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1 | And the LORD 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: |
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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. |
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3 | So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up against
Ai: and Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valour,
and sent them away by night. |
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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: |
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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, |
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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. |
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7 | Then ye shall rise up from the ambush, and seize upon the
city: for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand. |
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8 | And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall
set the city on fire: according to the commandment of the LORD
shall ye do. See, I have commanded you. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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15 | And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before
them, and fled by the way of the wilderness. |
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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. |
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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. |
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18 | And the LORD 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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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23 | And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. |
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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. |
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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. |
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26 | For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out
the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants
of Ai. |
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27 | Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a
prey unto themselves, according unto the word of the LORD
which he commanded Joshua. |
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28 | And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a
desolation unto this day. |
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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 carcase 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. |
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30 | Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in
mount Ebal, |
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31 | As Moses the servant of the LORD 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 the LORD,
and sacrificed peace offerings. |
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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. |
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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 the
LORD, 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 the LORD had
commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. |
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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. |
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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. |
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