1 God said to Joshua, Do not be scared. Take all the fighters. Go to Ai. I will give you the king, the people, the city, and the land. ️➡️️✋ 2 Do like at Jericho. But this time, you can keep the cows and the things. Hide behind the city. ️ 3 Joshua and the army went to Ai. He picked many strong men. He sent them at night. ♂️️ 4 Joshua said, Hide behind the city. Do not go far. Be ready. ️⏱️ 5 Joshua said, We will go near the city. When the men run out, we will run away, like last time. ️♂️↩️ 6 They will chase us. They will leave the city. We will keep running. ♂️➡️ 7 Then you who hide will get up. Take the city. God will help you win. ⬆️️✊ 8 When you take the city, set it on fire. Do what God said. ️ 9 Joshua sent them out. They hid between Bethel and Ai, on the west side. Joshua slept with the people that night. 10 Joshua got up early. He counted the people. He and the leaders led the way to Ai. ✅ 11 All the fighters came near the city. They set camp on the north side. A valley was between them and Ai. ️⬆️⛰️ 12 Joshua chose about 5,000 men. He told them to hide between Bethel and Ai, on the west. 5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ 13 The army was north. The hiders were west. At night, Joshua walked into the valley. ⬆️⬅️♂️⛰️ 14 The king of Ai saw them. He got up early. He and his men ran out to fight. He did not know about the hiders. ♂️⚔️ 15 Joshua and Israel ran away, like they lost. ♂️ 16 All the men in Ai chased Joshua. They all left the city. ♂️➡️️ 17 No one stayed in Ai or Bethel. The city was open. They chased Israel. ️♂️ 18 God said, Stretch out your spear to Ai. I will give it to you. Joshua held out his spear to the city. ️➡️️️ 19 The hiders got up fast. They ran in. They took the city. They set it on fire. ♂️⚡️ 20 The men of Ai looked back. They saw smoke go up. They could not run. Israel turned back to face them. ↩️ 21 Joshua and Israel saw the smoke. They turned and fought the men of Ai. ↩️⚔️ 22 The other group came out of the city. Ai’s men were in the middle. Israel was on both sides. No one got away. ↔️️⚔️♂️ 23 They caught the king of Ai alive. They brought him to Joshua. ♂️➡️✈️ 24 Israel finished the fight in the field and wild land. Then they went back to the city and fought there too. ️⚔️↩️️ 25 That day, many people in Ai died, about 12,000. 26 Joshua kept his hand up with the spear until the fight was done. ✋️⏳ 27 Israel kept the cows and the things from the city, just like God said. 28 Joshua burned Ai. It became a big pile of stones. ️➡️ 29 They hung the king of Ai on a tree until sunset. Then Joshua said, Take him down. They put him by the city gate and made a big pile of stones there. ⬇️ 30 Then Joshua built a big stone table for God on Mount Ebal. ️⛰️ 31 This is like Moses said. The stones were whole. They burned animal gifts for God and gave peace gifts too. ✔️️ 32 Joshua wrote God’s rules on the stones. All the people could see. ✍️ 33 All Israel stood there, with leaders and helpers. The men who carry the holy box of God stood in the middle. Some stood by Mount Gerizim. Some stood by Mount Ebal. People from other lands stood there too. They blessed the people. ⛰️⛰️ 34 After that, Joshua read all of God’s rules. He read the good words and the warning words. ️✅⚠️ 35 Joshua read every word. All the people heard, women, kids, and people from other lands. ️