3 The ſiege, 19 And winning of Ai 29 The King thereof is hanged 30 Ioſhúa ſetteth up an altar. 32 He writeth the Lawe vpon stones. 35 And readeth it to all the people.

1.AFter, yͤ Lord ſaid vnto Ioſhúa, ^* Feare not, nether be thou faint hearted: take all the men of warre with thee and ariſe, go vp to Ai: beholde, I haue giuen into thine hãd the King of Aí, and his people, and his citie, and his land.

2.And thou ſhalt do to Aí and to the King thereof, as thou diddeſt vnto ^* Ierichó and to the King thereof: neuertheles yͤ ſpoyle thereof and ^* the cattel thereof ſhal ye take vnto you for ^a pray: thou ſhalt lie in waite againſt the citie on the ^a backſide thereof.

3.Then Ioſhúa roſe, and all the men of warre to go vp againſt Aí: and Ioſhúa choſe out thirtie thouſand ſtrong men, and valiant, and ſent them away by night.

4.And he commanded them, ſaying, Beholde, ye ^b ſhal lye in wait againſt the citie on the backſide of the citie: go not very far fró the citie, but be ye all in a readines.

5.And I and all the people that are with me, wil approche vnto the citie: and when they ſhal come out againſt vs, as they did at the firſt time, then wil we flee before them.

6.For they wil come out after vs, til we haue broght them out of the citie: for they wil ſay, They flee before vs as at the firſt time: ſo we wil flee before them.

7.Then you ſhal riſe vp from lying in wait and ^" deſtroy the citie: for the Lord your God wil deliuer it into your hand.

8.And when ye haue taken the citie, ye ſhal ſet it on fire: according to the commãdement of the Lord ſhal ye do: beholde, I haue charged you.

9.Ioſhúa then ſent them forthe, and they went to lie in wait, and abode betwene Beth-él and Aí, on the Weſtſide of Aí: but Ioſhúa lodged that night ^c among the people.

10.And And Ioſhua roſe vp early in yͤ morning, and ^d nombred the people : and he and the Elders of Iſraél went vp before the people againſt Aï.

11.Alſo all the men of warre that were with him wēt vp & drue nere, and came againſt the citie, & pitched on the Northſide of Aï and there was a valley betwene them and Aï.

12.And he toke about fiue thouſand men, & ſet them to lie in wayt betwene Beth-él & Aï, on the Weſtſide of the citie.

13.And the people ſet all the hoſte that was on the Northſide againſt the citie, & the liers in wayte on the Weſt, againſt the ci-tie: ^f Ioſhua went the fame night into yͤ middes of the valley.

14.¶ And whe the King of Aï ſawe it, then the men of the citie haſted & roſe vp ear-ly, and went out againſt Iſraél to battel, he & all his people at the time appointed, be-fore the plaine: for he knewe not that ame lay in waite againſt him on the backſide of the citie.

15.Then Ioſhua and all Iſraél ^g as beaten before thē, fled by the way of the wilder-nes.

16.And all the people of the citie were cal-led together, to purſue after them: & they purſued after Ioſhua, and were drawen a-way out of the citie,

17.So that there was not a man left in Aï, nor in Beth-él, that went not out after Iſ-raél: and they left the citie open, & pur-ſued after Iſraél.

18.The the Lord ſaid vnto Ioſhua, ^h Stret-che out the ſpeare that is in thine hand towarde Aï : for I wil giue it into thine hand: and Ioſhua ſtretched out the ſpeare that he had in his hand, towarde the ci-tie.

19.And thei that lay in waite, aroſe quickly out of their place, & ran aſſone as he had ſtretched out his hand, and they entred in-to the citie, and toke it, and haſted, and ſet the citie on fire.

20.And the men of Aï loked behinde thē, & ſawe it: for lo, the ſmoke of the citie af-cended vp ^" to heauen, and they had no power to flee this way or that way : for yͤ people that fled to the wildernes, turned backe vpon the purſuers.

21.When Ioſhua and all Iſraél ſawe that they that lay in wait, had takē the citie, & that the ſmoke of the citie mounted vp, then they turned againe and ſlewe the mē of Aï.

22.Alſo the ⁱ other iſſued out of the citie againſt thē: ſo were they in the middes of Iſraél, theſe being on yͤ one ſide, & yͤ reſt on yͤ other ſide.& they ſlewe thē, ſo that they let none of them ^* remaine nor eſcape.

23.And the King of Aï they toke aliue, & brought him to Ioſhua.

24.And when Iſraél had made an end of ſlaying all the inhabitāts of Aï in yͤ field, that is, in yͤ wildernes, where they chaſed them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the ſword, vntil they were conſu-med, all the Iſraelites retuined vnto Aï, & ^k ſmote it with the edge of the ſworde.

25.And all that fel that day, bothe of men and women, were twelue thouſand, euen all the men of Aï.

26.For Ioſhua drewe not his hand backe a-gaine which he had ſtretched out with the ſpeare, vntil he had vtterly deſtroyed all yͤ inhabitants of Aï.

27.^* Onely the cattel & the ſpoyle of this citie, Iſraél toke for a pray vnto them ſel-ues, according vnto the worde of yͤ Lord, which he commanded Ioſhua.

28.And Ioſhua burnt Aï, and made it an heape for ^l euer, & a wildernes vnto this day.

29.And yͤ King of Aï he hanged on a tre, vnto the euening. And aſſone as yͤ ſunne was downe, Ioſhua cōmanded ^m that they ſhulde take his carkeis downe frō the tre, and caſt it at the entring of the gate of the citie, and ^* lay thereon a great heape of ſtones, that remaineth vnto this day.

30.¶ Then Ioſhua buylt an altar vnto the Lord God of Iſraél, in mount Ebál,

31.As Moſés the ſeruant of the Lord had commanded the children of Iſraél, as it is written in yͤ ^* boke of the Lawe of Moſés, an altar of whole ſtone, ouer which no mā had lift an yron and they offred thereon burnt offrings vnto the Lord, & ſacrificed peace offrings.

32.Alſo he wrote there vpon the ſtones, a ⁿ rehearſal of the Lawe of Moſés, which he wrote in the preſence of the chil-dren of Iſraél.

33.And all Iſraél (and their Elders, and offi-cers & their iudges ſtode on this ſide of the Arke, and on that ſide, before the Pri-eſts of the Leuites, which bare the Arke of the couenant of the Lord) aſwel the ſtranger, as he that is borne in the coun-trey : halfe of them were ouer againſt mount Gerizím, and halfe of them ouer againſt moūt Ebál, ^* as Moſés the ſeruant of the Lord had commanded before, that they ſhulde bleſſe the people of Iſraél.

34.Then afterward he red all the wordes of the Lawe, the bleſsings and curſings, ac cordīng to all that is written in the boke of the Lawe.

35.There was not a worde of all that Moſés had commanded, which Ioſhua red not before all the Congregacion of Iſraél, ^o aſwell before the women and the chil-dren, as ^* the ſtranger that was conuer-ſant among them.

Joshua 8

Notes