When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the city was going up in smoke, ¹  they turned around and struck down the men of Ai.

All Jerusalem was terrified ¹  because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai and all its men were warriors.

And he journeyed from place to place ¹  from the Negev as far as Bethel. ²  He returned ³  to the place where he had pitched his tent ⁴  at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai.

Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho ¹  and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!”

The Lord told Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the curved sword in your hand, for I am handing the city ¹  over to you.” So Joshua held out toward Ai the curved sword in his hand.

All the reinforcements ¹  in Ai ²  were ordered ³  to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city.

They returned and reported to Joshua, ¹  “Don’t send the whole army. ²  About two or three thousand men are adequate to defeat Ai. ³  Don’t tire out the whole army, for Ai is small.” ⁴ 

Hazar Shual, Beer Sheba, Biziothiah,

Ekron and its surrounding towns ¹  and settlements;

Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,

“Indeed, ¹  my plans ²  are not like ³  your plans, and my deeds ⁴  are not like ⁵  your deeds,

all the clans that remain, each separately with their wives.”

When the king of Ai saw Israel, he and his whole army quickly got up the next day and went out to fight Israel at the meeting place near the Arabah. ¹  But he did not realize ²  men were hiding behind the city. ³ 

He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening. ¹  At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree. ²  They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and erected over it a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day). ³ 

Wail, you people in Heshbon, because Ai in Ammon is destroyed. Cry out in anguish, you people in the villages surrounding ¹  Rabbah. Put on sackcloth and cry out in mourning. Run about covered with gashes. ²  For your god Milcom will go into exile along with his priests and officials. ³ 

Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel ¹  and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and worshiped the Lord. ² 

And when you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that are located on the south side must begin to travel. ¹  An alarm must be sounded ²  for their journeys.

(These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.) ¹ 

The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures ¹  and defeated them on the steep slope. ²  The people’s ³  courage melted away like water. ⁴ 

Also included were the cities set apart for the tribe of Ephraim within Manasseh’s territory, along with their towns. ¹