Joshua 7:3

Amplified Bible

Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not make all the people go up [to fight]; have only about two thousand or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not make the entire army go up there, for they [of Ai] are few."

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
And they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few."

Update Bible Version
And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, Don't let all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; don't make all the people to toil there; for they are but few.

English Revised Version
And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; make not all the people to toil thither; for they are but few.

New Century Version
Later they came back to Joshua and said, "There are only a few people in Ai, so we will not need all our people to defeat them. Send only two or three thousand men to fight. There is no need to send all of our people."

New English Translation
They returned and reported to Joshua, "Don't send the whole army. About two or three thousand men are adequate to defeat Ai. Don't tire out the whole army, for Ai is small."

Webster's Bible Translation
And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; [and] make not all the people to labor thither; for they [are but] few.

World English Bible
They returned to Joshua, and said to him, Don't let all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai; don't make all the people to toil there; for they are but few.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and thei turneden ayen, and seiden to hym, `Not al the puple stie, but twey ether thre thousynde of men go, and do awei the citee; whi schal al the puple be trauelid in veyn ayens feweste enemyes?

Young's Literal Translation
and they turn back unto Joshua, and say unto him, `Let not all the people go up; let about two thousand men, or about three thousand men, go up, and they smite Ai; cause not all the people to labour thither; for they [are] few.'

Berean Standard Bible
On returning to Joshua, they reported, "There is no need to send all the people; two or three thousand men are enough to go up and attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, you need not wear out all our people there."

Contemporary English Version
They went back to Joshua and reported, "You don't need to send the whole army to attack Ai—two or three thousand troops will be enough. Why bother the whole army for a town that small?"

American Standard Version
And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; make not all the people to toil thither; for they are but few.

Bible in Basic English
Then they came back to Joshua and said to him, Do not send all the people up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and make an attack on Ai; there is no need for all the people to be tired with the journey there, for it is only a small town.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And returned to Iosuah, and sayde vnto him, Let not all the people go vp: but let as it were two or three thousande men go vp, and smyte Ai: and make not all the people to labour thyther, for they are but fewe.

Complete Jewish Bible
returned to Y'hoshua and told him, "Don't have all the people go up; but let perhaps two or three thousand men go up and attack ‘Ai. There's no point in making all the people exert themselves to get there, because there are only a few of them."

Darby Translation
And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, Let not all the people go up; let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; make not all the people to toil thither, for they are few.

Easy-to-Read Version
Later, the men came back to Joshua. They said, "Ai is a weak area. We will not need all of our people to defeat them. Send 2000 or 3000 men to fight there. There is no need to use the whole army. There are only a few men there to fight against us."

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him: 'Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; make not all the people to toil thither; for they are but few.'

King James Version (1611)
And they returned to Ioshua, and said vnto him, Let not all the people goe vp: but let about two or three thousand men goe vp, and smite Ai, and make not all the people to labour thither, for they are but few.

New Life Bible
When they returned to Joshua, they said, "Do not have all the people go there. Only about 2,000 or 3,000 men need to go to Ai. Do not make the whole army fight, for the people of Ai are few."

New Revised Standard
Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Not all the people need go up; about two or three thousand men should go up and attack Ai. Since they are so few, do not make the whole people toil up there."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And they returned unto Joshua and said unto him - Let not all the people go up, about two thousand men or three thousand men, can go up and smite Ai, - do not weary the whole people to go thither, for, but few, they are.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And returned to Ioshua, and saide vnto him, Let not al the people go vp, but let as it were two or three thousand men go vp, and smite Ai, and make not al the people to labour thither, for they are fewe.

George Lamsa Translation
And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up, and destroy Ai; and do not send all the people there, for the men of Ai are but few.

Good News Translation
they reported back to Joshua: "There is no need for everyone to attack Ai. Send only about two or three thousand men. Don't send the whole army up there to fight; it is not a large city."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And returning, they said to him: Let not all the people go up, but let two or three thousand men go, and destroy the city: why should all the people be troubled in vain, against enemies that are very few?

Revised Standard Version
And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, "Let not all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are but few."

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, Let not all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and take the city by siege: carry not up thither the whole people, for the enemy are few.

Christian Standard Bible®
After returning to Joshua they reported to him, “Don’t send all the people, but send about two thousand or three thousand men to attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, don’t wear out all our people there.”

Hebrew Names Version
They returned to Yehoshua, and said to him, Don't let all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and strike `Ai; don't make all the people to toil there; for they are but few.

King James Version
And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.

Lexham English Bible
And they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up and attack Ai; only two or three thousand men should go up because they are few. Do not make all the people weary up there."

Literal Translation
And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, Do not let all the people go up. Let about two thousand men, or about three thousand men, go up, and they shall strike Ai. Do not cause all the people to labor there, for they are few.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
they came agayne to Iosua, and sayde vnto him: Let not all the people go vp, but vpon a two or thre thousande, that they maye go vp and smyte Hai, lest all the people weerye them selues there, for they are but fewe.

THE MESSAGE
They returned to Joshua and reported, "Don't bother sending a lot of people—two or three thousand men are enough to defeat Ai. Don't wear out the whole army; there aren't that many people there."

New American Standard Bible
Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not have all the people go up; have only about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not trouble all the people there, for they are few."

New King James Version
And they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few."

New Living Translation
When they returned, they told Joshua, "There's no need for all of us to go up there; it won't take more than two or three thousand men to attack Ai. Since there are so few of them, don't make all our people struggle to go up there."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
They returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few."

Legacy Standard Bible
Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not have all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up to strike down Ai; do not have all the people toil up there, for they are few."

Contextual Overview

¹But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully and violated their obligation in regard to the things [off limits] under the ban [those things belonging to the LORD], for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban [for personal gain]. Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against the Israelites. ²Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, "Go up and spy out the land." So the men went up and spied out Ai. ³Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Do not make all the people go up [to fight]; have only about two thousand or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not make the entire army go up there, for they [of Ai] are few."⁴So about three thousand men from the sons of Israel went up there, but they fled [in retreat] from the men of Ai. ⁵The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of Israel's men, and chased them from the gate as far as [the bluffs of] Shebarim and struck them down as they descended [the steep pass], so the hearts of the people melted [in despair and began to doubt God's promise] and became like water (disheartened).

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

about two: Heb. about 2,000 men, or about 3,000 men, labour. Proverbs 13:4, Proverbs 21:25, Luke 13:24, Hebrews 4:11, Hebrews 6:11, Hebrews 6:12, 2 Peter 1:5, 2 Peter 1:10

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they returned unto Joshua, and said unto him, let not all the people go up,.... After they had reconnoitred the place, they came back to their general, and gave it as their opinion, that there was no need for the whole army to go up against the city:

but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; such a number they judged were sufficient to take it:

[and] make not all the people to labour thither; carrying their tents, bearing their armour, and going up hill:

for they [are but] few; the inhabitants of Ai, men and women making but twelve thousand; Joshua 8:25.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The total population of Ai was about twelve thousand Joshua 8:25. It could therefore hardly muster three thousand warriors.