22. The Israelites in the city now came down to join the battle. So the men of Ai found themselves completely surrounded by Israelites, and they were all killed. No one got away, and no one lived through it
23. except the king of Ai. He was captured and taken to Joshua.
24. The Israelites killed every one of the enemy in the barren country where they had chased them. Then they went back to Ai and killed everyone there.
25-26. Joshua kept his spear pointed at Ai and did not put it down until every person there had been killed. The whole population of Ai was killed that day — 12,000 men and women.
27. The Israelites kept for themselves the livestock and goods captured in the city, as the Lord had told Joshua.
28. Joshua burnt Ai and left it in ruins. It is still like that today.
29. He hanged the king of Ai from a tree and left his body there until evening. At sunset Joshua gave orders for the body to be removed, and it was thrown down at the entrance to the city gate. They covered it with a huge pile of stones, which is still there today.
30. Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel.
31. He made it according to the instructions that Moses, the Lord's servant, had given the Israelites, as it says in the Law of Moses: “an altar made of stones which have not been cut with iron tools.” On it they offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord, and they also presented their fellowship offerings.
32. There, with the Israelites looking on, Joshua made on the stones a copy of the Law which Moses had written.
33. The Israelites, with their leaders, officers, and judges, as well as the foreigners among them, stood on two sides of the Lord's Covenant Box, facing the levitical priests who carried it. Half the people stood with their backs to Mount Gerizim and the other half with their backs to Mount Ebal. The Lord's servant Moses had commanded them to do this when the time came for them to receive the blessing.
34. Joshua then read aloud the whole Law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the book of the Law.
35. Every one of the commandments of Moses was read by Joshua to the whole gathering, which included women and children, as well as the foreigners living among them.