Joshua 8:4

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

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

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Judg 20:29 : 29 So Israel hid men in ambush outside Gibeah.
  • Judg 20:33 : 33 All the men of Israel got up from their places and took their positions at Baal Tamar, while the Israelites hiding in ambush jumped out of their places west of Gibeah.
  • Judg 20:36 : 36 Then the Benjaminites saw they were defeated.The Israelites retreated before Benjamin, because they had confidence in the men they had hid in ambush outside Gibeah.
  • 1 Sam 15:2 : 2 Here is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has said:‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed Israel along the way when Israel came up from Egypt.
  • 1 Sam 15:5 : 5 Saul proceeded to the city of Amalek, where he set an ambush in the wadi.
  • Eccl 7:19 : 19 Wisdom Needed Because No One is Truly Righteous Wisdom gives a wise person more protection than ten rulers in a city.
  • Eccl 9:16 : 16 So I concluded that wisdom is better than might, but a poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens to his advice.
  • Acts 23:21 : 21 So do not let them persuade you to do this, because more than forty of them are lying in ambush for him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for you to agree to their request.”
  • Josh 8:16 : 16 All the reinforcements in Ai were ordered to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city.
  • Judg 9:25 : 25 The leaders of Shechem rebelled against Abimelech by putting bandits in the hills, who robbed everyone who traveled by on the road. But Abimelech found out about it.

Similar Verses (AI)

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

  • Josh 8:5-24
    20 verses
    85%

    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.

    6They will attack us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say,‘They are retreating from us like before.’ We will retreat from them.

    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.

    13The 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.

    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 8:1-3
    3 verses
    84%

    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.

  • 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.

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

  • Josh 8:26-28
    3 verses
    73%

    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 6:2-3
    2 verses
    73%

    2The LORD told Joshua,“See, I am about to defeat Jericho for you, along with its king and its warriors.

    3Have all the warriors march around the city one time; do this for six days.

  • 72%

    18Joshua said,“Roll large stones over the mouth of the cave and post guards in front of it.

    19But don’t you delay! Chase your enemies and catch them! Don’t allow them to retreat to their cities, for the LORD your God is handing them over to you.”

  • Josh 1:10-11
    2 verses
    72%

    10Joshua Prepares for the Invasion Joshua instructed the leaders of the people:

    11“Go through the camp and command the people,‘Prepare your supplies, for within three days you will cross the Jordan River and begin the conquest of the land the LORD your God is ready to hand over to you.’”

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

  • Josh 10:8-9
    2 verses
    71%

    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.

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

  • 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?”

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

  • 22Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them,“Why did you trick us by saying,‘We live far away from you,’ when you really live nearby?

  • 8When the men started out, Joshua told those going to map out the land,“Go, walk through the land, map it out, and return to me. Then I will draw lots for you before the LORD here in Shiloh.”

  • 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.