35 Bible Verses about Ambush

Then said Yahweh unto Joshua - Do not fear nor be dismayed, take with thee all the army, and arise, go up to Ai, - see! I have given into thy hand, the king of Ai and his people, and his city, and his land; so shalt thou do unto Ai and to her king, as thou didst unto Jericho unto her king, save only, the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof, shall ye take as your own prey, - set thee an ambush for the city, behind it. So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai, - and Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valour, and sent them forth by night.read more.
And he commanded them, saying - See! ye, shall be lying in ambush against the city, behind the city, do not go very far from the city, - so shall ye all be ready. But, I, and all the people who are with me, will draw near unto the city, - and it shall be, when they come out to meet us, as at the first, then will we flee before them; so will they come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, Fleeing before us, as at the first! therefore will we flee before them. Then, ye, shall rise up out of the ambush, and take possession of the city, - and Yahweh your God will deliver it into your hand. And it shall be, when ye have seized the city, then shall ye burn the city with fire, according to the word of Yahweh, shall ye do, - see! I have commanded you. So Joshua sent them forth, and they went into ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west of Ai, - but Joshua lodged that night in the midst of the people. And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and mustered the people, - and went up - he and the elders of Israel, before the people, to Ai. And, all the people of war who were with him, went up, and drew near, and came in, right before the city, - and pitched on the north of Ai, with, a valley, between them and Ai. And he took about five thousand men, - and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city. And, when the people had set all the host that was on the north of the city, with the rear thereof on the west of the city, then went Joshua, during the night, into the midst of the valley. 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 came out to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people, at an appointed time, before the waste plain, - he not knowing that there was an ambush lying in wait for him, behind the city. So then Joshua and all Israel suffered themselves to be smitten before them, - and fled, by the way of the wilderness; and all the people who were in the city were called out to pursue them, - and they pursued Joshua, and so were drawn out away from the city. And there remained not a man, in Ai or Bethel, who had not gone out after Israel, - and they left the city, open, and pursued Israel. Then said Yahweh unto Joshua - Stretch out with the javelin which is in thy hand, towards Ai, for, into thy hand, will I deliver it. So Joshua stretched out with the javelin which was in his hand, towards the city. And, the ambush, rose up quickly, out of their place, and ran, when he stretched out his hand, and entered the city, and captured it, - and hasted, and set the city on fire. And the men of Ai turned behind them, and looked, and lo! the smoke of the city had risen up towards the heavens, and there was in them no strength, to flee this way or that way, - moreover, the people that were fleeing to the wilderness, turned back upon the pursuers. Yea, when, Joshua and all Israel, saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city had risen up, then returned they, and smote the men of Ai. And, the others, came forth out of the city to meet them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side, - and they smote them, until there was left them none to remain or to escape. And, the king of Ai, they caught alive, - and brought him near unto Joshua. And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness whither they had pursued them, and all of them had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, then all Israel returned to Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.

And he sent messengers unto Abimelech, by deceit, saying, - Lo! Gaal son of Ebed, and his brethren, are coming into Shechem; and lo! are fortifying the city against thee. Now, therefore, up by night, thou and the people that are with thee, and lie in wait in the field; and it shall be, in the morning, about sunrise, thou shalt get up early, and spread thyself out against the city, - when lo! he and the people that are with him coming out against thee, so shalt thou do unto him as thy hand shall find opportunity.read more.
So Abimelech rose up,, and all the people that were with him, by night, - and they lay in wait above Shechem, in four companies. Then came forth Gaal son of Ebed, and took his stand at the opening of the gate of the city, - so Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from the place of ambush. And, when Gaal saw the people, he said unto Zebul, Lo! people coming down from the tops of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, The shadow of the mountains, thou seest, like men. Then did Gaal yet further speak, and say - Lo! people coming down from the highest part of the land, - and one company, coming in by way of the Conjurers' Terebinth. So then Zebul said unto him - Where, then, is thy mouth that kept on saying, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Is not, this, the people which thou didst despise? Go forth, I pray thee, now, and fight with them! And Gaal went forth before the owners of Shechem, - and fought against Abimelech. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, - and there fell a multitude of slain as far as the entering of the gate.

And Israel set liers in wait against Gibeah, round about. So the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin, on the third day, - and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as time after time. And the sons of Benjamin came forth against the people, they were drawn away from the city, - and began to smite of the people, slaying as time after time, in the highways, whereof, one, goeth up to Bethel, and, the other, to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men in Israel.read more.
Then said the sons of Benjamin, They are, being smitten, before us, as at the first. But the sons of Israel had said - Let us flee, and draw them away from the city, into the highways. And, all the men of Israel, rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array in Baal-tamar, - and, the liers in wait of Israel, began to break forth out of their place, out of the forest of Gibeah. And there came over against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men, out of all Israel, and the battle was severe, - they, not knowing that disaster was overtaking them. Thus Yahweh smote Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroyed in Benjamin, that day, twenty-five thousand and one hundred men, - all these, drew the sword. So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were smitten, - and that the men of Israel had given place to Benjamin, because they trusted to the liers in wait, whom they had set near Gibeah. And, the liers in wait, hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah, - and the liers in wait marched forward, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. Now, the appointed sign, between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, had been, - to cause a great cloud of smoke to ascend out of the city. So, when the men of Israel turned in the battle, - and, the Benjamites, began to smite and slay of the sons of Israel, about thirty men, for they said, Yea! they are, smitten, before us, as in the first battle, then, the cloud, began to ascend out of the city, a pillar of smoke, - and the Benjamites looked behind them, and lo! the whole city flamed up towards the heavens. And, when, the men of Israel, turned, then were the men of Benjamin dismayed, - for they saw that disaster had overtaken them. And, when they turned before the men of Israel unto the way of the desert, the battle, over took them, - while, as for them that came out of the cities, they began to destroy them in their midst: - they hemmed in the Benjamites, they pursued them, with ease, trode they them down, - as far as over against Gibeah, towards sunrise. So there fell of Benjamin, eighteen thousand men, - all these being men of valour. And, when they turned and fled towards the desert unto the cliff Rimmon, then gleaned they of them, in the highways, five thousand men, - and they followed hard after them as far as Gidom, and smote of them, two thousand men. So then it came to pass that, all the fallen of Benjamin, were twenty-five thousand men, that drew the sword, on that day, - all these being men of valour. But there turned and fled, towards the desert, unto the cliff Rimmon, six hundred men, - who abode in the cliff Rimmon, four months. Thus, the men of Israel, turned against the sons of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, beginning with the city, each and every one down to the beast, even to every one that was met with, - moreover, all the cities they came to, they set on fire.

So David enquired of Yahweh, and he said - Thou shalt not go up, - Get round behind them, and come in upon them, over against the mulberry-trees. And it shall be, when thou shalt hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees, then, shalt thou act with decision, - for, then, will Yahweh have gone forth before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines. And David did so, as Yahweh had commanded him, - and smote the Philistines, from Gibeon until thou enterest Gezer.

So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai, - and Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valour, and sent them forth by night. And he commanded them, saying - See! ye, shall be lying in ambush against the city, behind the city, do not go very far from the city, - so shall ye all be ready. But, I, and all the people who are with me, will draw near unto the city, - and it shall be, when they come out to meet us, as at the first, then will we flee before them;read more.
so will they come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, Fleeing before us, as at the first! therefore will we flee before them. Then, ye, shall rise up out of the ambush, and take possession of the city, - and Yahweh your God will deliver it into your hand. And it shall be, when ye have seized the city, then shall ye burn the city with fire, according to the word of Yahweh, shall ye do, - see! I have commanded you. So Joshua sent them forth, and they went into ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west of Ai, - but Joshua lodged that night in the midst of the people. And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and mustered the people, - and went up - he and the elders of Israel, before the people, to Ai. And, all the people of war who were with him, went up, and drew near, and came in, right before the city, - and pitched on the north of Ai, with, a valley, between them and Ai. And he took about five thousand men, - and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city. And, when the people had set all the host that was on the north of the city, with the rear thereof on the west of the city, then went Joshua, during the night, into the midst of the valley. 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 came out to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people, at an appointed time, before the waste plain, - he not knowing that there was an ambush lying in wait for him, behind the city. So then Joshua and all Israel suffered themselves to be smitten before them, - and fled, by the way of the wilderness; and all the people who were in the city were called out to pursue them, - and they pursued Joshua, and so were drawn out away from the city. And there remained not a man, in Ai or Bethel, who had not gone out after Israel, - and they left the city, open, and pursued Israel.

So the owners of Shechem set for him liers in wait, upon the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who crossed over them by the road, - and it was told Abimelech.

So Abner returned to Hebron, and Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate, to speak with him quietly, - and then smote him there, in the belly, that he died, for the blood of Asahel the brother of Joab.

And, yet again, did the Philistines come up, - and they spread themselves out in the vale of Rephaim. So David enquired of Yahweh, and he said - Thou shalt not go up, - Get round behind them, and come in upon them, over against the mulberry-trees. And it shall be, when thou shalt hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees, then, shalt thou act with decision, - for, then, will Yahweh have gone forth before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.read more.
And David did so, as Yahweh had commanded him, - and smote the Philistines, from Gibeon until thou enterest Gezer.

They stir up strife - they lie hid, They, mark my steps, - Seeing they have waited for my life.

For there have been found among my people lawless men, - One lieth in wait, as with the stooping of fowlers, They have set a trap, they capture men:

Do not go out into the field, And in the road, do not walk,-Because a sword, hath the foe, - Terror round about!

And it came to pass, on the second day, after he had slain Gedaliah, not, a man, knowing it, that men came in from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, - eighty men, with beards shaven and clothes rent who also had cut themselves, with a meal-offering and frankincense in their hand, to bring them into the house of Yahweh. Then went forth Ishmael son of Nethaniah to meet them out of Mizpah, weeping all along as he went, - and it came to pass when he fell in with them, that he said unto them, Come ye in unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam.read more.
And so it was when they had come into the midst of the city, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah slew them and east them into the midst of a pit, he and the men who were with him.

If they say - Come with us, - Let us lie in wait for blood, Let us watch in secret for him who is needlessly innocent;

But he who hath not lain in wait, but, God, hath occasioned him to come to his hand, then will I appoint for thee a place, whither he may flee.

The words of the lawless, are - of lying in wait for blood, but, the mouth of the upright, shall deliver them.

Yea, she, as for prey, lieth in wait, and, the treacherous among mankind, she causeth to abound.

Swifter are our pursuers, than the eagles of the heavens, - Over the mountains, have they come hotly after us, In the wilderness, have they lain in wait for us.

A bear lying in wait, he is to me, a lion, in secret places;

Do not lie in wait, thou lawless man, against the home of the righteous, - neither destroy thou his place of rest;

But Paul's sister's son hearing of the lying-in-wait, happening to be near, and coming into the castle, - reported it unto Paul.

so shalt thou do unto Ai and to her king, as thou didst unto Jericho unto her king, save only, the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof, shall ye take as your own prey, - set thee an ambush for the city, behind it. So Joshua arose, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai, - and Joshua chose out thirty thousand men, the mighty men of valour, and sent them forth by night. And he commanded them, saying - See! ye, shall be lying in ambush against the city, behind the city, do not go very far from the city, - so shall ye all be ready.read more.
But, I, and all the people who are with me, will draw near unto the city, - and it shall be, when they come out to meet us, as at the first, then will we flee before them; so will they come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, Fleeing before us, as at the first! therefore will we flee before them. Then, ye, shall rise up out of the ambush, and take possession of the city, - and Yahweh your God will deliver it into your hand. And it shall be, when ye have seized the city, then shall ye burn the city with fire, according to the word of Yahweh, shall ye do, - see! I have commanded you. So Joshua sent them forth, and they went into ambush, and abode between Bethel and Ai, on the west of Ai, - but Joshua lodged that night in the midst of the people.

And he took about five thousand men, - and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city. And, when the people had set all the host that was on the north of the city, with the rear thereof on the west of the city, then went Joshua, during the night, into the midst of the valley. 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 came out to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people, at an appointed time, before the waste plain, - he not knowing that there was an ambush lying in wait for him, behind the city.read more.
So then Joshua and all Israel suffered themselves to be smitten before them, - and fled, by the way of the wilderness; and all the people who were in the city were called out to pursue them, - and they pursued Joshua, and so were drawn out away from the city. And there remained not a man, in Ai or Bethel, who had not gone out after Israel, - and they left the city, open, and pursued Israel. Then said Yahweh unto Joshua - Stretch out with the javelin which is in thy hand, towards Ai, for, into thy hand, will I deliver it. So Joshua stretched out with the javelin which was in his hand, towards the city. And, the ambush, rose up quickly, out of their place, and ran, when he stretched out his hand, and entered the city, and captured it, - and hasted, and set the city on fire. And the men of Ai turned behind them, and looked, and lo! the smoke of the city had risen up towards the heavens, and there was in them no strength, to flee this way or that way, - moreover, the people that were fleeing to the wilderness, turned back upon the pursuers. Yea, when, Joshua and all Israel, saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city had risen up, then returned they, and smote the men of Ai.

So he took the people and divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field, - and he looked, and lo! the people coming forth out of the city, so he rose up against them, and smote them.

And Israel set liers in wait against Gibeah, round about. So the sons of Israel went up against the sons of Benjamin, on the third day, - and set themselves in array against Gibeah, as time after time. And the sons of Benjamin came forth against the people, they were drawn away from the city, - and began to smite of the people, slaying as time after time, in the highways, whereof, one, goeth up to Bethel, and, the other, to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men in Israel.read more.
Then said the sons of Benjamin, They are, being smitten, before us, as at the first. But the sons of Israel had said - Let us flee, and draw them away from the city, into the highways. And, all the men of Israel, rose up out of their place, and set themselves in array in Baal-tamar, - and, the liers in wait of Israel, began to break forth out of their place, out of the forest of Gibeah. And there came over against Gibeah ten thousand chosen men, out of all Israel, and the battle was severe, - they, not knowing that disaster was overtaking them. Thus Yahweh smote Benjamin before Israel, and the sons of Israel destroyed in Benjamin, that day, twenty-five thousand and one hundred men, - all these, drew the sword. So the sons of Benjamin saw that they were smitten, - and that the men of Israel had given place to Benjamin, because they trusted to the liers in wait, whom they had set near Gibeah. And, the liers in wait, hasted, and rushed upon Gibeah, - and the liers in wait marched forward, and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. Now, the appointed sign, between the men of Israel and the liers in wait, had been, - to cause a great cloud of smoke to ascend out of the city.

And Saul came as far as the city of Amalek, - and stirred up strife in the ravine.

For lo! they have lain in wait for my life, Mighty ones stir up strife against me, Without transgression of mine, and without sin of mine, O Yahweh;

Against the walls of Babylon, Lift ye up a standard, Strengthen ye the watch, Station the watchmen, Make ready the ambuscades, - For Yahweh hath both planned and also performed that which he had spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon.

And it was told the Gazites, saying - Samson hath come in hither. So they came round, and lay in wait for him, all the night, in the gate of the city, - but kept themselves quiet all the night, saying, Until the light of the morning, then will we slay him.

Now, the liers in wait, were tarrying for her, in an inner chamber, - and she said unto him, - The Philistines, are upon thee, Samson! And he snapped the cords as a thread of tow is broken, when fire bloweth thereon, so his strength was not discovered.

So Delilah took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him - The Philistines, are upon thee, Samson! Now, the liers in wait, were tarrying in an inner chamber. And he snapped them off his arms like a thread.

That ye have conspired, all of you, against me, and there is none to uncover mine ear as to the covenanting of my son with the son of Jesse? And none from among you that taketh pity upon me, and that uncovereth mine ear to this , - that, mine own son, hath stirred up, my servants, against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

And Saul said unto him, Wherefore have ye conspired against me, thou, and the son of Jesse, - in that thou gavest him bread and a sword, and didst enquire for him of God, that he might rise up against me, that he might lie in wait, as at this day?

Thou, therefore, do not be persuaded by them, for there are lying in wait for him, from among them, more than forty men, - who, indeed, have bound themselves under a curse, neither to eat nor drink, till they have killed him; and, now, are they ready, awaiting the promise, from thee.

asking for themselves as a favour against him, that he would send for him unto Jerusalem, - making, an ambush, to kill him on the way.

Yet, they, for their own blood, lie in wait, They watch in secret for their own life.