12. Then Joshua chose about 5,000 men. He set them in ambush in the area west of the city between Bethel and Ai.
13. So the people took their positions. The main camp was north of the city. The other men were hiding to the west. That night Joshua went down into the valley.
14. Now the king of Ai saw the army of Israel. So he and his people got up early the next morning and hurried out to fight them. They went out to a place east of the city. The king did not know soldiers were waiting in ambush behind the city.
15. Joshua and all the men of Israel let the army of Ai push them back. Then they ran east toward the desert.
16. The men in Ai were called to chase Joshua and his men. So they left the city and went after them.
17. All the men of Ai and Bethel chased the army of Israel. The city was left open. Not a man stayed to protect it.
18. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold your spear toward Ai. I will give you that city.” So Joshua held his spear toward the city of Ai.
19. The men of Israel who were in ambush saw this. They quickly came out of their hiding place and hurried toward the city. They entered the city and took control of it. Then they quickly set it on fire.
20. When the men of Ai looked back, they saw smoke rising from their city. At the same time the men of Israel stopped running. They turned against the men of Ai. The men of Ai could not escape in any direction.
21. Joshua and all his men saw that the army had taken control of the city. They saw the smoke rising from it. So they stopped running and turned to fight the men of Ai.
22. The men who were in ambush also came out of the city to help with the fight. The men of Ai were caught between the armies of Israel. The Israelites fought until not one of the men of Ai was left alive. None of the enemy escaped.
23. But the king of Ai was left alive. And Joshua’s men brought him to Joshua.
24. During the fighting the army of Israel chased the men of Ai into the fields and desert. So the Israelites killed all of them in the fields and desert. Then they went back to Ai and killed everyone there.