Parallel Bible results for "joshua 8"

Joshua 8

New Living Translation NLT

1 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all your fighting men and attack Ai, for I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his town, and his land.

2 You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its king. But this time you may keep the plunder and the livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the town.”

3 So Joshua and all the fighting men set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 of his best warriors and sent them out at night

4 with these orders: “Hide in ambush close behind the town and be ready for action.

5 When our main army attacks, the men of Ai will come out to fight as they did before, and we will run away from them.

6 We will let them chase us until we have drawn them away from the town. For they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ Then, while we are running from them,

7 you will jump up from your ambush and take possession of the town, for the LORD your God will give it to you.

8 Set the town on fire, as the LORD has commanded. You have your orders.”

9 So they left and went to the place of ambush between Bethel and the west side of Ai. But Joshua remained among the people in the camp that night.

10 Early the next morning Joshua roused his men and started toward Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel.

11 All the fighting men who were with Joshua marched in front of the town and camped on the north side of Ai, with a valley between them and the town.

12 That night Joshua sent about 5,000 men to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the town.

13 So they stationed the main army north of the town and the ambush west of the town. Joshua himself spent that night in the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites across the valley, he and all his army hurried out early in the morning and attacked the Israelites at a place overlooking the Jordan Valley. But he didn’t realize there was an ambush behind the town.

15 Joshua and the Israelite army fled toward the wilderness as though they were badly beaten.

16 Then all the men in the town were called out to chase after them. In this way, they were lured away from the town.

17 There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not chase after the Israelites, and the town was left wide open.

18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Point the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the town over to you.” Joshua did as he was commanded.

19 As soon as Joshua gave this signal, all the men in ambush jumped up from their position and poured into the town. They quickly captured it and set it on fire.

20 When the men of Ai looked behind them, smoke from the town was filling the sky, and they had nowhere to go. For the Israelites who had fled in the direction of the wilderness now turned on their pursuers.

21 When Joshua and all the other Israelites saw that the ambush had succeeded and that smoke was rising from the town, they turned and attacked the men of Ai.

22 Meanwhile, the Israelites who were inside the town came out and attacked the enemy from the rear. So the men of Ai were caught in the middle, with Israelite fighters on both sides. Israel attacked them, and not a single person survived or escaped.

23 Only the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua.

24 When the Israelite army finished chasing and killing all the men of Ai in the open fields, they went back and finished off everyone inside.

25 So the entire population of Ai, including men and women, was wiped out that day—12,000 in all.

26 For Joshua kept holding out his spear until everyone who had lived in Ai was completely destroyed.

27 Only the livestock and the treasures of the town were not destroyed, for the Israelites kept these as plunder for themselves, as the LORD had commanded Joshua.

28 So Joshua burned the town of Ai, and it became a permanent mound of ruins, desolate to this very day.

29 Joshua impaled the king of Ai on a sharpened pole and left him there until evening. At sunset the Israelites took down the body, as Joshua commanded, and threw it in front of the town gate. They piled a great heap of stones over him that can still be seen today.

30 Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal.

31 He followed the commands that Moses the LORD ’s servant had written in the Book of Instruction: “Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been shaped with iron tools.” Then on the altar they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD .

32 And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied onto the stones of the altar the instructions Moses had given them.

33 Then all the Israelites—foreigners and native-born alike—along with the elders, officers, and judges, were divided into two groups. One group stood in front of Mount Gerizim, the other in front of Mount Ebal. Each group faced the other, and between them stood the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the LORD ’s Covenant. This was all done according to the commands that Moses, the servant of the LORD, had previously given for blessing the people of Israel.

34 Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of Instruction.

35 Every word of every command that Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among them.

The Message Bible MSG

1 God said to Joshua, "Don't be timid and don't so much as hesitate. Take all your soldiers with you and go back to Ai. I have turned the king of Ai over to you - his people, his city, and his land.

2 "Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king. Only this time you may plunder its stuff and cattle to your heart's content. Set an ambush behind the city."

3 Joshua and all his soldiers got ready to march on Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, tough, seasoned fighters, and sent them off at night

4 with these orders: "Look sharp now. Lie in ambush behind the city. Get as close as you can. Stay alert.

5 I and the troops with me will approach the city head-on. When they come out to meet us just as before, we'll turn and run.

6 They'll come after us, leaving the city. As we are off and running, they'll say, 'They're running away just like the first time.'

7 That's your signal to spring from your ambush and take the city. God, your God, will hand it to you on a platter.

8 Once you have the city, burn it down. God says it, you do it. Go to it. I've given you your orders."

9 Joshua sent them off. They set their ambush and waited between Bethel and Ai, just west of Ai. Joshua spent the night with the people.

10 Joshua was up early in the morning and mustered his army. He and the leaders of Israel led the troops to Ai.

11 The whole army, fighting men all, marched right up within sight of the city and set camp on the north side of Ai. There was a valley between them and Ai.

12 He had taken about five thousand men and put them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, west of the city.

13 They were all deployed, the main army to the north of the city and the ambush to the west. Joshua spent the night in the valley.

14 So it happened that when the king of Ai saw all this, the men of the city lost no time; they were out of there at the crack of dawn to join Israel in battle, the king and his troops, at a field en route to the Arabah. The king didn't know of the ambush set against him behind the city.

15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be chased; they ran toward the wilderness.

16 Everybody in the city was called to the chase. They pursued Joshua and were led away from the city.

17 There wasn't a soul left in Ai or Bethel who wasn't out there chasing after Israel. The city was left empty and undefended as they were chasing Israel down.

18 Then God spoke to Joshua: "Stretch out the javelin in your hand toward Ai - I'm giving it to you." Joshua stretched out the javelin in his hand toward Ai.

19 At the signal the men in ambush sprang to their feet, ran to the city, took it, and quickly had it up in flames.

20 The men of Ai looked back and, oh! saw the city going up in smoke. They found themselves trapped with nowhere to run.

21 The army on the run toward the wilderness did an about-face - Joshua and all Israel, seeing that the ambush had taken the city, saw it going up in smoke, turned and attacked the men of Ai.

22 Then the men in the ambush poured out of the city. The men of Ai were caught in the middle with Israelites on both sides - a real massacre. And not a single survivor.

23 Except for the king of Ai; they took him alive and brought him to Joshua.

24 When it was all over, Israel had killed everyone in Ai, whether in the fields or in the wilderness where they had chased them. When the killing was complete, the Israelites returned to Ai and completed the devastation.

25 The death toll that day came to 12,000 men and women - everyone in Ai.

26 Joshua didn't lower his outstretched javelin until the sacred destruction of Ai and all its people was completed.

27 Israel did get to take the livestock and loot left in the city; God's instructions to Joshua allowed for that.

28 Joshua burned Ai to the ground. A "heap" of nothing forever, a "no-place" - go see for yourself.

29 He hanged the king of Ai from a tree. At evening, with the sun going down, Joshua ordered the corpse cut down. They dumped it at the entrance to the city and piled it high with stones - you can go see that also.

30 Then Joshua built an altar to the God of Israel on Mount Ebal.

31 He built it following the instructions of Moses the servant of God to the People of Israel and written in the Book of The Revelation of Moses, an altar of whole stones that hadn't been chiseled or shaped by an iron tool. On it they offered to God Whole-Burnt-Offerings and sacrificed Peace-Offerings.

32 He also wrote out a copy of The Revelation of Moses on the stones. He wrote it with the People of Israel looking on.

33 All Israel was there, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, standing on opposite sides of the Chest, facing the Levitical priests who carry God's Covenant Chest. Half of the people stood with their backs to Mount Gerizim and half with their backs to Mount Ebal to bless the People of Israel, just as Moses the servant of God had instructed earlier.

34 After that, he read out everything written in The Revelation, the Blessing and the Curse, everything in the Book of The Revelation.

35 There wasn't a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua didn't read to the entire congregation - men, women, children, and foreigners who had been with them on the journey.