6. We will let them chase us until we have drawn them away from the town. For they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ Then, while we are running from them,
7. you will jump up from your ambush and take possession of the town, for the lord your God will give it to you.
8. Set the town on fire, as the lord has commanded. You have your orders.”
9. So they left and went to the place of ambush between Bethel and the west side of Ai. But Joshua remained among the people in the camp that night.
10. Early the next morning Joshua roused his men and started toward Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel.
11. All the fighting men who were with Joshua marched in front of the town and camped on the north side of Ai, with a valley between them and the town.
12. That night Joshua sent about 5,000 men to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the town.
13. So they stationed the main army north of the town and the ambush west of the town. Joshua himself spent that night in the valley.
14. When the king of Ai saw the Israelites across the valley, he and all his army hurried out early in the morning and attacked the Israelites at a place overlooking the Jordan Valley. But he didn’t realize there was an ambush behind the town.
15. Joshua and the Israelite army fled toward the wilderness as though they were badly beaten.
16. Then all the men in the town were called out to chase after them. In this way, they were lured away from the town.
17. There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel who did not chase after the Israelites, and the town was left wide open.
18. Then the lord said to Joshua, “Point the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the town over to you.” Joshua did as he was commanded.
19. As soon as Joshua gave this signal, all the men in ambush jumped up from their position and poured into the town. They quickly captured it and set it on fire.
20. When the men of Ai looked behind them, smoke from the town was filling the sky, and they had nowhere to go. For the Israelites who had fled in the direction of the wilderness now turned on their pursuers.