Ai

And passing on from there to a mountain, which was opposite the east of Bethel, he pitched his tent there, having Bethel to the west, and Hai on the east. He also built an altar there to the Lord, and he called upon his name.

And he returned by the way that he came, from the meridian into Bethel, all the way to the place where before he had pitched his tent, between Bethel and Hai.

And when Joshua sent men from Jericho against Ai, which is beside Bethaven, toward the eastern region of the town of Bethel, he said to them, “Go up and explore the land.” And they fulfilled his instruction, and they explored Ai.

And returning, they said to him: “Let not the entire people go up. Instead, let two or three thousand men go out and destroy the city. Why should all the people be troubled without cause against enemies that are so very few?”

Therefore, they went up with three thousand fighters. And they promptly turned their backs,

and were struck down by the men of the city of Ai. And thirty-six men of them fell. And the adversaries pursued them from the gate, even as far as Shebarim. And they felled them as they were fleeing downward. And the heart of the people was struck with fear, and it melted like water.

Then the Lord said to Joshua: “You should not fear, and you should not dread. Take with you the entire multitude of fighters, and rising up, ascend to the town of Ai. Behold, I have delivered into your hand its king and people, and the city and the land.

And you shall do to the city of Ai, and to its king, just as you did to Jericho, and to its king. Yet truly, the spoils, and all the living things, you shall plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush against the city behind it.”

And Joshua rose up, and the entire army of warriors with him, so that they might ascend against Ai. And he sent thirty thousand elect strong men in the night.

But I and the remainder of the multitude that is with me will approach from the opposite side of the city. And when they come out against us, we will flee and turn our backs, just as we did before,

And he sent them away, and they traveled to the place of the ambush, and they settled between Bethel and Ai, toward the western region of the city of Ai. But Joshua remained for that night in the midst of the people.

And rising at first light, he reviewed his troops, and he went up, with the elders at the front of the army, surrounded by an auxiliary of fighters.

And when they had arrived, and had ascended from the opposite side of the city, they stood toward the northern region of the city. And there was a valley in the middle, between them and the city.

Now he had chosen five thousand men, and he had positioned them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, at the western part of the same city.

And when the king of Ai had seen this, he hurried in the morning, and he went out with the entire army of the city. And he arranged them in a line opposite the desert, not knowing that an ambush lay hidden behind his back.

And they pursued them, shouting together and encouraging one another. And when they had withdrawn from the city,

and indeed not one remained in the city of Ai and of Bethel who did not pursue after Israel, (leaving the towns open after they had rushed out,)

the Lord said to Joshua: “Lift up the shield that is in your hand, toward the city of Ai. For I will deliver it to you.”

Now the men of the city who were pursuing Joshua, looking back and seeing the smoke of the city rising up even to heaven, were no longer able to flee in one direction or another, especially since those who had pretended to flee, and who were heading toward the wilderness, had turned back very strongly against those who were pursuing them.

And Joshua, and all of Israel, seeing that the city had been captured, and that the smoke of the city was ascending, returned and struck down the men of Ai.

Then too, those who had seized and set the city on fire, departing from the city toward their own men, began to strike the enemies in the middle. Therefore, since the adversaries were cut off from both sides, none of so great a multitude was saved.

Also, they apprehended the king of the city of Ai, alive, and they brought him before Joshua.

And so, after all were slain who had pursued Israel fleeing toward the wilderness, and after they fell by the sword in the same place, the sons of Israel returned and struck the city.

Now there were twelve thousand persons who had fallen on the same day, from man even to woman, the entire city of Ai.

Truly Joshua did not draw back his hand, which he had stretched out on high, keeping hold of the shield until all the inhabitants of Ai were put to death.

And he set fire to the city, and he caused it to be a perpetual tomb.

Also, he suspended the king on a gallows, until evening and the setting of the sun. And Joshua instructed, and they took down his dead body from the hanging tree. And they cast it at the very entrance of the city, gathering a great pile of stones upon it, which remains even to the present day.

And when these things were heard, all the kings across the Jordan, who lived among the mountains and plains, along the coastline and shores of the great sea, also those who were living near Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,

But those who were living in Gibeon, hearing all that Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,

When Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem, had heard these things, specifically, that Joshua had seized Ai, and had overthrown it, (for just as he had done to Jericho and its king, so did he do to Ai and its king,) and that the Gibeonites had fled over to Israel, and were now their confederates,

he was very afraid. For Gibeon was a great city, and was one of the royal cities, and was greater than the town of Ai, and all its warriors were very strong.

The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;