Inspire: Joshua, Judges & Ruth 978-1-4964-7519-0 - Flipbook - Page 19
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The Israelites Defeat Ai
8 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.
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Then the LORD said to Joshua,
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.
