1. Then the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, "Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. Go up and attack Ai. Take the whole army with you. I have handed the king of Ai over to you. I have given you his people, his city and his land.
2. "Remember what you did to Jericho and its king. You will do the same thing to Ai and its king. But this time you can keep for yourselves the livestock and everything else you take from them. Have some of your fighting men hide behind the city and take them by surprise."
3. So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best fighting men. He sent them out at night.
4. He gave them orders. He said, "Listen carefully to what I'm saying. You must hide behind the city. Don't go very far away from it. All of you must be ready to attack it.
5. "I and all of the men who are with me will go up to the city. The men of Ai will come out to fight against us, just as they did before. Then we'll run away from them.
6. They'll chase us until we've drawn them away from the city. They'll say, 'They are running away from us, just as they did before.' "When we run away from them,
7. come out of your hiding place. Take over the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you.
8. When you have taken it, set it on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded. Make sure you obey my orders."
9. Then Joshua sent them away. They went to the place where they had planned to hide. They hid in a place west of Ai. It was between Bethel and Ai. But Joshua spent that night with his men.
10. Early the next morning Joshua brought his men together. He and the leaders of Israel marched in front of them to Ai.
11. The whole army that was with him marched up to the city. They stopped in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai. There was a valley between them and the city.
12. Joshua had chosen about 5,000 soldiers. He had ordered them to hide in a place west of Ai. It was between Bethel and Ai.
13. The men took up their battle positions. All of the men who were in the camp that was north of the city took up their positions. So did those who were supposed to hide west of the city. That night Joshua went into the valley.
14. The king of Ai saw what the army of Israel was doing. So he and all of his men hurried out of the city early in the morning. They marched out to meet Israel in battle. They went to a place that looked out over the Arabah Valley. The king didn't know that some of Israel's fighting men were hiding behind the city.