1Then the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. Go up and attack Ai. Take the whole army with you. I have handed the king of Ai over to you. I have given you his people, his city and his land.2Remember what you did to Jericho and its king. You will do the same thing to Ai and its king. But this time you can keep for yourselves the livestock and everything else you take from them. Have some of your fighting men hide behind the city and take them by surprise.’3So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best fighting men. He sent them out at night.4He gave them orders. He said, ‘Listen carefully to what I’m saying. You must hide behind the city. Don’t go very far away from it. All of you must be ready to attack it.5I and all those with me will march up to the city. The men of Ai will come out to fight against us, just as they did before. Then we’ll run away from them.6They’ll chase us until we’ve drawn them away from the city. They’ll say, “They are running away from us, just as they did before.” When we run away from them,7come out of your hiding place. Capture the city. The LORD your God will hand it over to you.8When you have taken it, set it on fire. Do what the LORD has commanded. Make sure you obey my orders.’9Then Joshua sent them away. They went to the place where they had planned to hide. They hid in a place west of Ai. It was between Bethel and Ai. But Joshua spent that night with his troops.10Early the next morning Joshua brought together his army. He and the leaders of Israel marched in front of them to Ai.11The whole army that was with him marched up to the city. They stopped in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai. There was a valley between them and the city.12Joshua had chosen about 5,000 soldiers. He had ordered them to hide in a place west of Ai. It was between Bethel and Ai.13The men took up their battle positions. All the men in the camp north of the city took up their positions. So did those who were supposed to hide west of the city. That night Joshua went into the valley.14The king of Ai saw what the troops with Joshua were doing. So the king and all his men hurried out of the city early in the morning. They marched out to meet Israel in battle. They went to a place that looked out over the Arabah Valley. The king didn’t know that some of Israel’s fighting men were hiding behind the city.15Joshua and all his men let the men of Ai drive them back. The Israelites ran away towards the desert.16All the men of Ai were called out to chase them. They chased Joshua. So they were drawn away from the city.17Not even one man remained in Ai or Bethel. All of them went out to chase Israel. When they did, they left the city wide open.18Then the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Hold out towards Ai the javelin that is in your hand. I will give the city to you.’ So Joshua held out towards the city the javelin in his hand.19As soon as he did, the men hiding behind the city got up quickly. They came out of their hiding places and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it. They quickly set it on fire.20The men of Ai looked back. They saw smoke rising up from the city into the sky. But they couldn’t escape in any direction. The Israelites had been running away towards the desert. But now they turned around to face those chasing them.21Joshua and all his men saw that the men who had been hiding behind the city had captured it. They also saw that smoke was going up from it. So they turned around and attacked the men of Ai.22The men who had set Ai on fire came out of the city. They also fought against the men of Ai. So the men of Ai were caught in the middle. The army of Israel was on both sides of them. Israel struck them down. They didn’t let anyone remain alive or get away.23But they captured the king of Ai alive. They brought him to Joshua.24Israel finished killing all the men of Ai. They destroyed them in the fields and in the desert where they had chased them. They struck down every one of them with their swords. Then all the Israelites returned to Ai. And they killed those who were left in it.25The total number of men and women they killed that day was 12,000. The Israelites put to death all the people of Ai.26Joshua continued to hold out his javelin towards Ai. He didn’t lower his hand until he and his men had totally destroyed everyone who lived there.27But this time Israel kept for themselves the livestock and everything else they had taken from the city. The LORD had instructed Joshua to let them do it.28So Joshua burned down Ai. He tore it down so it could never be built again. It has been deserted to this very day.29Joshua killed the king of Ai. He stuck a pole through the body. Then he set it up where people could see it. He left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered his men to remove the body from the pole. He told them to throw the body down at the entrance of the city gate. They put a large pile of rocks over the body. That pile is still there to this day.
Joshua reads the Book of the Law to the people
30Joshua built an altar to honour the LORD, the God of Israel. He built it on Mount Ebal.31Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded the Israelites to do that. Joshua built the altar according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses. Joshua built the altar out of stones that iron tools had never touched. Then the people offered on the altar burnt offerings to the LORD. They also sacrificed friendship offerings on it.32Joshua copied the law of Moses on stones. He did it while all the Israelites were watching.33They were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD. All the Israelites, including outsiders and citizens, were there. Israel’s elders, officials and judges were also there. All of them faced the priests, who were Levites. They were carrying the ark. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim. The other half stood in front of Mount Ebal. Moses, the servant of the LORD, had earlier told them to do it. Moses told them to do it when he had given directions to bless the Israelites.34Then Joshua read all the words of the law out loud. He read the blessings and the curses. He read them just as they are written in the Book of the Law.35Joshua read every word Moses had commanded. He read them to the whole community of Israel. That included the women and children. It also included the outsiders living among them.
Nya Levande Bibeln
Israel utplånar Ai
1"Du ska inte vara rädd eller modlös", sa Herren till Josua. "Samla nu hela armén och gå till Ai, för nu är det dags att besegra folket där. Jag har gett dig både kungen och allt folket.2Ni ska göra med dem på samma sätt som ni gjorde med Jeriko och kungen där, men den här gången ska ni få ta byte åt er själva, boskap och allt annat. Lägg er i bakhåll på andra sidan staden."3Innan huvuddelen av styrkan gav sig iväg till Ai, skickade Josua 30.000 av sina modigaste soldater för att lägga sig i bakhåll på andra sidan staden beredda att ingripa.5"Det här är vår plan", förklarade han. "När huvudstyrkan går till anfall, kommer männen i Ai att ge sig ut för att strida, precis som de gjorde förra gången.6Vi ska då fly för dem och på så sätt lura dem att lämna staden, för då tänker de: 'Israeliterna flyr igen, precis som förra gången!'7Då ska ni rusa fram från ert bakhåll och springa in i staden, för Herren ska ge er den.8Sätt eld på staden, som Herren har befallt! Verkställ nu min order!"9Samma kväll marscherade de iväg och lade sig i bakhåll mellan Betel och västra sidan av Ai, medan Josua och resten av armén stannade kvar i lägret vid Jeriko.10Tidigt morgonen därpå mönstrade Josua sina trupper och begav sig iväg mot Ai, följd av de äldste i Israel.11De stannade vid dalen som ligger norr om staden. Den kvällen sände Josua ytterligare 5.000 man att förena sig med dem som låg i bakhåll väster om staden. Själv stannade han kvar i dalen över natten.14När kungen i Ai såg israeliterna på andra sidan dalen gick han och hans män tidigt på morgonen till anfall mot dem på Arabas slätt. Men han visste inte att det fanns män som låg i bakhåll på andra sidan staden.15Josua och israeliterna flydde genom öknen som de planerat,16och alla soldater i staden fick order om att förfölja dem, vilket betydde att staden blev helt utan försvar.17Det fanns inte en enda soldat kvar i Ai eller Betel, och stadsportarna stod vidöppna.18Då sa Herren till Josua: "Räck ut ditt spjut mot Ai, för jag ska ge dig staden. "Josua gjorde som Herren sagt,19och när männen som låg i bakhåll såg denna signal, rusade de upp och in i staden och tände eld på den.20När männen från Ai då vände sig om fick de se rök bolma upp från staden, och de hade ingenstans att ta vägen. Men när Josua och de trupper han hade med sig såg röken inifrån staden visste de att deras män var där. De vände sig då om och gick till anfall mot sina förföljare och dödade dem.22Då kom också de israeliter som var inne i staden ut och började anfalla fienden bakifrån. Männen från Ai hamnade på så sätt i en fälla och allesammans dödades. Inte en enda kom undan.23Kungen däremot togs till fånga levande och fördes fram inför Josua.24När sedan Israels armé hade dödat alla som fanns utanför staden vände de tillbaka och dödade dem som ännu fanns kvar innanför stadsmurarna.25Hela Ais befolkning, 12.000 personer, utplånades den dagen.26Josua höll nämligen sitt spjut riktat mot Ai till dess den siste av dem som bodde där var död.27Endast boskapen fick leva, och israeliterna behöll bytet för sig själva. Herren hade nämligen sagt till Josua att de skulle göra detta.28Det blev således ingenting kvar av Ai, och än i dag ligger staden i ruiner.29Josua hängde upp kungen från Ai på en påle och lät honom hänga där till kvällen. Vid solnedgången tog han ner kroppen och slängde den framför stadsporten, och man kastade ett stenröse över den, vilket finns där än i dag.
Josua läser lagen för folket
30Josua byggde ett altare åt Herren Gud på berget Ebal,31som Mose hade befallt i sin lagbok: "Gör mig ett altare av stenar som varken är tillhuggna eller bearbetade med verktyg", hade Herren sagt om altaret på berget Ebal. Prästerna offrade där brännoffer och tackoffer till Herren,32och medan folket såg på, ristade Josua in vart och ett av de tio budorden i stenarna.33Allt folket i Israel, även de från andra folk som levde bland dem, och de äldste, ledare och domare, delade sig i två grupper. Den ena gruppen ställde sig vid foten av berget Gerissim och den andra vid Ebal. Mellan dem stod prästerna med arken, beredda att uttala välsignelsen. Allt gjordes enligt de föreskrifter som Mose långt tidigare hade gett dem.34Josua läste sedan upp hela lagen för folket med välsignelsen och förbannelsen, precis som Mose hade skrivit i Guds lagbok.35Varje befallning som Mose hade gett lästes inför hela församlingen, där både kvinnor och barn och alla övriga som bodde tillsammans med israeliterna var med.
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