~ Ai Falls ~

Then the Lord said to Joshua,
"Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
take the whole army with you,
and go up and attack Ai.
For I have delivered into your hands
the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land.
You shall do to Ai and its king
as you did to Jericho and its king,
except that you may carry off
their plunder and livestock for yourselves.
Set an ambush behind the city.

So Joshua and the whole army moved to attack Ai.
He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men
and set them out at night . . .

Then the Lord said to Joshua,
"Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in  your hand,
for into your hand I will deliver the city."
So Joshua held out his javelin toward Ai.
As soon as he did this,
the men in the ambush
rose quickly from their position and rushed forward.
They entered the city and captured it
and quickly set it on fire.

So Joshua burned Ai
and made it a permanent heap of ruins,
a desolate place to this day.

(Joshua 8:1-3, 18-19, 28)