The sin we committed at Peor was bad enough. To this very day we have not purified ourselves; it even brought a plague on the community of the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="1" />

The Reubenites and Gadites named the altar, &#8220;Surely it is a Reminder to us<n id="1" /> that the <sc>Lordsc> is God.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> drove out from before you great and mighty nations; no one has been able to resist you<n id="1" /> to this very day.

He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening.<n id="1" /> At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree.<n id="2" /> They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and erected over it a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day).<n id="3" />p>

When the ones carrying the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the surface<n id="1" /> of the water &#8211; (the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest time)<n id="2" /> &#8211;

The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the <sc>Lordsc> stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. All Israel crossed over on dry ground until the entire nation was on the other side.<n id="1" />p>

tell them how the water of the Jordan stopped flowing<n id="1" /> before the ark of the covenant of the <sc>Lordsc>. When it crossed the Jordan, the water of the Jordan stopped flowing.<n id="2" /> These stones will be a lasting memorial for the Israelites.&#8221;p>

Joshua also set up twelve stones<n id="1" /> in the middle of the Jordan in the very place where the priests carrying the ark of the covenant stood. They remain there to this very day.p>

<p class="bodytext">Now the priests carrying the ark of the covenant were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people was accomplished, in accordance with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people went across quickly,

Now Joshua had instructed the army,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Do not give a battle cry<n id="2" /> or raise your voices; say nothing<n id="3" /> until the day I tell you, &#8216;Give the battle cry.&#8217;<n id="4" /> Then give the battle cry!&#8221;<n id="5" />

Yet Joshua spared<n id="1" /> Rahab the prostitute, her father&#8217;s family,<n id="2" /> and all who belonged to her. She lives in Israel<n id="3" /> to this very day because she hid the messengers Joshua sent to spy on Jericho.<n id="4" />

The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures<n id="1" /> and defeated them on the steep slope.<n id="2" /> The people&#8217;s<n id="3" /> courage melted away like water.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Joshua tore his clothes;<n id="1" /> he and the leaders<n id="2" /> of Israel lay face down on the ground before the ark of the <sc>Lordsc> until evening<n id="3" /> and threw dirt on their heads.<n id="4" />

Get up! Ritually consecrate the people and tell them this: &#8216;Ritually consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says, &#8220;You are contaminated,<n id="1" /> O Israel! You will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove what is contaminating you.&#8221;<n id="2" />

At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle.<n id="1" /> The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees.

<p class="bodytext">When Israel had finished killing all the men<n id="1" /> of Ai who had chased them toward the desert<n id="2" /> (they all fell by the sword),<n id="3" /> all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it.

As they fled from Israel on the slope leading down from<n id="1" /> Beth Horon, the <sc>Lordsc> threw down on them large hailstones from the sky,<n id="2" /> all the way to Azekah. They died &#8211; in fact, more died from the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword.p>

<p class="bodytext">The sun stood still and the moon stood motionless while the nation took vengeance on its enemies. The event is recorded in the Scroll of the Upright One.<n id="1" /> The sun stood motionless in the middle of the sky and did not set for about a full day.<n id="2" />

At sunset Joshua ordered his men to take them down from the trees.<n id="1" /> 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.)<n id="2" />p>

The Israelites plundered all the goods of these cities and the cattle, but they totally destroyed all the people<n id="1" /> and allowed no one who breathed to live.