Study Desk

So Joshua led his whole army toward Ai. Then Joshua chose 30,000 of his best fighting men and sent them out at night.

Then Joshua sent them to their hiding place and waited. They went to a place west of Ai, between Bethel and Ai. But Joshua stayed the night with his people.

So Joshua had prepared his men for the fight. The main camp was north of the city. The other men were hiding to the west. That night Joshua went down into the valley.

Later, the king of Ai saw the army of Israel. The king and his people hurried out to fight the army of Israel. The king of Ai went out the east side of the city toward the Jordan Valley, so he did not see the soldiers hiding behind the city.

Joshua and all the men of Israel let the army of Ai push them back. Joshua and his men began running east toward the desert.

Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Hold your spear toward the city of Ai, because I will give you that city." So Joshua held his spear toward the city of Ai.

When Joshua and his men saw that his army had taken control of the city and that smoke was rising from it, they stopped running away and turned to fight the men of Ai.

Joshua had held his spear toward Ai as a sign to his people to destroy the city. And he did not stop until all the people of Ai were destroyed.

Joshua hanged the king of Ai on a tree and left him hanging there until evening. At sunset Joshua told his men to take the king's body down from the tree. They threw his body down at the city gate. Then they covered the body with many rocks. That pile of rocks is still there today.

The Gibeonites answered, "We lied to you because we were afraid you would kill us. We heard that God commanded his servant Moses to give you all this land. And God told you to kill all the people who lived in this land. That is why we lied to you.

So Adoni Zedek and his people were very frightened. Gibeon was not a small town like Ai. It was a very big city—as big as any royal city. And all the men in that city were good fighters, so the king was afraid.

The people in the city of Gibeon sent a message to Joshua at his camp at Gilgal: "We are your servants! Don't leave us alone. Come and help us! Hurry! Save us! All the Amorite kings from the hill country have brought their armies together to fight against us."

So Joshua marched out of Gilgal with his whole army. His best fighting men were with him.

Joshua and his army marched all night to Gibeon, so it was a complete surprise when he attacked them.

After this, Joshua and his army went back to the camp at Gilgal.

When they brought the five kings to Joshua, he called all his men to come to that place. He said to the officers of his army, "Come here! Put your feet on the necks of these kings." So the officers of Joshua's army came close and put their feet on the necks of the kings.

Then Joshua said to his men, "Be strong and brave! Don't be afraid. I will show you what the Lord will do to all the enemies you will fight in the future."

At sunset Joshua told his men to take the bodies down from the trees. So they threw the bodies into the cave where the kings had been hiding and covered the entrance of the cave with large rocks. Their bodies are still in that cave today.

Then Joshua and all the Israelites left Libnah and went to Lachish. Joshua and his army camped around that city and attacked it.

King Horam of Gezer came to help Lachish, but Joshua also defeated him and his army. No one was left alive.