JOSHUA 9:1-23

9:1 And when all the kings who were across the Jordan in the hill country and in the lowland and on all the shore of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of this,
9:2 They gathered themselves together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord.
9:3 But the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,
9:4 And so they too acted craftily. And they went out as though they were envoys; and they took old sacks upon their donkeys, and old torn up and bound up wineskins,
9:5 And old patched sandals on their feet, and old garments upon themselves; and all the bread of their provisions was dry and had become moldy.
9:6 And they went to Joshua at the camp of Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, From a faraway land we have come; now therefore make a covenant with us.
9:7 And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Perhaps you dwell among us. How then can we make a covenant with you?
9:8 And they said to Joshua, We will be your servants. And Joshua said to them, Who are you, and where are you coming from?
9:9 And they said to him, From a very far land your servants have come because of the name of Jehovah your God, for we have heard reports of Him and all that He did in Egypt
9:10 And all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were across the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon and to Og the king of Bashan, who was in Ashtaroth.
9:11 So our elders and all the inhabitants of our land spoke to us, saying, Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them; and you shall say to them, We will be your servants; make then a covenant with us.
9:12 This bread of ours was hot when we took it for our provisions from our houses on the day we went forth to come to you; and here it now is: it is dry and has become moldy.
9:13 And these wineskins, which we filled, were new; and here they are: they are torn up. And these clothes and sandals of ours have become old because of the very long journey.
9:14 And the men took some of their provisions, but they did not ask for the counsel of Jehovah.
9:15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly swore an oath to them.
9:16 Then at the end of three days, after they had made the covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they dwelt among them.
9:17 And the children of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon and Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.
9:18 And the children of Israel did not strike them, for the leaders of the assembly had sworn to them by Jehovah the God of Israel; and all the assembly murmured against the leaders.
9:19 Then all the leaders said to all the assembly, We have sworn to them by Jehovah the God of Israel; therefore now we cannot touch them.
9:20 This we will do with them and let them live, so that wrath does not come upon us because of the oath that we swore to them.
9:21 And the leaders said to them, Let them live. So they became woodcutters and drawers of water for all the assembly, as the leaders had said concerning them.
9:22 Then Joshua called for them and spoke to them, saying, Why have you deceived us, saying, We are very far from you; when you dwell among us?
9:23 Now therefore you shall be cursed; and there shall never fail to be slaves from among you, woodcutters and drawers of water for the house of my God.

Joshua 8:24 – 35

 8:24   And when Israel had finished slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness where they had pursued them, and all of them had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

 8:25   And all those who fell that day, both of men and of women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.

 8:26   And Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

 8:27   Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for themselves as plunder, according to the word of Jehovah, which He commanded Joshua.

 8:28   So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever; it is a desolation to this day.

 8:29   And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening time. And when the sun set, Joshua commanded, and they took his corpse down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and they erected over him a great heap of stones, which is there to this day.

 8:30   Then Joshua built an altar to Jehovah the God of Israel on Mount Ebal,

 8:31   As Moses the servant of Jehovah had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of unhewn stones upon which no one had lifted up an iron tool. And they offered upon it burnt offerings to Jehovah, and they sacrificed peace offerings.

 8:32   And there he wrote upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the children of Israel.

 8:33   And all Israel and their elders and their officers and their judges stood on either side of the Ark in front of the Levitical priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah, both sojourner and native alike: half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of Jehovah had first commanded, to bless the people of Israel.

 8:34   And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that was written in the book of the law.

 8:35   There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel and the women and the little ones and the sojourners who went among them.

Joshua 8:7 – 23

 8:7   Then you shall rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city, for Jehovah your God will give it into your hand.

 8:8   And when you capture the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of Jehovah. See, I have commanded you.

 8:9   Then Joshua sent them forth; and they went to the place of ambush, and they stayed between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. And Joshua spent that night among the people.

 8:10   And Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people; and he and the elders of Israel went up before the people to Ai.

 8:11   And all the people of war who were with him went up and drew near and came before the city. And they camped to the north of Ai, so that the valley was between them and Ai.

 8:12   Now he had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.

 8:13   So they set the people, the whole camp, which was north of the city, and the rearguard to the west of the city. And Joshua went into the valley that night.

 8:14   Now when the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people, at the assigned place, facing the Arabah; for he did not know that there was an ambush set for him behind the city.

 8:15   And Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them, and they fled by the way of the wilderness.

 8:16   Then all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them; and they pursued after Joshua and thus were drawn out of the city.

 8:17   And not a man was left in Ai or in Bethel who did not go forth after Israel, but they abandoned the city, leaving it open, and pursued after Israel.

 8:18   Then Jehovah said to Joshua, Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand. And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.

 8:19   And the ambush rose up quickly from their place and ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and captured it; and they hurried and set the city on fire.

 8:20   And when the men of Ai turned to see behind them, they looked, and there it was — the smoke of the city going up to heaven; and they had no way to flee this way or that way when the people who had fled into the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.

 8:21   When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that the smoke of the city was rising, they turned and slew the men of Ai.

 8:22   And the others came out from the city to meet them, so that they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side and some on that side. And they struck them, so that no one was left to survive or escape.

 8:23   But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

Joshua 7:18 – 8:6

 7:18   And he brought the house of Zabdi near warrior by warrior, and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.

 7:19   And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give glory to Jehovah the God of Israel, and make confession to Him. And tell me what you have done; do not hide anything from me.

 7:20   Then Achan answered Joshua and said, It is true; I have sinned against Jehovah the God of Israel; and this is what I did:

 7:21   When I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle of Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And now they are hidden in the earth in my tent, with the silver under it.

 7:22   And Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent. And there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it.

 7:23   And they took the things from within the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and spread them out before Jehovah.

 7:24   Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah and the silver and the mantle and the wedge of gold, and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his donkeys and his sheep and his tent and all that he had; and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor.

 7:25   And Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? Jehovah will trouble you this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire when they had stoned them with stones.

 7:26   Then they erected over him a great heap of stones, which is there to this day; and Jehovah turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor to this day.

 8:1   Then Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not be afraid or dismayed. Take all the people of war with you, and rise and go up to Ai. See, I have given the king of Ai and his people and his city and his land into your hand.

 8:2   And you shall do to Ai and to its king as you did to Jericho and to its king; except its spoil and its cattle you shall take for your plunder. Set an ambush for the city behind it.

 8:3   So Joshua rose up with all the people of war to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose thirty thousand men, mighty men of valor, and sent them out by night.

 8:4   And he commanded them, saying, See, you shall lie in ambush for the city behind the city. Do not go very far from the city, and all of you be ready.

 8:5   And I and all the people who are with me will draw near to the city. Then when they come forth to meet us, as it was the first time, we will flee before them.

 8:6   And they will come out after us until we have drawn them out from the city, for they will say, They are fleeing before us as they did the first time. Thus we will flee before them.

Joshua 7:2 – 17

 7:2   Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, east of Bethel; and he spoke to them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. So the men went up and spied out Ai.

 7:3   And they returned to Joshua and said to him, Not all the people need go up; let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Do not make all the people labor there, for the enemies are few.

 7:4   So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled before the men of Ai.

 7:5   And the men of Ai struck some of them, about thirty-six men; and they pursued them from before the gate unto Shebarim and struck them on the slope. And the heart of the people melted and became like water.

 7:6   And Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the ground upon his face before the Ark of Jehovah until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust upon their heads.

 7:7   And Joshua said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! Why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all? To give us over into the hand of the Amorites and cause us to perish? If only we had been content to dwell across the Jordan!

 7:8   O Lord, what can I say after Israel has turned its back before its enemies?

 7:9   For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?

 7:10   Then Jehovah said to Joshua, Rise up! Why have you fallen upon your face?

 7:11   Israel has sinned. Indeed they have trespassed My covenant, which I commanded them; indeed they have taken of that which was devoted to destruction; indeed they have stolen; indeed they have been deceptive; indeed they have put it among their goods.

 7:12   Thus the children of Israel are not able to stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become something devoted to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy that which was devoted to destruction from among you.

 7:13   Rise up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, There is something devoted to destruction among you, O Israel; you will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove that which was devoted to destruction from among you.

 7:14   Therefore in the morning you shall be brought near by your tribes; and the tribe which Jehovah takes shall draw near family by family; and the family which Jehovah takes shall draw near house by house; and the house which Jehovah takes shall draw near warrior by warrior.

 7:15   And he who is taken with that which was devoted to destruction shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has trespassed the covenant of Jehovah and because he has committed folly in Israel.

 7:16   So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken.

 7:17   And he brought the family of Judah near, and the family of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought the family of the Zerahites near warrior by warrior, and Zabdi was taken.