Joshua 8

1 Then the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] said to Joshua [leader of the Israelites], “Do not be afraid [fear not, do not be terrified] or discouraged [dismayed, completely broken]. Take the whole army [all the people of war] with you, and go up [ascend, rise] and attack [go to war against] Ai [the city of ruins]. See, I have delivered [given, put] into your hand [an open hand; strength, a side or share] the king [royal person, ruler] of Ai, his people [nation, tribe], his city [town, settlement], and his land [territory, region]. word study 2 And you shall do [as you have been commanded, in obedience] to Ai [the city of ruins, a heap of rubble] and its king [the ruler, sovereign] as you did [in a similar manner, with the same faith] to Jericho [the city of the moon, a place of conquest] and its king [the monarch, leader], except [only, with this limitation] that you may carry off [plunder, take as spoil] their plunder [spoils of war, booty] and livestock [cattle, animals, beasts] for yourselves [as a reward, for your own benefit]. Set up [establish, prepare] an ambush [a hidden attack, a surprise] behind [in the rear, from the backside] the city [the town, the metropolis].” word study 3 So Joshua [the leader, Ioshua] and the whole army [all the people of war] set out to attack [go up against] Ai [the heap of ruins]. Joshua chose [selected, to choose] 30,000 [thirty thousand] mighty men [strong, valiant warriors] of valor [strength, might, Helech] and sent [to send, depart] them out at [by, during] night [the time of darkness, adversity] word study 4 with these orders: “Pay attention [be watchful, listen carefully]. You are to lie in ambush [wait secretly, set a surprise attack] behind the city [at the rear of the town], not too far from it [do not go very far away]. All of you [every single one] must be ready [prepared, in a state of readiness]. word study 5 Then I [as the leader, with authority] and all [every single one] the troops [armed forces, warriors] with me [by my side, in my company] will advance [march, approach] on the city [a fortified town, with walls]. When they come out [emerge, exit] against us [to meet us, in opposition] as they did [previously, in the past] the first time [at the beginning, initially], we will flee [run away, escape] from them [before their presence, in their sight]. word study 6 They will pursue [chase after] us until we have drawn [pulled away, torn from] them away from the city [town, settlement], for they will say [think, believe], ‘The Israelites are running away [fleeing, retreating] from us as they did [previously, at the first] before [in the past].’ So as we flee [run away, escape] from them, word study 7 you [as God’s chosen people] are to rise [stand up, take action] from the ambush [lying in wait, surprise attack] and seize [take possession of, occupy] the city [a fortified town, a place of settlement], for the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] your God [Elohim, the supreme deity] will deliver [give, hand over] it into your hand [power, control]. word study 8 And when you have taken [captured, seized] the city [a place with walls and a watchman], set it on fire [kindle, burn with flames]. Do as the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] has commanded [given orders, appointed]! See [look, behold], I have given [charged, instructed] you orders [commands, instructions].” word study 9 So Joshua [the leader, God’s chosen one] sent them out, and they went to the place of [hidden, secret] ambush [lie in wait, set a trap] and lay in wait [abide, remain] between Bethel [house of God, sacred place] and Ai [heap of ruins, a city], to the west [toward the sea, in the direction of the Mediterranean] of Ai. But Joshua [God’s servant, the commander] spent that night [period of darkness, time of rest] among the people [the nation, the congregation]. word study 10 Joshua [the leader] got up early [at the break of day, in the morning] the next morning [following the previous day] and mobilized [numbered, mustered, inspected] his men [the people, the army], and he and the elders [the chiefs, the old men] of Israel [the symbolic name of Jacob, God’s chosen people] marched [went up, ascended] before them up to Ai [the heap of ruins, a city in Palestine]. word study 11 Then all [the entire company of] the troops who were with him marched up and approached [drew near, came before] the city [the town, Ai]. They arrived in front of [before, opposite] Ai and camped [pitched their tents, encamped] to the north [on the north side, towards Zaphon] of it, with the valley [a deep, narrow gorge, a low area of land] between [in the midst of, separating] them and the city [Ai, the heap of ruins]. word study 12 Now Joshua had taken [approximately] about five thousand men [individuals, warriors] and set up [positioned, placed] an ambush [to lie in wait, surprise attack] between [in the midst of, separating] Bethel [house of God, sacred place] and Ai [heap of ruins, city of destruction], to the [on the, toward the] west [direction of the setting sun] of the city [town, urban center]. word study 13 So the forces [the army, the military troops] were stationed with the main camp [the large group of soldiers] to the north [Zaphon, the direction of darkness] of the city [the town, the settlement] and the rear guard [the secret force, the ambush] to the west [the direction of the sea] of the city [the town]. And that night [the time of darkness, the period of rest] Joshua [the leader, the successor of Moses] went into the valley [the lowland area, the midst of the emek]. word study 14 When the king [ruler, monarch] of Ai [a city in Palestine, meaning ‘heap of ruins’] saw the Israelites [God’s chosen people, descendants of Jacob], he hurried out early [rose up quickly, hastened] in the morning with the men [people, inhabitants] of the city to engage them in battle [war, conflict] at an appointed [designated, set] place overlooking [before, in front of] the Arabah [a desert plain, wilderness]. But he did not know [was unaware, did not realize] that an ambush [lie in wait, surprise attack] had been set up against him behind [from the rear, after] the city. word study 15 Joshua [the leader] and all [every single one] Israel let themselves be beaten back [stricken, defeated] before them [in their presence, face to face], and they fled [ran away, escaped] toward the wilderness [the desert, a place of testing]. word study 16 Then all [every single one, the entire population] the men of Ai [the city of heap of ruins] were summoned [called together, gathered] to pursue [chase after, follow with hostile intent] them, and they followed [went after, pursued] Joshua [the leader, God’s chosen one] and were drawn away [pulled, separated] from the city [the town, the settlement]. word study 17 Not a man [no one, any person] was left in Ai [a city of ruins] or Bethel [house of God] who did not go out [come forth, exit] after Israel [Jacob’s descendants], leaving the city [town, settlement] wide open [unprotected, vulnerable] while they pursued [chased, followed] Israel. word study 18 Then the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] said to Joshua [a leader, whose name means’God is salvation’], “Hold out [stretch out, extend] your battle lance [javelin, spear] toward Ai [a city, a heap of ruins], for into your hand [an open hand; strength, a side or share] I will deliver [give, put, set] the city.” So Joshua held out [stretched out, spread out] his battle lance [javelin, a type of spear] toward Ai [the city, a place of excitement], word study 19 and as soon as he did so, the men in ambush [lying in wait, hiding] rose quickly [with haste, swiftly] from their position [place, location]. They rushed forward [ran, hastened], entered the city [town, settlement], captured it [seized, took control], and immediately [quickly, without delay] set it on fire [kindled, burned with flames]. word study 20 When the men [individuals] of Ai [a city of ruins] turned [to face, looking back] and looked back, the smoke of the city [excitement, a place of human settlement] was rising [to ascend, going up] into the sky [heaven, the abode of God]. They could not escape [to flee, quickly leave] in any direction [hither and thither, here or there], and the troops [the people, a group of individuals] who had fled [to flee, escaping from danger] to the wilderness [a desert, a place of testing] now became the pursuers [those who chase after, with hostile intent]. word study 21 When Joshua [the leader] and all [every single one] Israel saw that the men in ambush [lying in wait, hiding] had captured [seized, taken control of] the city [the town, Ai] and that smoke [a sign of destruction] was rising [ascending, going up] from it, they turned around [returned, came back] and struck down [slew, defeated] the men of Ai [the inhabitants, people of Ai]. word study 22 Meanwhile, those [the other force, the men from the ambush] in the ambush came out [issued out, emerged] of the city [the town, the citie] against them, and the men of Ai were trapped [surrounded, caught] between the Israelite [the symbolic name of Jacob, his descendants] forces on both sides [some on this side, and some on that side]. So Israel struck them down [smote them, cut them down] until no survivor [remnant, one who remains] or fugitive [one who escapes, refugee] remained [was left, spared]. word study 23 But they took [seized, captured] the king [royal ruler, monarch] of Ai [heap of ruins, a city in Palestine] alive [still living, not killed] and brought [presented, approached] him to Joshua [leader, successor of Moses]. word study 24 When Israel [the descendants of Jacob, God’s chosen people] had finished killing [slaying, putting to death] all the men of Ai [the city of ruins] who had pursued [chased, hunted] them into the field [the open land, the wilderness] and wilderness [the desert, the barren land], and when every last one of them had fallen [been defeated, cut down] by the sword [the edge of the sword, the instrument of war], all the Israelites [the people of God, the children of Israel] returned to Ai [the city of destruction, the place of judgment] and put it to the sword [smote it with the edge of the sword, destroyed it completely] as well. word study 25 A total of twelve thousand [a multitude of, a large number of] men [individuals, males] and women [females, wives] fell [were slain, defeated] that day [a period of twenty-four hours, a time of judgment]—all [every single one, the entire population] the people [inhabitants, residents] of Ai [the city of ruins, a place of destruction]. word study 26 Joshua [the leader, Yahweh is salvation] did not draw back the hand [an open hand; strength, a side or share] that held his battle lance [javelin, spear] until he had devoted [utterly destroyed, completely given over] to destruction [the act of destroying, laying waste] all who lived [dwelling, inhabiting] in Ai [the heap of ruins, a city of desolation]. word study 27 Israel took for themselves only [exclusively, apart from all else] the cattle [livestock, animals] and plunder [spoils of war, booty] of that city [town, settlement], as the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] had commanded [given orders, instructed] Joshua [leader, successor of Moses]. word study 28 So Joshua [the leader, Yahweh is salvation] burned [set on fire, utterly consumed] Ai [the heap of ruins, a city of desolation] and made it a permanent [everlasting, age-during] heap of ruins [a desolate mound, a waste mass of stones], a desolation [a state of devastation, a wilderness] to this [the present] day [a period of time, an era]. word study 29 He hung the king [ruler, monarch] of Ai [a city of ruins] on a tree [a wooden stake] until evening [sunset, the end of the day], and at sunset [when the sun went down] Joshua [God is salvation, a leader] commanded [gave orders, instructed] that they take down the body [corpse, dead body] from the tree and throw it down [cast it away, dispose of it] at the entrance [gate, doorway] of the city gate [the city’s main entrance]. And over it they raised [erected, built] a large pile [a great heap, a monument] of rocks [stones, a memorial], which remains [stands, endures] to this day [until now, still]. word study 30 At that time [then, in a past moment] Joshua [a leader, whose name means God is salvation] built [established, constructed] an altar [a place of sacrifice, for worship] on Mount [a high elevation] Ebal [the mountain of cursing] to the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God], the God [Elohim, the supreme Being] of Israel [the descendants of Jacob, God’s chosen people], word study 31 just as Moses [the servant of God, leader of the Israelites] the servant of the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] had commanded [given orders, appointed] the Israelites [descendants of Jacob]. He built it according to what is written [recorded, inscribed] in the Book [scroll, written document] of the Law [instruction, guidance] of Moses: “an altar [place of sacrifice] of uncut [whole, unhewn] stones [rocks, weights] on which no iron [strong metal] tool [instrument, equipment] has been used [lifted, waved].” And on it they offered [presented, sacrificed] burnt offerings [steps, ascent to God] to the LORD [Yehovah], and they sacrificed [slaughtered, gave] peace offerings [voluntary sacrifices, expressions of gratitude]. word study 32 And there [before] in the presence of the Israelites [children of Israel, sons of Israel], Joshua inscribed [wrote, engraved] on the stones [rocks, monuments] a copy [second, duplicate] of the law [instruction, teachings] of Moses [the Israelite leader], which he had written [recorded, inscribed]. word study 33 All [every single one, the entire nation] Israel [the descendants of Jacob], foreigners [sojourners, non-Israelites] and citizens [native-born Israelites] alike, with their elders [respected leaders, older men], officers [high-ranking officials], and judges [those who govern and vindicate], stood [stood firmly, in a strong sense] on both sides of the ark [a chest, the container of the covenant] of the covenant [a promise, an agreement] of the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] facing [in front of, opposite] the Levitical [descendants of Levi] priests [those who serve God and lead worship] who carried [lifted, bore] it. Half [a division, a part] of the people stood in front of [opposite, towards] Mount Gerizim [a mountain in northern Israel] and half [a division, a part] of them in front of [opposite, towards] Mount Ebal [a mountain in Palestine, the mountain of cursing], as Moses [the Israelite leader, a servant of God] the servant [one who serves, a slave] of the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] had commanded [given orders, appointed] earlier, to bless [to praise, honor] the people of Israel [the nation, the descendants of Jacob]. word study 34 Afterward [following this event, at a later time], Joshua read aloud [proclaimed, gave a loud and clear reading] all the words [every statement, declaration] of the law [instruction, teachings]—the blessings [gifts from God, prosperity] and the curses [punishments, judgments]—according to all that is written [recorded, inscribed] in the Book [scroll, written document] of the Law [Torah, divine guidance]. word study 35 There was not a word [nothing was left unspoken] of all that Moses [the Israelite leader, lawgiver] had commanded [given orders, appointed] that Joshua [God’s chosen successor, leader] failed to read [proclaim, declare] before the whole assembly [gathering, congregation] of Israel [God’s chosen people], including the women [females, wives], the little ones [children, infants], and the foreigners [sojourners, non-Israelites] who lived [resided, dwelled] among them [in their midst, as part of their community]. word study