Joshua 8:13

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

The army was in position– the main army north of the city and the rear guard west of the city. That night Joshua went into the middle of the valley.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Josh 8:8 : 8 When you capture the city, set it on fire in keeping with the Lord’s message. See, I have given you orders.”
  • Josh 8:12 : 12 He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel and Ai.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Josh 8:7-12
    6 verses
    88%

    7Then you rise up from your hiding place and seize the city. The LORD your God will hand it over to you.

    8When you capture the city, set it on fire in keeping with the Lord’s message. See, I have given you orders.”

    9Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place west of Ai, between Bethel and Ai. Joshua spent that night with the army.

    10Bright and early the next morning Joshua gathered the army, and he and the leaders of Israel marched at the head of it to Ai.

    11All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city. They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley.

    12He took five thousand men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel and Ai.

  • Josh 8:1-5
    5 verses
    85%

    1Israel Conquers Ai The LORD told Joshua,“Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! Take the whole army with you and march against Ai! See, I am handing over to you the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land.

    2Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city!”

    3Joshua and the whole army marched against Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand brave warriors and sent them out at night.

    4He ordered them,“Look, set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city; all of you be ready!

    5I and all the troops who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to fight us like before, we will retreat from them.

  • Josh 8:14-24
    11 verses
    84%

    14When the king of Ai saw Israel, they rushed to get up early. Then the men of the city went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people, at the meeting place near the rift valley. But he did not realize an ambush was waiting for him behind the city.

    15Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them and they retreated along the way to the wilderness.

    16All the reinforcements in Ai were ordered to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city.

    17No men were left in Ai or Bethel; they all went out after Israel. They left the city wide open and chased Israel.

    18The LORD told Joshua,“Hold out toward Ai the curved sword in your hand, for I am handing the city over to you.” So Joshua held out toward Ai the curved sword in his hand.

    19When he held out his hand, the men waiting in ambush rose up quickly from their place and attacked. They entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.

    20When the men of Ai turned around, they saw the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. In the meantime the men who were retreating to the wilderness turned against their pursuers.

    21When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the city was going up in smoke, they turned around and struck down the men of Ai.

    22At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle. The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees.

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

    24When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai who had chased them toward the wilderness(they all fell by the sword), all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it.

  • Josh 10:7-9
    3 verses
    78%

    7So Joshua and his whole army, including the bravest warriors, marched up from Gilgal.

    8The LORD told Joshua,“Don’t be afraid of them, for I am handing them over to you. Not one of them can resist you.”

    9Joshua attacked them by surprise after marching all night from Gilgal.

  • Josh 7:2-4
    3 verses
    77%

    2Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai(which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel) and instructed them,“Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai.

    3They returned and reported to Joshua,“Don’t send the whole army. About two or three thousand men are adequate to defeat Ai. Don’t tire out the whole army, for Ai is small.”

    4So about three thousand men went up, but they fled from the men of Ai.

  • Josh 11:7-8
    2 verses
    75%

    7Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise at the Waters of Merom and attacked them.

    8The LORD handed them over to Israel and they struck them down and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, Misrephoth Maim, and the Mizpah Valley to the east. They struck them down until no survivors remained.

  • Josh 8:26-28
    3 verses
    74%

    26Joshua kept holding out his curved sword until Israel had annihilated all who lived in Ai.

    27But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in keeping with the LORD’s orders to Joshua.

    28Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanently uninhabited mound(it remains that way to this very day).

  • Josh 3:1
    74%

    1Israel Crosses the Jordan Bright and early the next morning Joshua and the Israelites left Shittim and came to the Jordan. They camped there before crossing the river.

  • Josh 9:2-3
    2 verses
    74%

    2they formed an alliance to fight against Joshua and Israel.

    3When the residents of Gibeon heard what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai,

  • Josh 2:2
    72%

    2The king of Jericho received this report:“Note well! Israelite men have come here tonight to spy on the land.”

  • Josh 5:13
    72%

    13Israel Conquers Jericho When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him holding a drawn sword. Joshua approached him and asked him,“Are you on our side or allied with our enemies?”

  • Josh 6:11
    72%

    11So Joshua made sure they marched the ark of the LORD around the city one time. Then they went back to the camp and spent the night there.

  • Josh 6:15
    71%

    15On the seventh day they were up at the crack of dawn and marched around the city as before– only this time they marched around it seven times.

  • Judg 9:32
    71%

    32Now, come up at night with your men and set an ambush in the field outside the city.

  • Josh 6:7
    71%

    7And he told the army,“Move ahead and march around the city, with armed troops going ahead of the ark of the LORD.”

  • Josh 10:27
    71%

    27At sunset Joshua ordered his men to take them down from the trees. They threw them into the cave where they had hidden and piled large stones over the mouth of the cave.(They remain to this very day.)

  • Josh 2:8
    70%

    8Now before the spies went to sleep, Rahab went up to the roof.