Online Bible

Book of Joshua, Chapter 8

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Joshua 8 RSV - Revised Standard VersionJoshua 8 RSV - Revised Standard Version

Chapter 8 of Joshua—Revised Standard Version (RSV)

  1. ¶ And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed; take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land;
  2. and you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king; only its spoil and its cattle you shall take as booty for yourselves; lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”
  3. ¶ So Joshua arose, and all the fighting men, to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand mighty men of valor, and sent them forth by night.
  4. And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it; do not go very far from the city, but hold yourselves all in readiness;
  5. and I, and all the people who are with me, will approach the city. And when they come out against us, as before, we shall flee before them;
  6. and they will come out after us, till we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, as before.’ So we will flee from them;
  7. then you shall rise up from the ambush, and seize the city; for the LORD your God will give it into your hand.
  8. And when you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire, doing as the LORD has bidden; see, I have commanded you.”
  9. So Joshua sent them forth; and they went to the place of ambush, and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.
  10. ¶ And Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people, and went up, with the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.
  11. And all the fighting men who were with him went up, and drew near before the city, and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai.
  12. And he took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.
  13. So they stationed the forces, the main encampment which was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley.
  14. And when the king of Ai saw this he and all his people, the men of the city, made haste and went out early to the descent[a] toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle; but he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
  15. And Joshua and all Israel made a pretense of being beaten before them, and fled in the direction of the wilderness.
  16. So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city.
  17. There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel, who did not go out after Israel; they left the city open, and pursued Israel.
  18. ¶ Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai; for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.
  19. And the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and took it; and they made haste to set the city on fire.
  20. So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven; and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
  21. And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and smote the men of Ai.
  22. And the others came forth from the city against them; so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side; and Israel smote them, until there was left none that survived or escaped.
  23. But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua.
  24. ¶ When Israel had finished slaughtering all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
  25. And all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.
  26. For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
  27. Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took as their booty, according to the word of the LORD which he commanded Joshua.
  28. So Joshua burned Ai, and made it for ever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day.
  29. And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening; and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.
  30. ¶ Then Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,
  31. as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, “an altar of unhewn stones, upon which no man has lifted an iron tool”; and they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
  32. And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.
  33. And all Israel, sojourner as well as homeborn, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Ger′izim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.
  34. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law.
  35. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.

FOOTNOTES

  1. ^ Cn: Heb appointed time

Read Joshua Chapter 8 in other Bible versions:

Comments

  1. Kiamia DoelKiamia Doel
    Jan 9, 2025 23:00 GMT

    The NWT adds words to the text that are not in the greek Manuscripts to fit it's own doctrinal position for example

    Compare the wording of the NWT and the NKJV at Colossians 1:15-17

    NKJV says

    15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

    NWT says

    15 He is the image of the invisible God,the firstborn OF all creation;16 because by means of him all OTHER things were created in the heavens and on the earth, the things visible and the things invisible,whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All OTHER things have been created through him and for him. 17 Also, he is before all OTHER things,and by means of him all OTHER things were made to exist,

    The word “other” is not in the Greek but they add it Why? So they can decieve their followers into thinking that Christ was created by the Father and that he then created other things, that is not what the Greek says.

    1. SmeSme
      Feb 27, 2025 11:17 GMT

      Truth is from God and those that follow him. As for lies? John8:44

      Kiamia, I noticed you used a modern version of kjv to make your point about the nwt.

      Why didn’t you use the original kjv of col1:15?

      Is it because it disproves your point? It proves the opposite of what you wrote?

      Here is kjv col1:15 ¶” Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn OF every creature:“

      Now I appeal to your Christian nature to correct your mistake as God is watching each of us, and let us bless the God of Jesus his father.

      Kjv 1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ….

  2. YanekYanek
    Dec 24, 2024 22:18 GMT

    Joshua, Jehovah’s Witnesses have never denied the deity of the Messiah in his prehuman existence. While on Earth he was fully 100% human. I do not mean he was a mere human, he was not affected by Adam’s unfaithful behavior, he was sinless.

  3. David yakubuDavid yakubu
    Oct 29, 2022 08:05 GMT

    When i do read some comments and seeing that its the same people that are supposed to be called believers but are talking ill of other denominations, it hurts. Let us all remember that We should judge not

    1. jonas smithjonas smith
      Apr 23, 2023 02:57 GMT

      The bible tells us to test the spirits. Satan disguises himself as angel of light. So yes some denomination are not teaching the truth. You are responsible for judging which ones are not. You have to judge the truth at all times. this is what the bible teaches

  4. THTH
    Apr 7, 2021 00:20 GMT

    The NWT is a very good translation. Dr. Jason David BeDuhn PhD attests to that in his book Truth in Translation. drive.google.com/...5p16melHzg8/view

    1. James LernerJames Lerner
      Jul 20, 2024 09:48 GMT

      The NWT is Satanic filth to its very core.

      The JW Cult is Satanic to its very core.

      Praise Yahweh I will never be a victim of JW brainwashing. If I burn in Hell for eternity or I am ultimately annihilated so be it

      May Yahweh's curse rest on the Watchtower Society and its Satanic leadership

    2. jim mcleodjim mcleod
      Aug 22, 2021 06:16 GMT

      NWT is a false translation that takes away from the deity of Jesus !

  5. SlightlyChaoticSlightlyChaotic
    Jan 30, 2021 16:33 GMT

    Thank you for taking the time to provide this service. I like seeing the NASB on your web page in the same format as I read on paper. On other sites, the text area is smaller, and so I have to keep scrolling down to read and sometimes I lose the context. So I really appreciate the format.

    As far as the NWT, you are certainly free to do whatever you think best with your own web pages. I'd suggest that you make a note anytime you have a translation that is associated with only one denomination or church, for example:
    New World Translation (Jehovah's Witness version).

    In Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares. the main idea seems to be that you can't easily distinguish between God's people and not-God's people on this earth, so our Lord's response is to wait until they are shown to be the kind of people they are inside. But the NWT seems like false teaching to me. So I think the warning passages from Jesus' apostles are more applicable, as in 2 Peter 3:15-16, when he talks about Paul's writings:
    "There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."
    And we also have the positive exhortations, as in 2 Timothy 2:15:
    "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

    1. BroderickBroderick
      Jan 31, 2021 00:57 GMT

      Your suggestion regarding the denominational flagging is duly noted. But I can’t help but wonder, wouldn’t a Catholic also want “Protestant versions” marked as well?

      As for the parable, I’m pretty sure the slaves were convinced in their own minds that they could tell the tares from the wheat. After all, aren’t they the ones who identified the problem in the first place? But the master obviously thought otherwise.

      Furthermore, even at the time when Jesus himself was walking the earth, not everybody who claimed fellowship actually followed him causing John to inquire at Mark 9:39, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him . . . for he who is not against us is for us.”

  6. Joshua HarderJoshua Harder
    Dec 11, 2020 17:48 GMT

    Hello, question.. why have you included the NWT with other legitimate bible translations? Or why have you not atleast included a warning to readers? Don't you fear that someone could be influenced by the Watchtower's intentional heresies? Thank you.

    1. KevinKevin
      Jul 11, 2021 17:45 GMT

      en.m.wikipedia.org/..._Holy_Scriptures

      See the section critical review

    2. ChrisChris
      Jan 8, 2021 07:15 GMT

      Please site these intentional heresies. I am well versed in the watch tower outline and agree they are in many ways incorrect but i also bet i can point many out from EVERY established or main denomination. There is much to learn from them all as one who drinks milk?

      Judge not lest ye be judged, that is not to pass judgement on you either brother.

      I debate with scripture. I don't hold it to be true that Michael is Y'Shua HaMeshiach but I also firmly hold it to be true that our G-d and Heavenly Father are not the word encarnate and only begotten son.

      I love not seeing "lord" which i relate to baal. I feel the catholic church is a satanic establishment and I am aware a freemason started the hovies but there are evil in high places and our fight is also with principalities.

      What i'm saying is that in my darkest hours, those two were some of if not the only ones who would bring a Bible and eucharist and pray with me.

      We all fall short of the glory of G-d.

      Don't forget the NWT was recognized as the most accurate translation on Jeopardy.

      Lastly, this is different I noted than the NWT i have read and am very familiar with. Pull up the watchtower page and compare. I truly look forward to getting this one!

  7. julietjuliet
    Aug 17, 2022 09:36 GMT

    the sky is blue

  8. mercymercy
    Aug 12, 2022 21:23 GMT

    i am Mercy, the sky is blue what else do you need

    1. mercymercy
      Aug 12, 2022 21:25 GMT

      i am so sorry, it was a big mistake

  9. God is able to do all thingsGod is able to do all things
    May 17, 2021 17:59 GMT

    Jesus how much love calling yo name

  10. EmpiralEmpiral
    Jul 4, 2025 19:06 GMT

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