8:1 And Yehovah said to Joshua, Fear not,
nor be timorous: take with thee all the men of war, and arise, go up to Gai;
behold, I have given into thy hands the king of Gai, and his land.
8:2 And thou shalt do to Gai, as thou didst to Jericho and its king; and
thou shalt take to thyself the spoil of its cattle; set now for thyself an
ambush for the city behind.
8:3 And Joshua and all the men of war rose to go up to Gai; and Joshua chose
out thirty thousand mighty men, and he sent them away by night.
8:4 And he charged them, saying, Do ye lie in ambush behind the city: do not
go far from the city, and ye shall all be ready.
8:5 Land I and all with me will draw near to the city: and it shall come to
pass when the inhabitants of Gai shall come forth to meet us, as before,
that we will flee from before them.
8:6 And when they shall come out after us, we will draw them away from the
city; and they will say, These men flee from before us, as also before.
8:7 And ye shall rise up out of the ambuscade, and go into the city.
8:8 Ye shall do according to this word, lo! I have commanded you.
8:9 And Joshua sent them, and they went to lie in ambush; and they lay
between Baethel and Gai, westward of Gai.
8:10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people; and
he went up, he and the elders before the people to Gai.
8:11 And all the men of war went up with him, and they went forward and came
over against the city eastward.
8:12 And the ambuscade [was] on the west side of the city.
8:13
8:14 And it came to pass when the king of Gai saw [it], he hasted and went
out to meet them direct to the battle, he and all the people [that were]
with him: and he knew not that there was an ambuscade [formed] against him
behind the city.
8:15 And Joshua and Israel saw, and retreated from before them.
8:16 And they pursued after the children of Israel, and they themselves went
to a distance from the city.
8:17 There was no one left in Gai who did not pursue after Israel; and they
left the city open, and pursued after Israel.
8:18 And Yehovah said to Joshua, Stretch forth thy hand with the spear that
is in thy hand toward the city, for I have delivered it into thy hands; and
the liers in wait shall rise up quickly out of their place.
8:19 And Joshua stretched out his hand [and] his spear toward the city, and
the ambuscade rose up quickly out of their place; and they came forth when
he stretched out his hand; and they entered into the city, and took it; and
they hasted and burnt the city with fire.
8:20 And when the inhabitants of Gai looked round behind them, then they saw
the smoke going up out of the city to heaven, and they were no longer able
to flee this way or that way.
8:21 And Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambuscade had taken the city,
and that the smoke of the city went up to heaven; and they turned and smote
the men of Gai.
8:22 And these came forth out of the city to meet them; and they were in the
midst of the army, some [being] on this side, and some on that; and they
smote them until there was not left of them one who survived and escaped.
8:23 And they took the king of Gai alive, and brought him to Joshua.
8:24 And when the children of Israel had ceased slaying all that were in Gai,
and in the fields, and in the mountain on the descent, from whence they
pursued them [even] to the end, then Joshua returned to Gai, and smote it
with the edge of the sword.
8:25 And they that fell in that day, men and women, were twelve thousand:
[they slew] all the inhabitants of Gai.
8:26
8:27 Beside the spoils that were in the city, all things which the children
of Israel took as spoil for themselves according to the command of Yehovah,
as Yehovah commanded Joshua.
8:28 And Joshua burnt the city with fire: he made it an uninhabited heap for
ever, [even] to this day.
8:29 And he hanged the king of Gai on a gallows; and he remained on the tree
till evening: and when the sun went down, Joshua gave charge, and they took
down his body from the tree, and cast it into a pit, and they set over him a
heap of stones until this day.
8:30 Then Joshua built an altar to Yehovah Elohim of Israel in mount Gaebal,
8:31 as Moses the servant of Yehovah commanded the children of Israel, as
it is written in the law of Moses, an altar of unhewn stones, on which iron
had not been lifted up; and he offered there whole-burnt-offerings to the
Lord, and a peace-offering.
8:32 And Joshua wrote upon the stones a copy of the law, [even] the law of
Moses, before the children of Israel.
8:33 And all Israel, and their elders, and their judges, and their scribes,
passed on one side and on the other before the ark; and the priests and the
Levites took up the ark of the covenant of Yehovah; and the stranger and
the native [were there], who were half of them near mount Garizin, and half
near mount Gaebal, as Moses the servant of Yehovah commanded at first, to
bless the people.
8:34 And afterwards Joshua read accordingly all the words of this law, the
blessings and the curses, according to all things written in the law of
Moses.
8:35 There was not a word of all that Moses charged Joshua, which Joshua
read not in the ears of all the assembly of the children of Israel, the men,
and the women, and the children, and the strangers that joined themselves to
Israel. |
8:1 And Yehovah 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:
8:2 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: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.
8:3 So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against Ai: and
Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valor, and sent them away by
night.
8:4 And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the
city, even behind the city: go not very far from the city, but be ye all
ready:
8:5 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,
8:6 (For they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city;
for they will say, They flee before us, as at the first: therefore we will
flee before them.
8:7 Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the city: for the
Yehovah your Elohim will deliver it into your hand.
8:8 And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city
on fire: according to the commandment of Yehovah shall ye do. See, I have
commanded you.
8:9 Joshua therefore sent them forth: and they went to lie in ambush, and
abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai: but Joshua lodged that
night among the people.
8:10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and numbered the people, and
went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.
8:11 And all the people, even the people of war that were with him, went up,
and drew nigh, and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of
Ai: now there was a valley between them and Ai.
8:12 And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush
between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.
8:13 And when they had set the people, even all the host that was on the
north of the city, and their liers in wait on the west of the city, Joshua
went that night into the midst of the valley.
8:14 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 a time appointed, before the plain; but he wist not
that there were liers in ambush against him behind the city.
8:15 And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and
fled by the way of the wilderness.
8:16 And all the people that were in Ai were called together to pursue after
them: and they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.
8:17 And there was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, that went not out after
Israel: and they left the city open, and pursued after Israel.
8:18 And Yehovah said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy
hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out
the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.
8:19 And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon
as he had stretched out his hand: and they entered into the city, and took
it, and hasted and set the city on fire.
8:20 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.
8:21 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.
8:22 And the other issued 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.
8:23 And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.
8:24 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 chased them,
and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were
consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the
edge of the sword.
8:25 And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were
twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.
8:26 For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the
spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
8:27 Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto
themselves, according unto the word of Yehovah which he commanded Joshua.
8:28 And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation
unto this day.
8:29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as
the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcass down
from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and
raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.
8:30 Then Joshua built an altar unto Yehovah Elohim of Israel in mount Ebal,
8:31 As Moses the servant of Yehovah commanded the children of Israel, as
it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones,
over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt
offerings unto Yehovah, and sacrificed peace offerings.
8:32 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.
8:33 And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood
on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which
bare the ark of the covenant of Yehovah, as well the stranger, as he that
was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of
them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of Yehovah had commanded
before, that they should bless the people of Israel.
8:34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and
cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law.
8:35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not
before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones,
and the strangers that were conversant among them. |