²¹ They observed the ban by putting to the sword all living creatures^(A) in the city: men and women, young and old, as well as oxen, sheep and donkeys.

²⁴ The city itself they burned with all that was in it;^(A) but the silver, gold, and articles of bronze and iron they placed in the treasury of the house of the Lord.

^26 (A)Joshua kept the javelin in his hand stretched out until he had carried out the ban on all the inhabitants of Ai. ²⁷ However, the Israelites took for themselves as plunder the livestock and the spoil of that city, according to the command of the Lord issued to Joshua. ²⁸ Then Joshua destroyed Ai by fire, reducing it to an everlasting mound of ruins, as it remains today.^{(B) 29} He had the king of Ai hanged on a tree until evening;^(C) then at sunset Joshua ordered the body removed from the tree and cast at the entrance of the city gate, where a great heap of stones was piled up over it, which remains to the present day.