Joshua 8:14-23

14When the king of Ai saw the main camp, he and all his troops got up early in the morning. They rushed out toward the plains to meet Israel for battle, just where ⌞Joshua⌟ expected. However, the king didn’t know there were troops behind the city waiting to attack him.

15Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated. They ran away toward the desert.

16All the troops in the city were called out to chase them. As they chased Joshua, they were lured away from the city.

17Not one man was left in Ai or Bethel; they all went after Israel. So the city was left unprotected as they chased Israel.

18Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out the spear in your hand toward the city, because I am handing Ai over to you.” So Joshua held out his spear.

19The men who were hiding got up as soon as he stretched out his hand. They entered the city, captured it, and quickly set it on fire.

20When the men of Ai looked back, they could see the city going up in smoke. They had no place to go, since the Israelites, who had been running toward the desert, had now turned back on them.

21When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men who had been hiding had captured the city and that it was going up in smoke, they turned and attacked the men of Ai.

22The men who had captured the city also came out and attacked them. The men of Ai were caught between the battle lines of Israel. So Israel attacked them on both sides. None of them survived or escaped.

23But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.