Study Desk

Joshua son of Nun was filled with wisdom, because Moses had appointed him to be his successor. The people of Israel obeyed Joshua and kept the commands that the Lord had given them through Moses.

No other prophet has ever done miracles and wonders like those that the Lord sent Moses to perform against the king of Egypt, his officials, and the entire country.

If anyone goes out of the house, his death will be his own fault, and we will not be responsible; but if anyone in the house with you is harmed, then we will be responsible.

What the Lord did that day made the people of Israel consider Joshua a great man. They honored him all his life, just as they had honored Moses.

At this time Joshua issued a solemn warning: "Anyone who tries to rebuild the city of Jericho will be under the Lord 's curse. Whoever lays the foundation will lose his oldest son; Whoever builds the gates will lose his youngest."

So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread through the whole country.

The one who is then picked out and found with the condemned goods will be burned, along with his family and everything he owns, for he has brought terrible shame on Israel and has broken my covenant."

Joshua, along with all the people of Israel, seized Achan, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, together with Achan's sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys, and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned; and they took them to Trouble Valley.

And Joshua said, "Why have you brought such trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you!" All the people then stoned Achan to death; they also stoned and burned his family and possessions.

The Lord said to Joshua, "Take all the soldiers with you and go on up to Ai. Don't be afraid or discouraged. I will give you victory over the king of Ai; his people, city, and land will be yours.

So Joshua got ready to go to Ai with all his soldiers. He picked out thirty thousand of his best troops and sent them out at night

When the king of Ai saw Joshua's men, he acted quickly. He and all his men went out toward the Jordan Valley to fight the Israelites at the same place as before, not knowing that he was about to be attacked from the rear.

Joshua and his men pretended that they were retreating, and ran away toward the barren country.

and as soon as he lifted his hand, the men who had been hiding got up quickly, ran into the city and captured it. They immediately set the city on fire.

When Joshua and his men saw that the others had taken the city and that it was on fire, they turned around and began killing the men of Ai.

Joshua kept his spear pointed at Ai and did not put it down until every person there had been killed. The whole population of Ai was killed that day—twelve thousand men and women.

He hanged the king of Ai from a tree and left his body there until evening. At sundown Joshua gave orders for the body to be removed, and it was thrown down at the entrance to the city gate. They covered it with a huge pile of stones, which is still there today.

They answered, "We did it, sir, because we learned that it was really true that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to kill the people living in it as you advanced. We did it because we were terrified of you; we were in fear of our lives.

So Joshua and his whole army, including the best troops, started out from Gilgal.

All night Joshua and his army marched from Gilgal to Gibeon, and they made a surprise attack on the Amorites.