Bible in Basic English
"Then Joshua and all Israel, acting as if they were overcome before them, went in flight by way of the waste land."
— Joshua 8:15, Bible in Basic English
“And Joshua and all Israel made as if they were beaten before them, and fled by the way of the wilderness.”
And taking about five thousand men, he put them in position for a surprise attack on the west side of Ai, between Beth-el and Ai.
So all the people were in their places, the army on the north side of the town and the secret force on the west; and that night Joshua went down into the valley.
Now when the king of Ai saw it, he got up quickly and went out to war against Israel, he and all his people, to the slope going down to the valley; but he had no idea that a secret force was waiting at the back of the town.
Then Joshua and all Israel, acting as if they were overcome before them, went in flight by way of the waste land.
And all the people in Ai came together to go after them; and they went after Joshua, moving away from the town.
There was not a man in Ai and Beth-el who did not go out after Israel; and the town was open and unwatched while they went after Israel.
And the Lord said to Joshua, Let your spear be stretched out against Ai; for I will give it into your hands. So Joshua took up his spear, stretching it out in the direction of the town.