Josua 8

1And the Lord said to Josue: Fear not, nor be thou dismayed: take with thee all the multitude of fighting men, arise and go up to the town of Hai. Behold I have delivered into thy hand the king thereof, and the people, and the city, and the land.

2And thou shalt do to the city of Hai, and to the king thereof, as thou hast done to Jericho, and to the king thereof: but the spoils and all the cattle you shall take for a prey to yourselves: lay an ambush for the city behind it.

3And Josue arose, and all the army of the fighting men with him, to go up against Hai: and he sent thirty thousand chosen valiant men in the night,

4And commanded them, saying: Lay an ambush behind the city: and go not very far from it: and be ye all ready.

5But I and the rest of the multitude which is with me; will approach on the contrary side against the city. And when they shall come out against us, we will flee, and turn our backs, as we did before:

6Till they pursuing us be drawn farther from the city: for they will think that we flee as before.

7And whilst we are fleeing, and they pursuing, you shall arise out of the ambush, and shall destroy the city: and the Lord your God will deliver it into our hands.

8And when you shall have taken it, set it on fire, and you shall do all things so as I have commanded.

9And he sent them away, and they went on to the place of the ambush, and abode between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the city of Hai. But Josue stayed that night in the midst of the people,

10And rising early in the morning, he mustered his soldiers, and went up with the ancients in the front of the army environed with the aid of the fighting men.

11And when they were come, and were gone up over against the city, they stood on the north side of the city, between which and them there was a valley in the midst.

12And he had chosen five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the same city:

13But all the rest of the army went in battle array on the north side, so that the last of that multitude reached to the west side of the city. So Josue went that night, and stood in the midst of the valley.

14And when the king of Hai saw this, he made haste in the morning, and went out with all the army of the city, and set it in battle array toward the desert, not knowing that there lay an ambush behind his back.

15But Josue, and all Israel gave back, making as if they were afraid, and fleeing by the way of the wilderness.

16But they shouting together, and encouraging one another, pursued them. And when they were come from the city,

17And not one remained in the city of Hai and of Bethel, that did not pursue after Israel, leaving the towns open as they had rushed out,

18The Lord said to Josue: Lift up the shield that is in thy hand, towards the city of Hai, for I will deliver it to thee.

19And when he had lifted up his shield towards the city, the ambush that lay hid, rose up immediately: and going to the city, took it and set it on fire.

20And the men of the city, that pursued after Josue, looking back and seeing the smoke of the city rise up to heaven, had no more power to flee this way or that way: especially as they that had counterfeited flight, and were going toward the wilderness, turned back most valiantly against them that pursued.

21So Josue and all Israel seeing that the city was taken, and that the smoke of the city rose up, returned and slew the men of Hai.

22And they also that had taken and set the city on fire, issuing out of the city to meet their own men, began to cut off the enemies who were surrounded by them. So that the enemies being cut off on both sides, not one of so great a multitude was saved.

23And they took the king of the city of Hai alive, and brought him to Josue.

24So all being slain that had pursued after Israel in his flight to the wilderness, and tailing by the sword in the same place, the children of Israel returned and laid waste the city.

25And the number of them that fell that day, both of men and women, was twelve thousand persons all of the city of Hai.

26But Josue drew not back his hand, which he had stretched out on high, holding the shield, till all the inhabitants of Hai were slain.

27And the children of Israel divided among them the cattle and the prey of the city, as the Lord had commanded Josue.

28And he burned the city, and made it a heap for ever:

29And he hung the king thereof on a gibbet until the evening and the going down of the sun. Then Josue commanded, and they took down his carcass from the gibbet: and threw it in the very entrance of the city, heaping upon it a great heap of stones, which remaineth until this present day.

30Then Josue built an altar to the Lord the God of Israel in mount Hebal,

31As Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, and it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of unhewn stones which iron had not touched: and he offered upon it holocausts to the Lord, and immolated victims of peace offerings.

32And he wrote upon stones the Deuteronomy of the law of Moses, which he had ordered before the children of Israel.

33And all the people, and the ancients, and the princes and judges stood on both sides of the ark, before the priests that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, both the stranger and he that was born among them, half of them by mount Garizim, and half by mount Hebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. And first he blessed the people of Israel.

34After this he read all the words of the blessing and the cursing and all things that were written in the hook of the law.

35He left out nothing of those things which Moses had commanded, but he repeated all before all the people of Israel, with the women and children and strangers that dwelt among them.

1Dixit autem Dominus ad Josue: Ne timeas, neque formides: tolle tecum omnem multitudinem pugnatorum, et consurgens ascende in oppidum Hai. Ecce tradidi in manu tua regem ejus et populum, urbemque et terram.

2Faciesque urbi Hai, et regi ejus, sicut fecisti Jericho, et regi illius: prædam vero, et omnia animantia diripietis vobis: pone insidias urbi post eam.

3Surrexitque Josue, et omnis exercitus bellatorum cum eo, ut ascenderent in Hai: et electa triginta millia virorum fortium misit nocte,

4præcepitque eis, dicens: Ponite insidias post civitatem, nec longius recedatis: et eritis omnes parati.

5Ego autem, et reliqua multitudo, quæ mecum est, accedemus ex adverso contra urbem. Cumque exierint contra nos, sicut ante fecimus, fugiemus, et terga vertemus,

6donec persequentes ab urbe longius protrahantur: putabunt enim nos fugere sicut prius.

7Nobis ergo fugientibus, et illis persequentibus, consurgetis de insidiis, et vastabitis civitatem: tradetque eam Dominus Deus vester in manus vestras.

8Cumque ceperitis, succendite eam, et sic omnia facietis, ut jussi.

9Dimisitque eos, et perrexerunt ad locum insidiarum, sederuntque inter Bethel et Hai, ad occidentalem plagam urbis Hai: Josue autem nocte illa in medio mansit populi,

10surgensque diluculo recensuit socios, et ascendit cum senioribus in fronte exercitus, vallatus auxilio pugnatorum.

11Cumque venissent et ascendissent ex adverso civitatis, steterunt ad septentrionalem urbis plagam, inter quam et eos erat vallis media.

12Quinque autem millia viros elegerat, et posuerat in insidiis inter Bethel et Hai ex occidentali parte ejusdem civitatis:

13omnis vero reliquus exercitus ad aquilonem aciem dirigebat, ita ut novissimi illius multitudinis occidentalem plagam urbis attingerent. Abiit ergo Josue nocte illa, et stetit in vallis medio.

14Quod cum vidisset rex Hai, festinavit mane, et egressus est cum omni exercitu civitatis, direxitque aciem contra desertum, ignorans quod post tergum laterent insidiæ.

15Josue vero et omnis Israël cesserunt loco, simulantes metum, et fugientes per solitudinis viam.

16At illi vociferantes pariter, et se mutuo cohortantes, persecuti sunt eos. Cumque recessissent a civitate,

17et ne unus quidem in urbe Hai et Bethel remansisset qui non persequeretur Israël (sicut eruperant aperta oppida relinquentes),

18dixit Dominus ad Josue: Leva clypeum, qui in manu tua est, contra urbem Hai, quoniam tibi tradam eam.

19Cumque elevasset clypeum ex adverso civitatis, insidiæ, quæ latebant, surrexerunt confestim: et pergentes ad civitatem, ceperunt, et succenderunt eam.

20Viri autem civitatis, qui persequebantur Josue, respicientes et videntes fumum urbis ad cælum usque conscendere, non potuerunt ultra huc illucque diffugere: præsertim cum hi qui simulaverant fugam, et tendebant ad solitudinem, contra persequentes fortissime restitissent.

21Vidensque Josue et omnis Israël quod capta esset civitas, et fumus urbis ascenderet, reversus percussit viros Hai.

22Siquidem et illi qui ceperant et succenderant civitatem, egressi ex urbe contra suos, medios hostium ferire cœperunt. Cum ergo ex utraque parte adversarii cæderentur, ita ut nullus de tanta multitudine salvaretur,

23regem quoque urbis Hai apprehenderunt viventem, et obtulerunt Josue.

24Igitur omnibus interfectis, qui Israëlem ad deserta tendentem fuerant persecuti, et in eodem loco gladio corruentibus, reversi filii Israël percusserunt civitatem.

25Erant autem qui in eodem die conciderant a viro usque ad mulierem, duodecim millia hominum, omnes urbis Hai.

26Josue vero non contraxit manum, quam in sublime porrexerat, tenens clypeum donec interficerentur omnes habitatores Hai.

27Jumenta autem et prædam civitatis diviserunt sibi filii Israël, sicut præceperat Dominus Josue.

28Qui succendit urbem, et fecit eam tumulum sempiternum:

29regem quoque ejus suspendit in patibulo usque ad vesperam et solis occasum. Præcepitque Josue, et deposuerunt cadaver ejus de cruce: projeceruntque in ipso introitu civitatis, congesto super eum magno acervo lapidum, qui permanet usque in præsentem diem.

30Tunc ædificavit Josue altare Domino Deo Israël in monte Hebal,

31sicut præceperat Moyses famulus Domini filiis Israël, et scriptum est in volumine legis Moysi: altare vero de lapidibus impolitis, quos ferrum non tetigit: et obtulit super eo holocausta Domino, immolavitque pacificas victimas.

32Et scripsit super lapides Deuteronomium legis Moysi, quod ille digesserat coram filiis Israël.

33Omnis autem populus, et majores natu, ducesque ac judices, stabant ex utraque parte arcæ, in conspectu sacerdotum qui portabant arcam fœderis Domini, ut advena, ita et indigena. Media pars eorum juxta montem Garizim, et media juxta montem Hebal, sicut præceperat Moyses famulus Domini. Et primum quidem benedixit populo Israël.

34Post hæc legit omnia verba benedictionis et maledictionis, et cuncta quæ scripta erant in legis volumine.

35Nihil ex his quæ Moyses jusserat, reliquit intactum, sed universa replicavit coram omni multitudine Israël, mulieribus ac parvulis, et advenis qui inter eos morabantur.

1Then the Lord said to Joshua: “You should not fear, and you should not dread. Take with you the entire multitude of fighters, and rising up, ascend to the town of Ai. Behold, I have delivered into your hand its king and people, and the city and the land.

2And you shall do to the city of Ai, and to its king, just as you did to Jericho, and to its king. Yet truly, the spoils, and all the living things, you shall plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush against the city behind it.”

3And Joshua rose up, and the entire army of warriors with him, so that they might ascend against Ai. And he sent thirty thousand elect strong men in the night.

4And he instructed them, saying: “Set an ambush behind the city. You shall withdraw not far away, and let everyone be prepared.

5But I and the remainder of the multitude that is with me will approach from the opposite side of the city. And when they come out against us, we will flee and turn our backs, just as we did before,

6until, pursuing us, they are drawn away from the city. For they will think that we are fleeing as before.

7Then, while we are fleeing and they are pursuing, you shall rise up from the ambush, and you shall lay waste to the city. And the Lord your God will deliver it into your hands.

8And when you have seized it, set it on fire. And you shall do all that I have ordered.”

9And he sent them away, and they traveled to the place of the ambush, and they settled between Bethel and Ai, toward the western region of the city of Ai. But Joshua remained for that night in the midst of the people.

10And rising at first light, he reviewed his troops, and he went up, with the elders at the front of the army, surrounded by an auxiliary of fighters.

11And when they had arrived, and had ascended from the opposite side of the city, they stood toward the northern region of the city. And there was a valley in the middle, between them and the city.

12Now he had chosen five thousand men, and he had positioned them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, at the western part of the same city.

13Yet truly, all the remainder of the army was arranged in a line to the north, so that the very end of that multitude reached to the western region of the city. Then Joshua went out that night, and he stood in the middle of the valley.

14And when the king of Ai had seen this, he hurried in the morning, and he went out with the entire army of the city. And he arranged them in a line opposite the desert, not knowing that an ambush lay hidden behind his back.

15Yet truly, Joshua, and all of Israel, withdrew from the place, pretending to be afraid, and fleeing along the way of the wilderness.

16And they pursued them, shouting together and encouraging one another. And when they had withdrawn from the city,

17and indeed not one remained in the city of Ai and of Bethel who did not pursue after Israel, (leaving the towns open after they had rushed out,)

18the Lord said to Joshua: “Lift up the shield that is in your hand, toward the city of Ai. For I will deliver it to you.”

19And when he had lifted up the shield toward the city, the ambush, which lay hidden, rose up quickly. And advancing to the city, they seized it, and set it on fire.

20Now the men of the city who were pursuing Joshua, looking back and seeing the smoke of the city rising up even to heaven, were no longer able to flee in one direction or another, especially since those who had pretended to flee, and who were heading toward the wilderness, had turned back very strongly against those who were pursuing them.

21And Joshua, and all of Israel, seeing that the city had been captured, and that the smoke of the city was ascending, returned and struck down the men of Ai.

22Then too, those who had seized and set the city on fire, departing from the city toward their own men, began to strike the enemies in the middle. Therefore, since the adversaries were cut off from both sides, none of so great a multitude was saved.

23Also, they apprehended the king of the city of Ai, alive, and they brought him before Joshua.

24And so, after all were slain who had pursued Israel fleeing toward the wilderness, and after they fell by the sword in the same place, the sons of Israel returned and struck the city.

25Now there were twelve thousand persons who had fallen on the same day, from man even to woman, the entire city of Ai.

26Truly Joshua did not draw back his hand, which he had stretched out on high, keeping hold of the shield until all the inhabitants of Ai were put to death.

27Then the sons of Israel divided among themselves the cattle and the plunder of the city, just as the Lord had instructed Joshua.

28And he set fire to the city, and he caused it to be a perpetual tomb.

29Also, he suspended the king on a gallows, until evening and the setting of the sun. And Joshua instructed, and they took down his dead body from the hanging tree. And they cast it at the very entrance of the city, gathering a great pile of stones upon it, which remains even to the present day.

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

31just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had instructed to the sons of Israel, and this was written in the book of the law of Moses: truly, an altar of uncut stones, which iron has not touched. And he offered holocausts upon it to the Lord, and he immolated victims as peace-offerings.

32And he wrote on the stones, the Deuteronomy of the law of Moses, which he had set in order before the sons of Israel.

33Then all the people, and those greater by birth, and the commanders and judges were standing on both sides of the ark, in the sight of the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, with both the new arrival and the native born, one half part of them beside Mount Gerizim, and one half beside Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had instructed. And first, certainly, he blessed the people of Israel.

34After this, he read all the words of the blessing and the cursing, and all the things that were written in the book of the law.

35He left nothing untouched out of those things that Moses had ordered, and he repeated everything before the entire multitude of Israel, with the women and the little ones, and the new arrivals who were staying among them.