¹⁴ When the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out to meet Israel for battle—he^[a] and all his army—to the meeting place before the Arabah.^[b] He did not know that there was an ambush for him behind the city. ¹⁵ Then Joshua and all Israel acted like they were beaten before them, and they fled in the direction of the wilderness.^{[c] 16} All of the people who were in the city were called to pursue after them. As they pursued after Joshua, they were drawn away from the city.