All 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.

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

The first lot belonged to the tribe of Benjamin by its clans. Their allotted territory was between Judah and Joseph.

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

but as a reminder to us and you, and to our descendants who follow us, that we will honor the Lord in his very presence with burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no right to worship the Lord.’

Your fathers cried out for help to the Lord; he made the area between you and the Egyptians dark, and then drowned them in the sea. You witnessed with your very own eyes what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness for a long time.