Gen 14:14-17, Jos 8:1-29, 11:23, 2Sa 10:6-19, 1Ki 5:4 | ESV | STEP | When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive , he led forth his trained men , born in his house , 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan .

aj[See ver. 6 above]

ak[See ver. 6 above]

alSee Deut. 31:6

am 1 Sam. 4:9; [1 Cor. 16:13]

at[ch. 4:24; 1 Chr. 22:9]

Genesis 14:14-17

14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, ^aborn in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as ^bDan. 15 And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot ^cwith his possessions, and the women and the people.

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the ^dKing’s Valley).

Joshua 8:1-29

The Fall of Ai

1 And the Lord said to Joshua, ^e“Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, ^fI have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did ^gto Jericho and its king. Only ^hits spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”

3 So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. 4 And he commanded them, “Behold, ⁱyou shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. 5 And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us ^jjust as before, we shall flee before them. 6 And they will come out after us, until we have ^kdrawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. 7 Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand. 8 And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the Lord. ^lSee, I have commanded you.” 9 So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people.

10 Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11 And ^mall the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. 12 He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. 14 And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place ^{▼▼Hebrew appointed time} toward ^othe Arabah to meet Israel in battle. ^pBut he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15 And Joshua and all Israel ^qpretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. 16 So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they ^rwere drawn away from the city. 17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.

18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ^s“Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19 And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. 20 So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. 21 And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22 And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And Israel struck them down, until there was ^tleft none that survived or escaped. 23 But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua.

24 When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. 25 And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. 26 But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he ^ustretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction. ^{▼▼That is, set apart ( devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)} 27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the Lord that he ^wcommanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a ^xheap of ruins, as it is to this day. 29 ^yAnd he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. ^zAnd at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and ^aaraised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.

Joshua 11:23

23 So Joshua took the whole land, ^abaccording to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. ^acAnd Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel ^adaccording to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.

2 Samuel 10:6-19

6 When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of ^aeBeth-rehob, and ^afthe Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of ^agMaacah with 1,000 men, and the men of ^ahTob, 12,000 men. 7 And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of ^aithe mighty men. 8 And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and ^ajthe Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and ^akthe men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.

9 When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. 10 The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. 11 And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. 12 ^alBe of good courage, and ^amlet us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and ^anmay the Lord do what seems good to him.” 13 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. 14 And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

15 But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. 16 And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond ^aothe Euphrates. ^{▼▼Hebrew the River} They came to Helam, with ^aqShobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. 17 And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him. 18 And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded ^arShobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. 19 And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel ^asand became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.

1 Kings 5:4

4 ^atBut now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune.