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¹Then 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.

²You 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.”

³So 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

⁴with these orders: “Hide in ambush close behind the town and be ready for action.

⁵When our main army attacks, the men of Ai will come out to fight as they did before, and we will run away from them.

⁶We 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,

⁷you will jump up from your ambush and take possession of the town, for the LORD your God will give it to you.

⁸Set the town on fire, as the LORD has commanded. You have your orders.”

⁹So 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.

¹⁰Early the next morning Joshua roused his men and started toward Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel.

¹¹All 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.

¹²That night Joshua sent about 5,000 men to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the town.

¹³So they stationed the main army north of the town and the ambush west of the town. Joshua himself spent that night in the valley.

¹⁴When 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.

¹⁵Joshua and the Israelite army fled toward the wilderness as though they were badly beaten.

¹⁶Then all the men in the town were called out to chase after them. In this way, they were lured away from the town.

¹⁷There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not chase after the Israelites, and the town was left wide open.

¹⁸Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Point the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the town over to you.” Joshua did as he was commanded.

¹⁹As 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.

²⁰When the men of Ai looked behind them, smoke from the town was filling the sky, and they had nowhere to go. For the Israelites who had fled in the direction of the wilderness now turned on their pursuers.

²¹When Joshua and all the other Israelites saw that the ambush had succeeded and that smoke was rising from the town, they turned and attacked the men of Ai.

²²Meanwhile, the Israelites who were inside the town came out and attacked the enemy from the rear. So the men of Ai were caught in the middle, with Israelite fighters on both sides. Israel attacked them, and not a single person survived or escaped.

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

²⁴When the Israelite army finished chasing and killing all the men of Ai in the open fields, they went back and finished off everyone inside.

²⁵So the entire population of Ai, including men and women, was wiped out that day — 12,000 in all.

²⁶For Joshua kept holding out his spear until everyone who had lived in Ai was completely destroyed.

²⁷Only the livestock and the treasures of the town were not destroyed, for the Israelites kept these as plunder for themselves, as the LORD had commanded Joshua.

²⁸So Joshua burned the town of Ai, and it became a permanent mound of ruins, desolate to this very day.

²⁹Joshua impaled the king of Ai on a sharpened pole and left him there until evening. At sunset the Israelites took down the body, as Joshua commanded, and threw it in front of the town gate. They piled a great heap of stones over him that can still be seen today.

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

³¹He followed the commands that Moses the LORD’s servant had written in the Book of Instruction: “Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been shaped with iron tools.” Then on the altar they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.

³²And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied onto the stones of the altar the instructions Moses had given them.

³³Then all the Israelites — foreigners and native-born alike — along with the elders, officers, and judges, were divided into two groups. One group stood in front of Mount Gerizim, the other in front of Mount Ebal. Each group faced the other, and between them stood the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant. This was all done according to the commands that Moses, the servant of the LORD, had previously given for blessing the people of Israel.

³⁴Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of Instruction.

³⁵Every word of every command that Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among them.

¹Now all the kings west of the Jordan River heard about what had happened. These were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who lived in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far north as the Lebanon mountains.

²These kings combined their armies to fight as one against Joshua and the Israelites.

³But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,

⁴they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins.

⁵They put on worn-out, patched sandals and ragged clothes. And the bread they took with them was dry and moldy.

⁶When they arrived at the camp of Israel at Gilgal, they told Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a peace treaty with us.”

⁷The Israelites replied to these Hivites, “How do we know you don’t live nearby? For if you do, we cannot make a treaty with you.”

⁸They replied, “We are your servants.” “But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?”

⁹They answered, “Your servants have come from a very distant country. We have heard of the might of the LORD your God and of all he did in Egypt.

¹⁰We have also heard what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River — King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan (who lived in Ashtaroth).

¹¹So our elders and all our people instructed us, ‘Take supplies for a long journey. Go meet with the people of Israel and tell them, “We are your servants; please make a treaty with us.”’

¹²“This bread was hot from the ovens when we left our homes. But now, as you can see, it is dry and moldy.

¹³These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are old and split open. And our clothing and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.”

¹⁴So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the LORD.

¹⁵Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath.

¹⁶Three days after making the treaty, they learned that these people actually lived nearby!

¹⁷The Israelites set out at once to investigate and reached their towns in three days. The names of these towns were Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.

¹⁸But the Israelites did not attack the towns, for the Israelite leaders had made a vow to them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. The people of Israel grumbled against their leaders because of the treaty.

¹⁹But the leaders replied, “Since we have sworn an oath in the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel, we cannot touch them.

²⁰This is what we must do. We must let them live, for divine anger would come upon us if we broke our oath.

²¹Let them live.” So they made them woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community, as the Israelite leaders directed.

²²Joshua called together the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you lie to us? Why did you say that you live in a distant land when you live right here among us?

²³May you be cursed! From now on you will always be servants who cut wood and carry water for the house of my God.”

²⁴They replied, “We did it because we — your servants — were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded his servant Moses to give you this entire land and to destroy all the people living in it. So we feared greatly for our lives because of you. That is why we have done this.

²⁵Now we are at your mercy — do to us whatever you think is right.”

²⁶So Joshua did not allow the people of Israel to kill them.

²⁷But that day he made the Gibeonites the woodcutters and water carriers for the community of Israel and for the altar of the LORD — wherever the LORD would choose to build it. And that is what they do to this day.

¹Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured and completely destroyed Ai and killed its king, just as he had destroyed the town of Jericho and killed its king. He also learned that the Gibeonites had made peace with Israel and were now their allies.

²He and his people became very afraid when they heard all this because Gibeon was a large town — as large as the royal cities and larger than Ai. And the Gibeonite men were strong warriors.

³So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent messengers to several other kings: Hoham of Hebron, Piram of Jarmuth, Japhia of Lachish, and Debir of Eglon.

⁴“Come and help me destroy Gibeon,” he urged them, “for they have made peace with Joshua and the people of Israel.”

⁵So these five Amorite kings combined their armies for a united attack. They moved all their troops into place and attacked Gibeon.

⁶The men of Gibeon quickly sent messengers to Joshua at his camp in Gilgal. “Don’t abandon your servants now!” they pleaded. “Come at once! Save us! Help us! For all the Amorite kings who live in the hill country have joined forces to attack us.”

⁷So Joshua and his entire army, including his best warriors, left Gilgal and set out for Gibeon.

⁸“Do not be afraid of them,” the LORD said to Joshua, “for I have given you victory over them. Not a single one of them will be able to stand up to you.”

⁹Joshua traveled all night from Gilgal and took the Amorite armies by surprise.

¹⁰The LORD threw them into a panic, and the Israelites slaughtered great numbers of them at Gibeon. Then the Israelites chased the enemy along the road to Beth-horon, killing them all along the way to Azekah and Makkedah.

¹¹As the Amorites retreated down the road from Beth-horon, the LORD destroyed them with a terrible hailstorm from heaven that continued until they reached Azekah. The hail killed more of the enemy than the Israelites killed with the sword.

¹²On the day the LORD gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the LORD in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.”

¹³So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies. Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar ? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day.

¹⁴There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the LORD answered such a prayer. Surely the LORD fought for Israel that day!

¹⁵Then Joshua and the Israelite army returned to their camp at Gilgal.

¹⁶During the battle the five kings escaped and hid in a cave at Makkedah.

¹⁷When Joshua heard that they had been found,

¹⁸he issued this command: “Cover the opening of the cave with large rocks, and place guards at the entrance to keep the kings inside.

¹⁹The rest of you continue chasing the enemy and cut them down from the rear. Don’t give them a chance to get back to their towns, for the LORD your God has given you victory over them.”

²⁰So Joshua and the Israelite army continued the slaughter and completely crushed the enemy. They totally wiped out the five armies except for a tiny remnant that managed to reach their fortified towns.

²¹Then the Israelites returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. After that, no one dared to speak even a word against Israel.

²²Then Joshua said, “Remove the rocks covering the opening of the cave, and bring the five kings to me.”

²³So they brought the five kings out of the cave — the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon.

²⁴When they brought them out, Joshua told the commanders of his army, “Come and put your feet on the kings’ necks.” And they did as they were told.

²⁵“Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged,” Joshua told his men. “Be strong and courageous, for the LORD is going to do this to all of your enemies.”

²⁶Then Joshua killed each of the five kings and impaled them on five sharpened poles, where they hung until evening.

²⁷As the sun was going down, Joshua gave instructions for the bodies of the kings to be taken down from the poles and thrown into the cave where they had been hiding. Then they covered the opening of the cave with a pile of large rocks, which remains to this very day.

²⁸That same day Joshua captured and destroyed the town of Makkedah. He killed everyone in it, including the king, leaving no survivors. He destroyed them all, and he killed the king of Makkedah as he had killed the king of Jericho.

²⁹Then Joshua and the Israelites went to Libnah and attacked it.

³⁰There, too, the LORD gave them the town and its king. He killed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. Then Joshua killed the king of Libnah as he had killed the king of Jericho.

³¹From Libnah, Joshua and the Israelites went to Lachish and attacked it.

³²Here again, the LORD gave them Lachish. Joshua took it on the second day and killed everyone in it, just as he had done at Libnah.

³³During the attack on Lachish, King Horam of Gezer arrived with his army to help defend the town. But Joshua’s men killed him and his army, leaving no survivors.

³⁴Then Joshua and the Israelite army went on to Eglon and attacked it.

³⁵They captured it that day and killed everyone in it. He completely destroyed everyone, just as he had done at Lachish.

³⁶From Eglon, Joshua and the Israelite army went up to Hebron and attacked it.

³⁷They captured the town and killed everyone in it, including its king, leaving no survivors. They did the same thing to all of its surrounding villages. And just as he had done at Eglon, he completely destroyed the entire population.

³⁸Then Joshua and the Israelites turned back and attacked Debir.

³⁹He captured the town, its king, and all of its surrounding villages. He completely destroyed everyone in it, leaving no survivors. He did to Debir and its king just what he had done to Hebron and to Libnah and its king.

⁴⁰So Joshua conquered the whole region — the kings and people of the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills, and the mountain slopes. He completely destroyed everyone in the land, leaving no survivors, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.

⁴¹Joshua slaughtered them from Kadesh-barnea to Gaza and from the region around the town of Goshen up to Gibeon.

⁴²Joshua conquered all these kings and their land in a single campaign, for the LORD, the God of Israel, was fighting for his people.

⁴³Then Joshua and the Israelite army returned to their camp at Gilgal.