Parallel Bible results for "joshua 8"

Joshua 8

New Revised Standard NRS

1 Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed; take all the fighting men with you, and go up now to Ai. See, I have handed over to you the king of Ai with his people, his city, and his land.

2 You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king; only its spoil and its livestock you may take as booty for yourselves. Set an ambush against the city, behind it."

3 So Joshua and all the fighting men set out to go up against Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand warriors and sent them out by night

4 with the command, "You shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it; do not go very far from the city, but all of you stay alert.

5 I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out against us, as before, we shall flee from them.

6 They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, "They are fleeing from us, as before.' While we flee from them,

7 you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city; for the Lord your God will give it into your hand.

8 And when you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire, doing as the Lord has ordered; see, I have commanded you."

9 So Joshua sent them out; and they went to the place of ambush, and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai; but Joshua spent that night in the camp.

10 In the morning Joshua rose early and mustered the people, and went up, with the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

11 All the fighting men who were with him went up, and drew near before the city, and camped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai.

12 Taking about five thousand men, he set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

13 So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the inhabitants of the city, hurried out early in the morning to the meeting place facing the Arabah to meet Israel in battle; but he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

15 And Joshua and all Israel made a pretense of being beaten before them, and fled in the direction of the wilderness.

16 So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city.

17 There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel; they left the city open, and pursued Israel.

18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Stretch out the sword that is in your hand toward Ai; for I will give it into your hand." And Joshua stretched out the sword that was in his hand toward the city.

19 As soon as he stretched out his hand, the troops in ambush rose quickly out of their place and rushed forward. They entered the city, took it, and at once set the city on fire.

20 So when the men of Ai looked back, the smoke of the city was rising to the sky. They had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers.

21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city was rising, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.

22 And the others came out from the city against them; so they were surrounded by Israelites, some on one side, and some on the other; and Israel struck them down until no one was left who survived or escaped.

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

24 When Israel had finished slaughtering all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and when all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai, and attacked it with the edge of the sword.

25 The total of those who fell that day, both men and women, was twelve thousand—all the people of Ai.

26 For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the sword, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their booty, according to the word of the Lord that he had issued to Joshua.

28 So Joshua burned Ai, and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day.

29 And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, threw it down at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.

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

31 just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, "an altar of unhewn stones, on which no iron tool has been used"; and they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed offerings of well-being.

32 And there, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.

33 All Israel, alien as well as citizen, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark in front of the levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.

34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, blessings and curses, according to all that is written in the book of the law.

35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the aliens who resided 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.