Joshua 7–12

Defeat at Ai

7The Israelites, however, were unfaithful ^bregarding the things set apart for destruction. Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart, and the Lord’s anger burned against the Israelites.

²Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, ^ceast of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and scout the land.” So the men went up and scouted Ai.

³After returning to Joshua they reported to him, “Don’t send all the people, but send about 2,000 or 3,000 ^dmen to attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, don’t wear out all our people there.” ⁴So about 3,000 men ^ewent up there, but they fled from the men of Ai. ^f5The men of Ai struck down about 36 of them and chased them from outside the gate to the quarries, ^gstriking them down on the descent. As a result, the people’s hearts melted and became like water. ^h

⁶Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell before the ark of the Lord with his face to the ground until evening, ⁱas did the elders of Israel; they all put dust on their heads. ^j7“Oh, Lord God,” Joshua said, “why did You ever bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites for our destruction? If only we had been content to remain on the other side of the Jordan! ⁸What can I say, Lord, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies? ⁹When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. ^kThen what will You do about Your great name?” ^l

¹⁰The Lord then said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why are you on the ground? ^m11Israel has sinned. They have violated My covenant that I appointed for them. They have taken some of what was set apart. They have stolen, deceived, and put the things with their own belongings. ⁿ¹²This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they have been set apart for destruction. ^oI will no longer be with you unless you remove from you what is set apart.

¹³“Go and consecrate the people. Tell them to consecrate themselves for tomorrow, ^pfor this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are things that are set apart among you, Israel. You will not be able to stand against your enemies until you remove what is set apart. ¹⁴In the morning you must present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord selects is to come forward clan by clan. The clan the Lord selects is to come forward family by family. The family the Lord selects is to come forward man by man. ¹⁵The one who is caught with the things set apart must be burned, ^qalong with everything he has, because he has violated the Lord’s covenant and committed an outrage in Israel.” ^r

Achan Judged

¹⁶Joshua got up early the next morning. He had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected. ¹⁷He had the clans of Judah come forward, and the Zerahite clan was selected. He had the Zerahite clan come forward by heads of families, ^sand Zabdi was selected. ¹⁸He then had Zabdi’s family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected.

¹⁹So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, ^tand make a confession to Him. ^uI urge you, tell me what you have done. Don’t hide anything from me.”

²⁰Achan replied to Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. ^vThis is what I did: ²¹When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Babylon, ^w200 silver shekels, ^xand a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, ^yI coveted them and took them. ^zYou can see for yourself. They are concealed in the ground inside my tent, with the money under the cloak.” ²²So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there was the cloak, concealed in his tent, with the money underneath. ²³They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out in the Lord’s presence.

²⁴Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, and the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his ox, donkey, and sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and brought them up to the Valley of Achor. ^a25Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? ^bToday the Lord will trouble you!” So all Israel stoned them ^cto death. They burned their bodies, ^dthrew stones on them, ²⁶and raised over him a large pile of rocks that remains to this day. ^eThen the Lord turned from His burning anger. Therefore that place is called the Valley of Achor ^fto this day.

Conquest of Ai

8The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. ^gTake the whole military force with you and go attack Ai. Look, I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, city, and land. ^h2Treat Ai and its king as you did Jericho and its king; ⁱyou may plunder its spoil and livestock for yourselves. ^jSet an ambush behind the city.” ^k

³So Joshua and the whole military force set out to attack Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 fighting men and sent them out at night. ⁴He commanded them: “Pay attention. Lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it, and all of you be ready. ^l5Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will flee from them. ⁶They will come after us until we have drawn them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us as before.’ While we are fleeing from them,⁷you are to come out of your ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God has handed it over to you. ⁸After taking the city, set it on fire. Follow the Lord’s command—see that you do as I have ordered you.” ⁹So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But he spent that night with the troops.

¹⁰Joshua started early the next morning and mobilized them. Then he and the elders of Israel led the troops up to Ai. ¹¹All those ^mwho were with him went up and approached the city, arriving opposite Ai, and camped to the north of it, with a valley between them and the city. ¹²Now Joshua had taken about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. ¹³The military force was stationed in this way: the main ⁿcamp to the north of the city and its rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.

¹⁴When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, the men of the city hurried and went out early in the morning so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle at a suitable place facing the Arabah. But he did not know there was an ambush waiting for him behind the city. ¹⁵Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten back by them and fled toward the wilderness. ^o16Then all the troops of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city. ¹⁷Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city exposed while they pursued Israel.

¹⁸Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out the sword in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the city over to you.” So Joshua held out his sword toward it. ¹⁹When he held out his hand, the men in ambush rose quickly from their position. They ran, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.

²⁰The men of Ai turned and looked back, and smoke from the city was rising to the sky! They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers. ²¹When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. ²²Then men in ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces, some on one side and some on the other. They struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained, ^p23but they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴When Israel had finished killing everyone living in Ai who had pursued them into the open country, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the sword. ²⁵The total of those who fell that day, both men and women, was 12,000—all the people of Ai. ²⁶Joshua did not draw back his hand that was holding the sword until all the inhabitants of Ai were completely destroyed. ^q27Israel plundered only the cattle and spoil of that city for themselves, according to the Lord’s command that He had given Joshua.

²⁸Joshua burned Ai and left it a permanent ruin, desolate to this day. ^r29He hung ^sthe body of the king of Ai on a tree ^tuntil evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree. ^uThey threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and put a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

Renewed Commitment to the Law

³⁰At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal ^vto the Lord, the God of Israel, ³¹just as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used. ^wThen they offered burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings on it. ³²There on the stones, Joshua copied the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the Israelites. ^x33All Israel, foreigner and citizen alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on either side of the ark of the Lord’s covenant facing the Levitical priests who carried it. As Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded earlier, half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal, ^yto bless the people of Israel. ^z34Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law—the blessings as well as the curses—according to all that is written in the book of the law. ³⁵There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that…