and it cometh to pass -- the gate is to be shut -- in the dark, and the men have gone out; I have not known whither the men have gone; pursue ye, hasten after them, for ye overtake them;'

For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people, in accordance with everything that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried and crossed [the dry riverbed];

And it came to pass, when the king of Ai saw it, that they hasted and rose up early, and the men of the city went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at a time appointed, before the plain; but he wist not that there were liers in ambush against him behind the city.

And the ambush arose quickly out of their place, and they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand: and they entered into the city, and took it, and hasted and set the city on fire.

And the men of Gibeon send unto Joshua, unto the camp at Gilgal, saying, 'Let not thy hand cease from thy servants; come up unto us with haste, and give safety to us, and help us; for all the kings of the Amorite, dwelling in the hill-country, have been assembled against us.'

So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
Until the nation [of Israel] took vengeance upon their enemies.

Is it not written in the Book of Jashar? So the sun stood still in the middle of the sky and was in no hurry to go down for about a whole day.