Josue 8
8
1And the Lord said to Josue: Fear not, nor be thou dismayed. Take with thee all the multitude of fighting men: arise and go up to the town of Hai. Behold, I have delivered into thy hand the king thereof, and the people, and the city, and the land.
2And thou shalt do to the city of Hai, and to the king thereof, as thou hast done to Jericho, and to the king thereof: but the spoils and all the cattle you shall take for a prey to yourselves. Lay an ambush for the city behind it.
3And Josue arose, and all the army of the fighting men with him, to go up against Hai. And he sent thirty thousand chosen valiant men in the night,
4And commanded them, saying: Lay an ambush behind the city: and go not very far from it: and be ye all ready.
5But I and the rest of the multitude which is with me will approach on the contrary side against the city. And when they shall come out against us, we will flee, and turn our backs, as we did before:
6Till they pursuing us be drawn farther from the city. For they will think that we flee as before.
7And whilst we are fleeing, and they pursuing, you shall arise out of the ambush, and shall destroy the city. And the Lord your God will deliver it into our hands.
8And when you shall have taken it, set it on fire: and you shall do all things so as I have commanded.
9And he sent them away, and they went on to the place of the ambush, and abode between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the city of Hai. But Josue stayed that night in the midst of the people.
10And rising early in the morning, he mustered his soldiers, and went up with the ancients in the front of the army environed with the aid of the fighting men.
11And when they were come, and were gone up over against the city, they stood on the north side of the city, between which and them there was a valley in the midst.
12And he had chosen five thousand men: and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the same city.
13But all the rest of the army went in battle array on the north side, so that the last of that multitude reached to the west side of the city. So Josue went that night, and stood in the midst of the valley.
14And when the king of Hai saw this, he made haste in the morning, and went out with all the army of the city, and set it in battle array toward the desert, not knowing that there lay an ambush behind his back.
15But Josue, and all Israel gave back, making as if they were afraid, and fleeing by the way of the wilderness.
16But they shouting together, and encouraging one another, pursued them. And when they were come from the city,
17And not one remained in the city of Hai and of Bethel, that did not pursue after Israel, leaving the towns open as they had rushed out,
18The Lord said to Josue: Lift up the shield that is in thy hand, towards the city of Hai, for I will deliver it to thee.
19And when he had lifted up his shield towards the city, the ambush that lay hid, rose up immediately: and going to the city, took it and set it on fire.
20And the men of the city, that pursued after Josue, looking back and seeing the smoke of the city rise up to heaven, had no more power to flee this way or that way: especially as they that had counterfeited flight, and were going toward the wilderness, turned back most valiantly against them that pursued.
21So Josue and all Israel seeing that the city was taken, and that the smoke of the city rose up, returned and slew the men of Hai.
22And they also that had taken and set the city on fire, issuing out of the city to meet their own men, began to cut off the enemies who were surrounded by them. So that the enemies being cut off on both sides, not one of so great a multitude was saved.
23And they took the king of the city of Hai alive and brought him to Josue.
24So all being slain that had pursued after Israel in his flight to the wilderness, and falling by the sword in the same place, the children of Israel returned and laid waste the city.
25And the number of them that fell that day, both of men and women, was twelve thousand persons all of the city of Hai.
26But Josue drew not back his hand, which he had stretched out on high, holding the shield, till all the inhabitants of Hai were slain.
27And the children of Israel divided among them the cattle and the prey of the city, as the Lord had commanded Josue.
28And he burned the city, and made it a heap for ever.
29And he hung the king thereof on a gibbet until the evening and the going down of the sun. Then Josue commanded, and they took down his carcass from the gibbet: and threw it in the very entrance of the city, heaping upon it a great heap of stones, which remaineth until this present day.
30Then Josue built an altar to the Lord the God of Israel in mount Hebal,
31As Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, and it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of unhewn stones which iron had not touched. And he offered upon it holocausts to the Lord, and immolated victims of peace-offerings.
32And he wrote upon stones the Deuteronomy of the law of Moses, which he had ordered before the children of Israel.
33And all the people, and the ancients, and the princes and judges stood on both sides of the ark, before the priests that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, (both the stranger and he that was born among them,) half of them by mount Garizim, and half by mount Hebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. And first he blessed the people of Israel.
34After this he read all the words of the blessing and the cursing, and all things that were written in the book of the law.
35He left out nothing of those things which Moses had commanded: but he repeated all before all the people of Israel, with the women and children and strangers that dwelt among them.
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Josue 8: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Joshua 8
8
1Then Adonai said to Joshua: “Do not be afraid or dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai. Behold, I have given the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land into your hand.
2Then you will do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king—except you will take its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.”
3So Joshua and all the people of war arose to go up to Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 men, valiant warriors, and sent them at night.
4He commanded them saying: “Look, you are going to ambush the city from behind it. Don’t go too far from the city, but all of you be ready.
5Then I and all the troops with me will approach the city. Then it will be when they come out against us, like the first time, that we will flee before them.
6So they will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will think, ‘They are fleeing before us like the first time.’ While we are fleeing before them,
7you will rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city, for Adonai your God will give it into your hand.
8Now when you have seized the city, you will set the city on fire—according to the word of Adonai you must do. See that you do as I have ordered you.”
9So Joshua sent them off, and they went to the ambush site, taking position between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua spent that night among the people.
10Then Joshua rose up early in the morning and mustered the people. He and the elders of Israel marched before the people to Ai.
11All the people of war with him went up, advanced, and came in front of the city. They camped to the north of Ai, with a valley between him and Ai.
12But he had taken about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.
13So they stationed the people, the main army that was to the north of the city, and its rear guard to the west of the city. Then Joshua walked that night in the midst of the valley.
14So it came to pass when the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city hurried and rose up early, and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place facing the Arabah. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
15So Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled by the way of the wilderness.
16Then all the people who were in Ai were summoned to pursue them, so they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
17Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, so they left the city open as they chased after Israel.
18Then Adonai said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” So Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.
19As soon as he stretched out his hand, the ambush arose quickly from their place, ran and entered the city and captured it; and immediately set the city on fire.
20Now the men of Ai looked back and saw, behold, the smoke of the city rising up to the sky! They had no place to flee this way or that, since the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
21When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city rose up, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.
22The others also came out of the city against them, so they were surrounded by Israel, some on this side and some on that side. They struck them down until not one survivor or fugitive was left.
23But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24After Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them were fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.
25All who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000—all the people of Ai.
26For Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
27Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of Adonai which He had commanded Joshua.
28So Joshua burnt Ai and made it a permanent heap of desolation to this day.
29Then he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. At sunset Joshua commanded that they take his carcass down from the tree, cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and piled over it a great heap of stones, which remains to this day.
30Then Joshua built an altar to Adonai, God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,
31as Moses the servant of Adonai had commanded Bnei-Yisrael, as written in the scroll of the Torah of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no man had wielded any iron tool. They offered on it burnt offerings to Adonai and sacrificed fellowship offerings.
32 There on the stones he wrote a copy of the Torah of Moses, which he had written, in the presence of Bnei-Yisrael.
33Then all Israel, with their elders and officials, and their judges, were standing on both sides of the ark facing the Levitical kohanim carrying the ark of the covenant of Adonai—the outsider as well as the native-born. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal—just as Moses the servant of Adonai had commanded before—in order to bless the people of Israel.
34Then afterward he read all the words of the Torah—the blessing and the curse—according to all that is written in the book of the Torah.
35There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, including the women and the little ones and the outsiders walking among them.
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