Study Desk

But the Israelites did not obey God. There was a man from the tribe of Judah named Achan son of Carmi, grandson of Zimri, great-grandson of Zerah. Achan kept some of the things that should have been destroyed. So the Lord became very angry with the Israelites.

After they defeated Jericho, Joshua sent some men to Ai. Ai was near Beth Aven, east of Bethel. He told them, "Go to Ai and look for weaknesses in that area." So the men went to spy on that land.

So about 3000 men went to Ai, but the people of Ai killed about 36 men of Israel. And the Israelites ran away. The people of Ai chased them from the city gates all the way to the quarries. The people of Ai beat them badly. When the people from Israel saw this, they became very frightened and lost their courage.

So then all the family groups of Judah stood before the Lord , and he chose the Zerah family group. Then all the families of the Zerah group stood before the Lord , and he chose the family of Zimri.

In Jericho, I saw a beautiful coat from Babylonia, about 5 pounds of silver, and about a pound of gold. I wanted these things for myself, so I took them. You will find them buried in the ground under my tent. The silver is under the coat."

So Joshua sent some men to the tent. They ran to the tent and found the things hidden there. The silver was under the coat.

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

These men will chase us away from the city, so we will run away. They will think that we are running away from them as we did before.

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.

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.

During the fighting, the army of Israel chased the men from Ai into the fields and into the desert. So the army of Israel finished killing all the men from Ai in the fields and in the desert. Then the Israelites went back to Ai and killed all the people who were still alive in the city.

The Lord 's servant Moses told the Israelites how to build altars. So Joshua built the altar the way it was explained in the Book of the Law of Moses. The altar was made from stones that were not cut. No tool had ever been used on those stones. They offered burnt offerings to the Lord on that altar. They also gave fellowship offerings.

So they decided to try to trick the Israelites. This was their plan: They gathered together old wineskins that were cracked and broken. They put these old wineskins on the backs of their animals. They put old pieces of cloth on their animals to look as if they had traveled from far away.

So our elders and our people said to us, ‘Take enough food for your journey. Go and meet with the Israelites.' Tell them, ‘We are your servants. Make a peace agreement with us.'

The men of Israel wanted to know if these men were telling the truth. So they tasted the bread—but they did not ask the Lord what they should do.

So the Israelites went to the place where they lived. On the third day the Israelites came to the cities of Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim.

So let them live, but they will be our servants. They will cut wood for us and carry water for all our people." So the leaders did not break their promise of peace to them.

So the Gibeonites became slaves, but Joshua let them live. He did not allow the Israelites to kill them.

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.