Joshua 7
1 But the children of Israel did wrong about the cursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the family of Judah, took of the cursed thing, moving the Lord to wrath against the children of Israel.
But the people of Israel acted unfaithfully regarding the things that were set apart for destruction. Achan son of Karmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some things that were set apart for destruction, and Yahweh's anger burned against the people of Israel.
2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is by the side of Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and said to them, Go up and make a search through the land. And the men went up and saw how Ai was placed.
Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which was near Beth Aven, east of Bethel. He said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.
3 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.
When they returned to Joshua, they said to him, “Do not send all the people up to Ai. Send only two or three thousand men to go up and attack Ai. Do not make all the people labor in battle, for they are few in number.”
4 So about three thousand of the people went up, and were sent in flight by the men of Ai.
So only about three thousand men went up from the army, but these ran away from the men of Ai.
5 The men of Ai put to death about thirty-six of them, driving them from before the town as far as the stoneworks, and overcoming them on the way down: and the hearts of the people became like water.
The men of Ai killed about thirty-six men as they pursued them from the city gate as far as to the stone quarries, and they killed them as they were going down a hill. The hearts of the people melted and became like water.
6 Then Joshua, in great grief, went down on the earth before the ark of the Lord till the evening, and all the chiefs of Israel with him, and they put dust on their heads.
Then Joshua tore his garments. He and the elders of Israel put dust on their heads and lay facedown on the ground in front of the ark of Yahweh, remaining there until evening.
7 And Joshua said, O Lord God, why have you taken us over Jordan only to give us up into the hands of the Amorites for our destruction? If only it had been enough for us to keep on the other side of Jordan!
Then Joshua said, “Ah, Yahweh Lord, why have you brought this people across the Jordan at all? To give us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we made a different decision and we had stayed on the other side of the Jordan!
8 O Lord, what am I to say now that Israel have given way before their attackers?
Lord, what can I say, after Israel has turned their backs before their enemies?
9 For when the news comes to the Canaanites and all the people of the land, they will come up, shutting us in and cutting off our name from the earth: and what will you do for the honour of your great name?
For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it. They will surround us and make the people of the earth forget our name. What will you do for your great name?”
10 Then the Lord said to Joshua, Get up; what are you doing with your face to the earth?
Yahweh said to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying there on your face?
11 Israel has done wrong, sinning against the agreement which I made with them: they have even taken of the cursed thing; acting falsely like thieves they have put it among their goods.
Israel has sinned. They have broken my covenant which I commanded them. They have stolen some of the things that were set apart. They have stolen and then also hidden their sin by putting what they have taken among their own belongings.
12 For this reason the children of Israel have given way, turning their backs in flight before their attackers, because they are cursed: I will no longer be with you, if you do not put the cursed thing away from among you.
As a result, the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turned their backs from their enemies because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will not be with you any more unless you destroy the things that should have been destroyed, but are still among you.
13 Up! make the people holy; say to them, Make yourselves holy before tomorrow, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has said, There is a cursed thing among you, O Israel, and you will give way before your attackers in the fight till the cursed thing has been taken away from among you.
Get up! Consecrate the people to me and say to them, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow. For Yahweh, the God of Israel says, “There are things set apart to be destroyed that are still among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove from among you all the things that were set apart to be destroyed.”
14 So in the morning you are to come near, tribe by tribe; and the tribe marked out by the Lord is to come near, family by family; and the family marked out by the Lord is to come near, house by house; and the house marked out by the Lord is to come near, man by man.
In the morning, you must present yourselves by your tribes. The tribe that Yahweh selects will come near by their clans. The clan that Yahweh selects must come near by each household. The household that Yahweh selects must come near one by one.
15 Then the man who is taken with the cursed thing is to be burned, with everything which is his; because he has gone against the agreement of the Lord and has done an act of shame in Israel.
It will happen that the one who is selected and who has those things that were set apart for destruction, he will be burned, he and all he has, because he has broken the covenant of Yahweh and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.'”
16 So Joshua got up early in the morning, and made Israel come before him by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken;
So, Joshua got up early in the morning and brought Israel near, tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected.
17 Then he made Judah come forward, and the family of the Zerahites was taken; and he made the family of the Zerahites come forward man by man; and Zabdi was taken;
Joshua brought the clans of Judah near, and the clan of the Zerahites was selected. He brought near the clan of the Zerahites person by person, and Zabdi was selected.
18 Then the house of Zabdi came forward man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
He brought Zabdi's household near, person by person, and Achan son of Karmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was selected.
19 And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give glory and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel; give me word now of what you have done, and keep nothing back from me.
Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, tell the truth before Yahweh, the God of Israel, and give your confession to him. Please tell me what you have done. Do not hide it from me.”
20 And Achan, answering, said to Joshua, Truly I have done wrong against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I have done:
Achan answered Joshua, “Truly, I have sinned against Yahweh, the God of Israel. This is what I did:
21 When I saw among their goods a fair robe of Babylon and two hundred shekels of silver, and a mass of gold, fifty shekels in weight, I was overcome by desire and took them; and they are put away in the earth in my tent, and the silver is under it.
When I saw among the plunder a beautiful coat from Babylon, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I desired them and took them. They are hidden in the ground in the middle of my tent, and the silver is under it.”
22 So Joshua sent men quickly, and looking in his tent, they saw where the robe had been put away secretly with the silver under it.
Joshua sent messengers, who ran to the tent and there were the things. When they looked, they found them hidden in his own tent, and the silver under them.
23 And they took them from the tent and came back with them to Joshua and the children of Israel, and put them before the Lord.
They took the items from the middle of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. They poured them out before Yahweh.
24 Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the silver and the robe and the mass of gold, and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his asses and his sheep and his tent and everything he had; and they took them up into the valley of Achor.
Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan son of Zerah, and the silver, the coat, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor.
25 And Joshua said, Why have you been a cause of trouble to us? Today the Lord will send trouble on you. And all Israel took part in stoning him; they had him stoned to death and then burned with fire.
Then Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? Yahweh will trouble you today.” All Israel stoned him with stones. Then they stoned the rest with stones and burned them with fire.
26 And over him they put a great mass of stones, which is there to this day; then the heat of the Lord's wrath was turned away. So that place was named, The Valley of Achor, to this day.
They set up over him a great heap of stones that is here until this day. Yahweh turned away his burning anger. Therefore the name of the place is the Valley of Achor until this present day.
