7. you come out of hiding. The Lord our God will help you capture the town.
8. Then set it on fire, as the Lord has told us to do. Those are your orders,
9. now go!The thirty thousand soldiers went to a place on the west side of Ai, between Ai and Bethel, where they could hide and wait to attack.That night, Joshua stayed in camp with the rest of the army.
10. Early the next morning he got his troops ready to move out, and he and the other leaders of Israel led them to Ai.
11. They set up camp in full view of the town, across the valley to the north.
12. Joshua had already sent five thousand soldiers to the west side of the town to hide and wait to attack.
13. Now all his troops were in place. Part of the army was in the camp to the north of Ai, and the others were hiding to the west, ready to make a surprise attack. That night, Joshua went into the valley.
18. Finally, the Lord told Joshua, “Point your sword at the town of Ai, because now I am going to help you defeat it!”As soon as Joshua pointed his sword at the town,
19. the soldiers who had been hiding got up and ran into the town. They captured it and set it on fire.