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Preparations for the Taking Of Ai
v. 1. And the Lord, having restored His favor to Israel by the expiation of Achan's death, said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed, cast down and filled with apprehension. Take all the people of war with thee, the entire army, and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land, the territory of which Ai was capital;
v. 2. and thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king, exterminate all human beings; only the spoil thereof, in money and goods, and the cattle thereof shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves, for only Jericho, as first-fruits, had been devoted to the Lord. Lay thee an ambush for the city behind it.
v. 3. So Joshua arose and all the people of war, the entire army, as ordered by God, to go up against Ai, he gave the command that all should be mustered. And Joshua chose out thirty thousand mighty men of valor and sent them away by night, since the distance was such as to be made easily in one night's march.
v. 4. And he commanded them, saying, Behold, ye shall lie in wait against the city, ready for an attack, even behind the city. Go not very far from the city, but be ye all ready;
v. 5. and I and all the people that are with me, the main division of the army, will approach unto the city, along the road which led to it from the southeast; and it shall come to pass, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them, employ this ruse to draw them out of the city,
v. 6. (for they will come out after us) till we have drawn them from the city. For they will say, They flee before us as at the first; therefore we will flee before them, thus strengthening the enemy in their false supposition and causing them to abandon caution.
v. 7. Then ye shall rise up from the ambush and seize upon the city, capture it without difficulty; for the Lord, your God, will deliver it into your hand.
v. 8. And it shall be, when ye have taken the city, that ye shall set the city on fire; according to the commandment of the Lord shall ye do. See, I have commanded you.
v. 9. Joshua therefore sent them forth; and they went to lie in ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai, there being some rocky ridges to the southwest, where concealment could easily be made. But Joshua lodged that night among the people, in camp with the larger division of his army, which marched less swiftly.
v. 10. And Joshua rose up early in the morning and numbered the people, mustered them, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, for it behooved them to take the lead in the attack, before the people of Ai, so that the watchmen of the city could see them.
v. 11. And all the people, even the people of war that were with him, went up, and drew nigh, and came before the city, and pitched on the north side of Ai. Now, there was a valley between them and Ai. Thus their camp was plainly visible from Ai, but could not easily be attacked.
v. 12. And he took about five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city, for there was a second ridge toward the northwest.
v. 13. And when they had set the people, assigned to every company and every individual the place which he was to occupy in the attack, even all the host that was on the north of the city, and their liers-in-wait on the west of the city, Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley, moved forward, as though for an attack, under cover of darkness. Thus the main part of the army was on the north side of the city, the ambush of thirty thousand was on the southwest, directly behind the city, and the smaller ambush of five thousand men was ready to attack the flank of the enemy. It was not merely Joshua's military genius which appears in this story, for the plan was made by the Lord, whose purpose was to reassure the army of Israel.