Joshua 7:10–26

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.