Joshua 7–12

The Sin of Achan

7But the Israelites^a broke faith concerning the devoted things.^b Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the devoted things;^c and Yahweh’s anger was kindled^d against the Israelites.^e

²Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven, east of Bethel, and he said to them, “Go up and spy out Ai.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. ³And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up and attack Ai; only two or three thousand men should go up because they^f are few. Do not make all the people weary up there.” ⁴So about three thousand from the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai. ⁵The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them, and they chased them from the gate up to Shebarim and killed them on the slope. And the hearts^g of the people melted and became like water.

⁶And Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the ground on his face before the ark of Yahweh until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.^{h 7}And Joshua said, “Ah, my Lord! Why did you bring this people across the Jordan to give us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content and stayed beyond the Jordan. ⁸Please, my Lord! What can I say after Israel has fled from its enemies?^{i 9}The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of this, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the land. What will you do, for your great name?”

¹⁰And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why^j have you fallen on your face? ¹¹Israel has sinned and transgressed my covenant^k that I commanded them. They have taken from the devoted things;^l they have stolen and acted deceitfully, and they have put them among their belongings. ¹²The Israelites^m were unable to stand before their enemies; they fled from their enemiesⁿ because they have become a thing devoted^o for destruction. I will be with you no more^p unless you destroy the devoted things^q from among you. ¹³Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: “There are devoted things^r in your midst, O Israel. You will be unable to stand before your enemies until you remove the devoted things^s from your midst.” ¹⁴In the morning you will come forward, tribe by tribe,^t and the tribe that Yahweh will select by lot will come forward by clans, and the clan that Yahweh selects by lot will come forward by families, and the family that Yahweh selects by lot will come forward one by one. ¹⁵The one caught with the devoted things^u will be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he transgressed the covenant^v of Yahweh, and because he did a disgraceful thing in Israel.” ’ ”

¹⁶So^w Joshua rose early in the morning and brought forward Israel, tribe by tribe,^x and the tribe of Judah was selected by lot. ¹⁷And he brought forward the clans of Judah and selected the clan of the Zerahites^y by lot. Then he brought forward the clan of the Zerahites,^z one by one, and Zabdi was selected by lot. ¹⁸He brought forward his family, one by one, and Achan son of Carmi son of Zabdi son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected by lot. ¹⁹And Joshua said to Achan, “My son, please, give glory to Yahweh the God of Israel, and give him a doxology in court.^a Tell me, please, what you have done; do not hide it from me.” ²⁰And Achan answered Joshua and said, “It is true. I have sinned against Yahweh the God of Israel, and this is what I did: ²¹I saw among the spoil a beautiful robe from Shinar,^b two hundred shekels of silver, and one bar of gold that weighed fifty shekels; I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, and the silver is under it.”

²²Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there they were, hidden in his tent, and the silver was under it. ²³And they took them from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites.^c And they spread them out before the presence of Yahweh. ²⁴Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his cattle and donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything that was his, and they brought them to the valley of Achor.^{d 25}And Joshua said, “Why did you bring us trouble? Yahweh will bring you trouble on this day.” And all Israel stoned them^e with stones;^f and they burned them with fire after they stoned them with stones. ²⁶Then they placed^g on top of him a great pile of stones that remains to this day. And Yahweh turned from his burning anger,^h and thus the name of that place to this day is called the valley of Achor.ⁱ

Ai Is Destroyed

8Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the fighting men^a with you and go up immediately to Ai.^b Look, I am giving into your hand the king of Ai, his city, and his land. ²You will do to Ai and its king that which you did to Jericho and its king; you may take only its spoils^c and livestock as booty for yourself. Set for yourself an ambush against the city from behind it.”

³So Joshua and all the fighting men^d went up immediately to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand of the best fighting men and sent them by night. ⁴And he commanded them, saying, “Look, you are to lay an ambush against the city from behind. Do not go very far from the city and be ready. ⁵Then I and all of the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they go out to meet us as before,^e we will flee from them.^{f 6}They will come out after us until we draw them away from the city, because they will think, ‘They are fleeing from us^g as before.’^h So we will flee from them.^{i 7}Then you will rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city, for Yahweh your God will give it into your hand. ⁸And when you capture the city you will set it on fire as Yahweh commanded. Look, I have commanded you.” ⁹So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the place of the ambush, and they sat between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai; but Joshua spent the night with the people.^j

¹⁰Joshua rose early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people of Ai.^{k 11}All the fighting men^l who were with him went up and drew near before the city^m and camped north of Ai; there was a valley between him and Ai. ¹²And he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. ¹³So they stationed the forces; all the army was north of the city while the rear guard was west.ⁿ But Joshua went that night to the middle of the valley. ¹⁴When the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out to meet Israel for battle—he^o and all his army—to the meeting place before the Arabah.^p He did not know that there was an ambush for him behind the city. ¹⁵Then Joshua and all Israel acted like they were beaten before them, and they fled in the direction of the wilderness.^{q 16}All of the people who were in the city were called to pursue after them. As they pursued after Joshua, they were drawn away from the city. ¹⁷Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel; they left the city open and pursued after Israel.

¹⁸And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Stretch out the sword^r that is in your hand to Ai, because I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the sword that was in his hand to the city. ¹⁹The moment he stretched out his hand, those in the ambush stood up quickly from their place and ran. And they went into the city and captured it, quickly setting the city ablaze with fire. ²⁰Then the men of Ai looked behind them, and they saw smoke from the city rising to the sky; they had no power to flee this way or that,^s and the people fleeing the wilderness turned around to the pursuers.^{t 21}And Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city was rising; they returned and struck down the men of Ai. ²²Then the others from the city came out to meet them, and they found themselves surrounded by Israel,^u some on one side, and others on the other side.^v And they^w struck them down until no survivor or fugitive was left. ²³But they captured the king of Ai alive, and they brought him to Joshua.

²⁴When Israel finished slaughtering all the inhabitants of Ai in the open field, in the wilderness where they pursued them, and when all of them had fallen by the edge of the sword^x until they all had perished, all Israel returned to Ai and attacked it with the edge of the sword.^{y 25}All the people that fell on that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the inhabitants of Ai. ²⁶For Joshua did not draw back his hand that was stretched out with the sword until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. ²⁷Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of Yahweh that Joshua commanded. ²⁸So Joshua burned Ai and made it an everlasting heap of rubbish, a desolate place until this day. ²⁹The king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the time of evening, and as the sun went down Joshua commanded them, and they brought down his dead body from the tree. Then they threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and they raised over it a great heap of stones that remains to this day.

Israel Renews the Covenant

³⁰Then Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal for Yahweh the God of Israel, ³¹as Moses Yahweh’s servant commanded the Israelites,^z as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses: “an altar of unhewn^a stones on which no one has wielded^b an iron implement.”^c And they offered burnt offerings on it and sacrificed fellowship offerings. ³²And there Joshua wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he^d had written, in the presence of the Israelites.^{e 33}Then all Israel, foreigner as well as native,^f with the elders, officials, and judges stood on either side^g of the ark before…