³¹ So the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city. They began to strike down and kill some of the people, as at the other times, in the highways ^(A)(one of which goes up to Bethel and the other to Gibeah) and in the field, about thirty men of Israel.

¹³ So he said to his servant, “Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the night in Gibeah or in ^(A)Ramah.” ¹⁴ And they passed by and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin.

¹⁴ Now it happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at an appointed place before the plain. But he ^(A)did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. ¹⁵ And Joshua and all Israel ^(B)made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. ¹⁶ So all the people who were in Ai were called together to pursue them. And they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

⁵ And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore ^(A)the^[a] hearts of the people melted and became like water.