Israel Destroys Ai
1Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. Go up and attack Ai. Take the whole army with you. I have handed the king of Ai over to you. I have given you his people, his city and his land. 2Remember what you did to Jericho and its king. You will do the same thing to Ai and its king. But this time you can keep for yourselves the livestock and everything else you take from them. Have some of your fighting men hide behind the city and take them by surprise.”
3So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best fighting men. He sent them out at night. 4He gave them orders. He said, “Listen carefully to what I’m saying. You must hide behind the city. Don’t go very far away from it. All of you must be ready to attack it. 5I and all those with me will march up to the city. The men of Ai will come out to fight against us, just as they did before. Then we’ll run away from them. 6They’ll chase us until we’ve drawn them away from the city. They’ll say, ‘They are running away from us, just as they did before.’ When we run away from them, 7come out of your hiding place. Capture the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you. 8When you have taken it, set it on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded. Make sure you obey my orders.”
9Then Joshua sent them away. They went to the place where they had planned to hide. They hid in a place west of Ai. It was between Bethel and Ai. But Joshua spent that night with his troops.
10Early the next morning Joshua brought together his army. He and the leaders of Israel marched in front of them to Ai. 11The whole army that was with him marched up to the city. They stopped in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai. There was a valley between them and the city. 12Joshua had chosen about 5,000 soldiers. He had ordered them to hide in a place west of Ai. It was between Bethel and Ai. 13The men took up their battle positions. All the men in the camp north of the city took up their positions. So did those who were supposed to hide west of the city. That night Joshua went into the valley.
14The king of Ai saw what the troops with Joshua were doing. So the king and all his men hurried out of the city early in the morning. They marched out to meet Israel in battle. They went to a place that looked out over the Arabah Valley. The king didn’t know that some of Israel’s fighting men were hiding behind the city. 15Joshua and all his men let the men of Ai drive them back. The Israelites ran away toward the desert. 16All the men of Ai were called out to chase them. They chased Joshua. So they were drawn away from the city. 17Not even one man remained in Ai or Bethel. All of them went out to chase Israel. When they did, they left the city wide open.
18Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand. I will give the city to you.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin in his hand. 19As soon as he did, the men hiding behind the city got up quickly. They came out of their hiding places and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it. They quickly set it on fire.
20The men of Ai looked back. They saw smoke rising up from the city into the sky. But they couldn’t escape in any direction. The Israelites had been running away toward the desert. But now they turned around to face those chasing them. 21Joshua and all his men saw that the men who had been hiding behind the city had captured it. They also saw that smoke was going up from it. So they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. 22The men who had set Ai on fire came out of the city. They also fought against the men of Ai. So the men of Ai were caught in the middle. The army of Israel was on both sides of them. Israel struck them down. They didn’t let anyone remain alive or get away. 23But they captured the king of Ai alive. They brought him to Joshua.
24Israel finished killing all the men of Ai. They destroyed them in the fields and in the desert where they had chased them. They struck down every one of them with their swords. Then all the Israelites returned to Ai. And they killed those who were left in it. 25The total number of men and women they killed that day was 12,000. The Israelites put to death all the people of Ai. 26Joshua continued to hold out his javelin toward Ai. He didn’t lower his hand until he and his men had totally destroyed everyone who lived there. 27But this time Israel kept for themselves the livestock and everything else they had taken from the city. The Lord had directed Joshua to let them do it.
28So Joshua burned down Ai. He tore it down so it could never be built again. It has been deserted to this very day. 29Joshua killed the king of Ai. He stuck a pole through the body. Then he set it up where people could see it. He left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered his men to remove the body from the pole. He told them to throw the body down at the entrance of the city gate. They put a large pile of rocks over the body. That pile is still there to this day.
Joshua Reads the Book of the Law to the People
30Joshua built an altar to honor the Lord, the God of Israel. He built it on Mount Ebal. 31Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the Israelites to do that. Joshua built the altar according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses. Joshua built the altar out of stones that iron tools had never touched. Then the people offered on the altar burnt offerings to the Lord. They also sacrificed friendship offerings on it. 32Joshua copied the law of Moses on stones. He did it while all the Israelites were watching. 33They were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. All the Israelites, including outsiders and citizens, were there. Israel’s elders, officials and judges were also there. All of them faced the priests, who were Levites. They were carrying the ark. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim. The other half stood in front of Mount Ebal. Moses, the servant of the Lord, had earlier told them to do it. Moses told them to do it when he had given directions to bless the Israelites.
34Then Joshua read all the words of the law out loud. He read the blessings and the curses. He read them just as they are written in the Book of the Law. 35Joshua read every word Moses had commanded. He read them to the whole community of Israel. That included the women and children. It also included the outsiders living among them.
Aj erobres
1Herren sagde nu til Josva: „Vær ikke modløs og bange! Tag hele hæren med dig og indtag Aj. Jeg vil give jer sejr over byens konge og alle hans mænd. Jeg vil give jer byen og det tilhørende landområde. 2I skal gøre med dem, som I gjorde med kongen og indbyggerne i Jeriko, men denne gang må I selv beholde krigsbyttet og kvæget. I skal lægge baghold vest for byen.”
3-4Så gjorde Josva og Israels hær sig klar til at angribe Aj. Josva udvalgte 30.000 krigere og gav dem følgende besked: „I skal lægge jer i baghold vest for byen og være klar til at angribe. 5Når jeg og resten af hæren angriber Aj, kommer alle mændene ud af byen for at kæmpe ligesom sidst. Når vi så trækker os tilbage, 6tænker de: ‚Israelitterne flygter fra os ligesom før.’ Men vi lader dem forfølge os, indtil de alle er kommet ud af byen. 7Så springer I frem fra bagholdet og indtager byen. Herren vil give jer sejr, 8og I skal sætte ild til byen, sådan som han har befalet. Det er en ordre!”
9Med disse ord sendte Josva mændene af sted, og de gik i ly af natten hen vest for byen mellem Aj og Betel, hvor de lagde sig i skjul. Men Josva blev den nat hos resten af hæren. 10Tidligt næste morgen samlede Josva sine mænd og marcherede sammen med de israelitiske ledere mod Aj. 11De slog lejr nord for byen, på den anden side af en dal. 12Om natten sendte Josva endnu 5000 mand af sted, der skulle slutte sig til bagholdet vest for byen, 13men selv gik Josva ned i dalen.
14Ajs konge kunne se israelitternes lejr på den anden side af dalen, og tidligt den næste morgen rykkede han ud og angreb dem på et plateau med udsigt over Jordandalen uden at vide, at resten af hæren lå i baghold vest for byen. 15Da Josvas hærafdeling lod sig slå på flugt og flygtede østpå mod ørkenen, 16fik alle byens mænd ordre til at sætte efter dem. På den måde blev de lokket væk fra byen. 17Der var ikke en eneste mand tilbage i Aj,8,17 Den hebraiske tekst tilføjer „og Betel”, men disse ord findes ikke i den græske oversættelse, LXX (Septuaginta). for alle var med til at forfølge israelitterne, så byen lå vidt åben og forsvarsløs.
18Da sagde Herren til Josva: „Ræk dit spyd ud mod Aj, for jeg vil give dig byen.” Josva gjorde, som Herren havde sagt, 19og da mændene, der lå i baghold, så signalet, sprang de frem fra deres skjul og løb ind mod byen. Den blev hurtigt indtaget og stod snart i lys lue. 20-21Da mændene fra Aj så sig tilbage og opdagede de store røgskyer over byen, var de klar over, at de var lokket i en fælde. Også Josva og de flygtende israelitter så røgen og vidste derfor, at bagholdsangrebet var lykkedes. Israelitterne vendte nu om og angreb deres forfølgere. 22Samtidig kom israelitterne fra bagholdet ud fra byen og angreb fjendens bagtrop. Ajs hær var gået i fælden, og alle blev hugget ned, 23bortset fra kongen, der blev taget til fange og ført frem for Josva.
24Da Israels hær havde gjort det af med Ajs hær, vendte de tilbage og dræbte dem, der var efterladt i byen. 25Sådan blev hele Ajs befolkning, 12.000 i alt, udryddet på en enkelt dag. 26Først da den sidste indbygger var slået ihjel, sænkede Josva spyddet. 27Det eneste, der blev skånet, var kvæget og krigsbyttet, som israelitterne på Herrens befaling beholdt. 28Aj blev forvandlet til en ruinhob, hvilket den er den dag i dag.
29Ajs konge blev hængt op på en pæl, men ved solnedgang tog Josva liget ned og slængte det foran byens port, hvorefter man dængede sten ovenpå, og den stendynge ligger der endnu.
Josva bygger et alter og minder folket om Moselovens bud
30Senere byggede Josva på Ebals bjerg et alter for Herren, Israels Gud, 31efter de forskrifter, der står i Moseloven: „Byg mit alter af kampesten, der ikke er tilhuggede eller forarbejdede med jernredskaber.” Og præsterne ofrede brændofre og takofre til Herren. 32Mens Israelitterne så til, skrev Josva lovens bud på alterets sten.
33Hele folket, deres ledere, administratorer og dommere samt de fremmede iblandt dem, blev derpå delt i to grupper. Den ene gruppe stillede sig ved foden af Garizims bjerg, og den anden gruppe ved foden af Ebals bjerg. De to grupper stod altså over for hinanden, og præsterne, som bar pagtens ark, stillede sig midt imellem dem. Det skete alt sammen, sådan som Moses havde forordnet, at Israels folk skulle velsignes. 34Josva oplæste nu alle velsignelserne og forbandelserne, som Moses havde nedskrevet i lovbogen. 35Hver eneste af Moses’ befalinger blev læst op for denne forsamling af mænd, kvinder, børn og de fremmede, som boede iblandt israelitterne.
