Joshua 8:23-29

New International Version

²³ But they took the king of Ai alive^(A) and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴ When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. ²⁵ Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.^{(B) 26} For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin^(C) until he had destroyed^[a](D) all who lived in Ai.^{(E) 27} But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.^(F)

²⁸ So Joshua burned^(G) Ai^[b](H) and made it a permanent heap of ruins,^(I) a desolate place to this day.^{(J) 29} He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset,^(K) Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks^(L) over it, which remains to this day.