¹Yahweh said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed. Take all the people of war 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.

¹Derefter sagde HERREN til Josua: "Frygt ikke og vær ikke bange! Tag alt Krigsfolket med dig, bryd op og drag mod Aj! Se, jeg giver Kongen af Aj og hans Folk, hans By og hans Land i din Hånd!

²You shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king, except its spoil and its livestock, you shall take for a plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush for the city behind it.”

²Og du skal gøre det samme ved Aj og dets Konge, som du gjorde ved Jeriko og dets Konge; men Godset, I røver der, må I selv beholde som Bytte, ligeledes Kvæget der. Læg Baghold vesten for Byen!"

³So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valor, and sent them out by night.

³Derpå brød Josua op og drog med alt Krigsfolket op mod Aj; og Josua udvalgte sig 30000 tapre Mænd og sendte dem bort om Natten,

⁴He 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.

⁴idet han bød dem: "Se, I skal lægge eder i Baghold vesten for Byen, ikke for langt fra den, og hold eder alle rede.

⁵I, and all the people who are with me, will approach to the city. It shall happen, when they come out against us, as at the first, that we will flee before them.

⁵Jeg og alle de Folk, som er med mig, vil nærme os Byen, og når de gør Udfald imod os ligesom forrige Gang, flygter vi for dem.

⁶They 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,

⁶Når de så følger efter os så langt, at vi får dem lokket bort fra Byen, idet de tænker, at vi flygter for dem ligesom forrige Gang,

⁷and you shall rise up from the ambush, and take possession of the city; for Yahweh your God will deliver it into your hand.

⁷skal I bryde frem fra Bagholdet og tage Byen, thi HERREN eders Gud vil give den i eders Hånd.

⁸It shall be, when you have seized on the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do this according to the word of Yahweh. Behold, I have commanded you.”

⁸Og når I har indtaget byen, skal I stikke den i Brand. Således skal I gøre, det er mit Bud til eder!"

⁹Joshua 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.

⁹Derpå sendte Josua dem bort, og de gik hen og lagde sig i Baghold mellem Betel og Aj, vesten for Aj; men Josua blev den Nat iblandt Krigsfolket.

¹⁰Joshua rose up early in the morning, mustered the people, and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.

¹⁰Tidligt næste Morgen mønstrede Josua Folket, og sammen med Israels Ældste drog han op til Aj i Spidsen for Folket.

¹¹All the people, even the men of war who were with him, went up, and drew near, and came before the city, and encamped on the north side of Ai. Now there was a valley between him and Ai.

¹¹Hele den Styrke, som var med ham, rykkede nærmere, til de havde Byen foran sig; og de lejrede sig norden for Aj med Dalen mellem sig og Aj.

¹²He took about five thousand men, and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city.

¹²Derpå tog han henved 5000 Mand og lagde dem i Baghold mellem Betel og Aj, vesten for Byen;

¹³So 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 midst of the valley.

¹³og Krigerne blev bragt i Stilling, hele Hæren, som var norden for Byen, og den Del, som lå i Baghold vesten for Byen; men Josua begav sig om Natten ned i Dalen.

¹⁴It happened, when the king of Ai saw it, that 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.

¹⁴Da nu Kongen af Aj så det, skyndte Byens Mænd sig og rykkede tidligt om Morgenen ud til Kamp mod Israel, Kongen med hele sin Styrke, til Skråningen, hvor Lavningen begynder, uden at vide af, at der var lagt Baghold imod ham vesten for Byen;

¹⁵Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.

¹⁵og da Josua og hele Israel lod sig slå på Flugt af dem og flygtede ad Ørkenen til,

¹⁶All the people who were in the city were called together to pursue after them. They pursued Joshua, and were drawn away from the city.

¹⁶blev alt Folket i Byen stævnet sammen til at forfølge dem, og de forfulgte Josua og lod sig lokke bort fra Byen;

¹⁷There was not a man left in Ai or Beth El who didn’t go out after Israel. They left the city open, and pursued Israel.

¹⁷ikke een Mand blev tilbage i Aj, men alle drog de ud for at forfølge Israel, og de lod Byen stå åben, medens de forfulgte Israel.

¹⁸Yahweh 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.

¹⁸Da sagde HERREN til Josua: "Ræk Spydet i din Hånd ud mod Aj; thi jeg giver det i din Hånd!" Og Josua rakte Spydet i sin Hånd ud mod Byen.

¹⁹The 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.

¹⁹Og Bagholdet brød hurtigt op fra sin Plads og løb hen til Byen, da han rakte Hånden ud, indtog den og skyndte sig at stikke den i Brand.

²⁰When 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.

²⁰Da Mændene fra Aj vendte sig om og så Røgen fra Byen stige op mod Himmelen, var de ude af Stand til at flygte til nogen af Siderne, idet Folket, som var flygtet ad Ørkenen til, vendte sig om mod deres Forfølgere.

²¹When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city ascended, then they turned again, and killed the men of Ai.

²¹Og da Josua og hele Israel så, at Bagholdet havde indtaget Byen, og at Røgen fra byen steg til Vejrs, vendte de om og slog Mændene fra Aj;

²²The others came out of the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. They struck them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.

²²og da hine rykkede ud fra Byen imod dem, kom de midt ind imellem Israeliternes to Afdelinger, som huggede dem ned uden at lade en eneste af dem undkomme eller slippe bort.

²³They captured the king of Ai alive, and brought him to Joshua.

²³Men Kongen af Aj fangede de levende og bragte ham til Josua.

²⁴It happened, when Israel had made an end of 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, that all Israel returned to Ai, and struck it with the edge of the sword.

²⁴Da Israel nu havde hugget alle Ajs Indbyggere ned på åben Mark, på Skråningen, hvor de forfulgte dem, og de alle til sidste Mand var faldet for Sværdet, vendte hele Israel tilbage til Aj og slog det med Sværdet.

²⁵All that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai.

²⁵Alle de, der faldt på den Dag, Mænd og Kvinder, udgjorde 12000, alle Indbyggerne i Aj.

²⁶For Joshua didn’t draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the javelin, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

²⁶Og Josua trak ikke sin Hånd med det udrakte Spyd tilbage, før han havde lagt Band på alle Ajs Indbyggere.

²⁷Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took for prey to themselves, according to the word of Yahweh which he commanded Joshua.

²⁷Kun Kvæget og Godset, de røvede i denne By, beholdt Israeliterne som Bytte efter den Befaling, HERREN havde givet Josua.

²⁸So Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap forever, even a desolation, to this day.

²⁸Og Josua stak Aj i Brand og gjorde den til en Ruinhob for bestandig, til den Ødemark, den er den Dag i Dag.

²⁹He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until the evening, and at the 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.

²⁹Men Kongen af Aj hængte han på en Pæl og lod ham hænge til Aften; og da Solen gik ned, tog man på Josuas Befaling hans Lig ned af Pælen og kastede det hen ved Indgangen til Byens Port. Og man opkastede over ham en stor Stendysse, som står der den Dag i Dag.

³⁰Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal,

³⁰Da byggede Josua HERREN, Israels Gud, et Alter på Ebals Bjerg,

³¹as Moses the servant of Yahweh 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 man had lifted up any iron. They offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh, and sacrificed peace offerings.

³¹som HERRENs Tjener Moses havde pålagt Israeliterne, i Overensstemmelse med, hvad der står skrevet i Moses's Lovbog, et Alter af utilhugne Sten, hvor over der ikke var svunget Jern; og de bragte HERREN Brændofre og ofrede Takofre der.

³²He wrote there on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.

³²Og han skrev der på Stenene i Israeliternes Påsyn en Afskrift af Mose Lov, som denne havde skrevet,

³³All Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, who carried the ark of Yahweh’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 Yahweh had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.

³³idet hele Israel og dets Ældste, Tilsynsmænd og Dommere stod på begge Sider af Arken lige over for Levitpræsterne, som bar HERRENs Pagts Ark, de fremmede såvel som de indfødte, den ene Halvdel hen imod Garizims Bjerg, den anden Halvdel hen imod Ebals Bjerg, således som HERRENs Tjener Moses forhen havde påbudt at velsigne Israels Folk.

³⁴Afterward 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.

³⁴Så oplæste han alle Lovens Ord, Velsignelsen og Forbandelsen, alt som det var skrevet i Lovbogen;

³⁵There 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.

³⁵ikke et Ord af alt, hvad Moses havde påbudt, undlod Josua at op læse for hele Israels Menighed, Mændene, Kvinderne og Børnene og de fremmede, som var draget med iblandt dem.