12. He took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, westward of the city.
13. So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north of the city, and its rear guard on the west of the city, and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley.
14. When the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city hurriedly got up early and went out to engage Israel in battle at the assembly point near the Arabah. Yet he did not know that there was an ambush for him behind the city.
15. So Joshua and all Israel allowed themselves to be beaten before them, and they fled in the direction of the wilderness.
16. All the people who were in Ai were assembled to pursue them, so they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
17. Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city wide open, and they pursued Israel.
18. The Lord said to Joshua, “Point toward Ai with the sword that is in your hand, for I will give it into your hand.” So Joshua pointed toward the city with the sword in his hand.
19. When his hand pointed, the men in ambush got up quickly from their place and ran. They came into the city, captured it, and quickly set the city on fire.
20. The men of Ai turned around and looked, and there from the city came smoke rising to the sky! They could not flee in any direction, and the people who had fled into the wilderness had turned back toward their pursuers.
21. When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city and that smoke rose from it, they turned and struck down the men of Ai.
22. Then the men in the city came out to engage them in battle, so they were now in the middle, with Israel on each side. Israel struck them down until neither survivors nor escapees were left.
23. They took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.