)just as before, we shall flee before them. ⁶ And they will come out after us, until we have ^(FM)drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. ⁷ Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand. ⁸ And 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. ^(FN)See, I have commanded you.” ⁹ So 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.

¹⁰ Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. ¹¹ And ^(FO)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. ¹² He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. ¹³ So 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. ¹⁴ And 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^[t] toward ^(FP)the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. ^(FQ)But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. ¹⁵ And Joshua and all Israel ^(FR)pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. ¹⁶ So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they ^(FS)were drawn away from the city. ¹⁷ Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.

¹⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, ^(FT)“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. ¹⁹ And 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. ²⁰ So 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. ²¹ And 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. ²² And 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 ^(FU)left none that survived or escaped. ²³ But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua.

²⁴ When 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. ²⁵ And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. ²⁶ But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he ^(FV)stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction.^{[u] 27} Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the Lord that he ^(FW)commanded Joshua. ²⁸ So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a ^(FX)heap of ruins, as it is to this day. ^29 (FY)And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. ^(FZ)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 ^(GA)raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.