القراءة بلغتين

قالَ الرَّبُّ لِيَشوع: «لا تَخَفْ ولا تَفزَعْ! خُذْ معكَ جَميعَ رِجالِ الحَرْب، وقُمْ فٱصعَدْ إِلى العَيّ. أُنظُرْ، فإِنِّي قد أَسلَمتُ إِلى يَدِكَ مَلِكَ العَيِّ وشَعبَه ومَدينَتَه وأَرضَه

فتَفعَلُ بِالعَيِّ ومَلِكِها كما فَعَلتَ بِأَريحا ومَلِكِها. غَيرَ أَنَّ غَنائِمَها وبَهائِمَها فَقَط تَغنَمونَها لِأَنفُسِكم، وٱجعَلْ لَكَ كَمينًا مِن وَراءِ المَدينة»

فقامَ يَشوعُ وسائِرُ المُحارِبينَ البَواسِلِ لِيَصعَدوا إِلى العَيّ. وٱختارَ يَشوعُ ثَلاثينَ أَلفَ رَجُلٍ مِن رِجالِ القِتالِ وأَرسَلَهم لَيلًا

وأَمَرَهم فقالَ لَهم: «أُنظُروا، أَنتُم تَكمُنونَ لِلمَدينَةِ مِن وَرائِها. لا تُبعِدوا عنها كَثيرًا وكونوا كُلُّكم مُستَعِدِّين

وأَنا وكُلُّ الشَّعبِ الَّذي معي نَتَقَدَّمُ إِلى المَدينة. فيكونُ، إِذا هم خَرَجوا علَينا كالمَرَّةِ الأُولى، أَنَّنا نَنهَزِمُ مِن وُجوهِهم

فيَخرُجونَ وَراءَنا، حتَّى نَجُرَّهم عنِ المَدينة، لِأَنَّهم يَقولون: هم مُنهَزِمونَ أَمامَنا كالمَرَّةِ الأُولى، وأَمَّا نَحنُ فنَنهَزِمُ قُدَّامَهم

فتَقومونَ أَنتُم مِنَ المَكمَن، وتَستَولونَ على المَدينة، لِأَنَّ الرَّبَّ يُسلِمُها إِلى أَيديكم

فإِذا ٱستَولَيتُم علَيها فأَحرِقوها بِالنَّار، كما أَمَرَ الرَّبُّ تَفعَلون. أُنظُروا، فقَد أَمَرتُكم»

وأَرسَلَهم يَشوع، فساروا إِلى المَكمَن، وأَقاموا بَينَ بَيتَ إِيلَ والعَيّ، غَربِيَّ العَيّ. وباتَ يَشوعُ تِلكَ اللَّيلَةَ في وَسْطِ الشَّعْب

ثُمَّ بَكَّرَ يَشوعُ في الصَّباح، وٱستَعرَضَ الشَّعبَ وصَعِدَ، هو وشُيوخُ إِسْرائيلَ أَمامَ الشَّعبِ، إِلى العَيّ

وصَعِدَ جَميعُ رِجالِ الحَربِ الَّذينَ معَه وتَقَدَّموا وأَتوا إِلى مُقابِلِ المَدينة، وخَيَّموا شَمالَ العَيّ، والوادي بَينَهم وبَينَ العَيّ

وأَخَذَ نَحوَ خَمسَةِ آلافِ رَجُلٍ وجَعَلَهم كَمينًا بَينَ بَيتَ إِيلَ والعَيّ، غَربِيَّ المَدينة

ونَصَبَ الشَّعبُ كُلَّ المُخَيَّمِ الَّذي كانَ شَمالَ المَدينة، وأَقامَ المُؤَخَّرةَ غَربِيَّها. وأَمَّا يَشوعُ فسارَ في ذٰلك اللَّيلِ إِلى وَسَطِ الوادي

فلَمَّا رأَى مَلِكُ العَيِّ ذٰلك، بادَرَ رِجالُ المَدينةِ وبَكَّروا وخَرَجوا على إِسْرائيلَ لِمُلاقاتِه، المَلِكُ وكُلُّ شَعبِه لِلحَرْبِ جِهَةَ العَرَبَة، ولم يَعلَمْ أَنَّ وَراءَ المَدينةِ كَمينًا

فٱنهَزَمَ يَشوعُ وكُلُّ إِسْرائيلَ مِن أَمامِهم وهَرَبوا في طَريقِ البَرِّيَّة

فتَنادى كُلُّ الشَّعبِ الَّذي في المَدينَةِ لِيَسعى في إِثرِهم وجَدَّ وَراءَ يَشوع، حتَّى أَبعَدَ عنِ المَدينَة

ولم يَبقَ أَحَدٌ في العَيِّ وبَيتَ إِيلَ إِلَّا خَرَجَ في إِثرِ إِسْرائيل وتَركوا المَدينةَ مَفْتوحةً وسَعَوا وَراءَ إِسْرائيل

فقالَ الرَّبُّ لِيَشوع: «سَدِّدِ الحَربَةَ الَّتي بِيَدِكَ نَحوَ العَيّ، فإِنِّي أُسلِمُها إِلى يَدِكَ». فسَدَّدَ يَشوعُ الحَربَةَ الَّتي بِيَدِه نَحوَ المَدينَة

وعِندَما مَدَّ يَدَه قامَ الكامِنونَ بِسُرعَةٍ مِن مَواضِعِهم وعَدَوا إِلى المَدينَة، فٱستَولَوا علَيها وأَسرَعوا إِلى إِحْراقِ المَدينةِ بِالنَّار

فٱلتَفَتَ رِجالُ العَيِّ ونَظَروا، فإِذا دُخانُ المَدينةِ صاعِدٌ إِلى السَّماء. فلَم يَبقَ سَبيلٌ لِلهَرَبِ إِلى هُنا وهُنا، لِأَنَّ الشَّعبَ الَّذي كانَ قدِ ٱنهَزَمَ إِلى البَرِّيَّةِ ٱرتَدَّ على مُطارِديه

ولَمَّا رَأَى يَشوعُ وكُلُّ إِسْرائيلَ أَنَّ الكامِنينَ قدِ ٱستَولَوا على المَدينَة. وقدِ ٱرتَفَعَ دُخانُها، عادوا وضَرَبوا رِجالَ العَيّ

وخَرَجَ الكامِنونَ مِنَ المَدينةِ لِلِقائِهم، فصارَ القَومُ في وَسْطِ إِسْرائيل، هٰؤُلاءِ مِن هُنا وأُولٰئِكَ مِن هُناك. فضَرَبوهم حتَّى لم يَبْقَ مِنهم باقٍ ولا شَريد

وقَبَضوا على مَلِكِ العَيِّ حَيًّا وقادوه إِلى يَشوع

ولَمَّا ٱنتَهى بَنو إِسْرائيلَ مِن قَتْلِ جَميعِ سُكَّانِ العَيِّ في الحُقولِ وفي البَرِّيَّةِ حَيثُ طارَدوهم، وسَقَطوا جَميعُهم بِحَدِّ السَّيفِ عن آخِرِهم، رَجَعَ كُلُّ إِسْرائيلَ إِلى العَيِّ وضَرَبوها بِحَدِّ السَّيْف

وكانَ جُملةُ مَن سَقَطَ في ذٰلك اليَومِ مِن رَجُلٍ وٱمرَأَةٍ ٱثنَي عَشَرَ أَلفًا، جَميعَ أَهلِ العَيّ

ولم يَردُدْ يَشوعُ يَدَه الَّتي مَدَّها بِالحَربة، حتَّى حَرَّمَ جَميعَ سُكَّانِ العَيّ

ولَم يَغنَمْ إِسْرائيلُ لِنَفسِه سِوى البَهائِمِ وأَسْلابِ تلك المَدينَة، على حَسَبِ أَمرِ الرَّبِّ الَّذي أَمَرَ بِه يَشوع

وأَحرَقَ يَشوعُ العَيَّ وجَعَلَها رُكامًا لِلأَبَد، خَرابًا إِلى هٰذا اليَوم

وأَمَّا مَلِكُ العَيِّ فقَد عَلَّقَه على شَجَرَةٍ حتَّى المَساء، وعِندَ غُروبِ الشَّمْس، أَمَرَ يَشوعُ فأَنزَلوا جُثَّتَه عنِ الشَّجَرَة، وأَلقَوها عِندَ مَدخَلِ بابِ المَدينة، وجَعَلوا علَيه كَومةً كَبيرةً مِنَ الحِجارةِ إِلى هٰذا اليَوم

حِينَئِذٍ بَنَى يَشُوعُ مَذْبَحًا لِلرَّبِّ إِلهِ إِسْرَائِيلَ فِي جَبَلِ عِيبَالَ،

كما أَمَرَ موسى، عَبدُ الرَّبِّ، بَنى إِسْرائيل، على ما هو مَكْتوبٌ في سِفرِ تَوراةِ موسى، مَذبَحًا مِن حِجارةٍ غيرِ مَنْحوتة، لم يُرفَعْ علَيها حَديد، وأَصعَدوا علَيه مُحرَقاتٍ لِلرَّبّ، وذَبَحوا ذبائِحَ سَلامِيَّة

وكَتَبَ هُناكَ على الحِجارةِ تَثنِيَةَ ٱشتِراعِ موسى الَّتي كَتَبَها أَمامَ بَني إِسْرائيل

وكانَ كُلُّ إِسْرائيلَ وشُيوخُه وكَتَبَتُه وقُضاتُه واقِفينَ على جانِبَيِ التَّابوتِ مِن هٰهُنا وهٰهُنا، مُقابِلَ الكَهَنَةِ اللَّاوِيِّين، حامِلي تابوتِ عَهدِ الرَّبّ، النَّزيلُ وٱبنُ البَلَد، نِصفُهم إِلى جِهَةِ جَبَلِ جَرِزِّيم، والنِّصفُ الآخَرُ إِلى جِهَةِ جَبَلِ عَيبال، كما كانَ موسى، عَبدُ الرَّبِّ، قد أَمَرَ أَن يُبارَكَ أَوَّلًا شَعبُ إِسْرائيل

وبَعدَ ذٰلك، تَلا كَلامَ التَّوراةِ كُلَّه، مِنَ البَركَةِ واللَّعنَة، بِحَسَبِ كُلِّ ما كُتِبَ في سِفرِ التَّوراة

لم تَكُنْ كَلِمةٌ مِن كُلِّ ما أَمَرَ بِه موسى لم يَتْلُها يَشوعُ بِحَضرَةِ جَماعةِ إِسْرائيلَ كُلِّها، مع النِّساءِ والأَطْفالِ والنَّزيلِ السَّائِرِ مَعَهم

The LORD said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid, and don’t be dismayed. Take all the warriors with you, and arise, go up to Ai. Behold, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, with his people, his city, and his land.

You shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king, except you shall take its goods and its livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.”

So Joshua arose, with all the warriors, to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them out by night.

He commanded them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city, but all of you be ready.

I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them.

They will come out after us until we have drawn them away from the city; for they will say, ‘They flee before us, like the first time.’ So we will flee before them,

and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

It shall be, when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to the LORD’s word. Behold, I have commanded you.”

Joshua sent them out; and they went to set up the ambush, and stayed between Bethel and Ai on the west side of Ai; but Joshua stayed among the people that night.

Joshua rose up early in the morning, mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

All the people, even the men of war who were with him, went up and came near, and came before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai.

He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

So they set the people, even all the army who was on the north of the city, and their ambush on the west of the city; and Joshua went that night into the middle of the valley.

When the king of Ai saw it, they hurried and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, before the Arabah; but he didn’t know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

All the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them. They pursued Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.

There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who didn’t go out after Israel. They left the city open, and pursued Israel.

The LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.

The ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand and entered into the city and took it. They hurried and set the city on fire.

When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way. The people who fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.

When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned back and killed the men of Ai.

The others came out of the city against them, so they were in the middle of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. They struck them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.

They captured the king of Ai alive, and brought him to Joshua.

When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they pursued them, and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

All that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the people of Ai.

For Joshua didn’t draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

Israel took for themselves only the livestock and the goods of that city, according to the LORD’s word which he commanded Joshua.

So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, even a desolation, to this day.

He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until the evening. At sundown, Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised a great heap of stones on it that remains to this day.

Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

as Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones, on which no one had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings.

He wrote there on the stones a copy of Moses’ law, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.

All Israel, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the LORD’s covenant, the foreigner as well as the native; half of them in front of Mount Gerizim, 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.

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.

There was not a word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua didn’t read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the foreigners who were among them.