And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai.
And their border on the north quarter was from the Jordan, and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill-country westward. And the goings out of it were at the wilderness of Beth-aven.
And the Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel: thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude. And they came up, and encamped in Michmash,
And he moved from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to LORD, and called upon the name of LORD.
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men as spies secretly, saying, Go, view the land, and Jericho. And they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lay there.
And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, Let not all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai. Do not make all the people to toil there, for they are but few.
Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste. Cry, ye daughters of Rabbah. Gird you with sackcloth. Lament, and run to and fro among the fences. For Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his rulers together.