Joshua 6:1–12:24

The Conquest of Jericho

¹Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in.

²The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with ^aits king and the valiant warriors.

³“You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days.

⁴“Also seven priests shall carry seven ^atrumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

⁵“It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down ¹flat, and the people will go up every man ²straight ahead.”

⁶So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.”

⁷Then ¹he said to the people, “Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of the Lord.”

⁸And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them.

⁹The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and ^athe rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets.

¹⁰But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!”

¹¹So he had the ark of the Lord ¹taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹²Now Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.

^13aThe seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went before them and ^bthe rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while they continued to blow the trumpets.

¹⁴Thus the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did so for six days.

¹⁵Then on the seventh day they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times.

¹⁶At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “^aShout! For the Lord has given you the city.

¹⁷“The city shall be ^aunder the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord; only Rahab the harlot ¹and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.

¹⁸“But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not ¹covet them and ^atake some of the things under the ban, and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it.

¹⁹“^aBut all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.”

²⁰So the people shouted, and ¹priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and the ^awall fell down ²flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ³ahead, and they took the city.

^21aThey ¹utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

²²Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “^aGo into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.”

²³So the young men who were spies went in and ^abrought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel.

^24aThey burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the ¹house of the Lord.

²⁵However, ^aRahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua ¹spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for ^bshe hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “^aCursed before the Lord is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.”

²⁷So ^athe Lord was with Joshua, and his ^bfame was in all the land.

Chapter 7

Israel Is Defeated at Ai

^1aBut the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel.

²Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near ^aBeth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “¹Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.

³They returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up ¹to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few.”

⁴So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but ^athey fled ¹from the men of Ai.

⁵The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them ¹from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent, so the ^ahearts of the people melted and became as water.

⁶Then Joshua ^atore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and ^bthey put dust on their heads.

⁷Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord ¹God, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing ²to dwell beyond the Jordan!

⁸“O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their ¹back before their enemies?

⁹“^aFor the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?”

¹⁰So the Lord said to Joshua, “Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face?

¹¹“Israel has sinned, and ^athey have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things.

¹²“Therefore the ^asons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their ¹backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.

¹³“Rise up! ^aConsecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the Lord, the God of Israel, has said, “^bThere are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst.”

¹⁴‘In the morning then you shall come near by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which ^athe Lord takes by lot shall come near by families, and the family which the Lord takes shall come near by households, and the household which the Lord takes shall come near man by man.

¹⁵‘^aIt shall be that the one who is taken with the things under the ban shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he ^bhas committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ”

The Sin of Achan

¹⁶So Joshua arose early in the morning and brought Israel near by ¹tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken.

¹⁷He brought the family of Judah near, and he took the family of the Zerahites; and he brought the family of the Zerahites near man by man, and Zabdi was taken.

¹⁸He brought his household near man by man; and ^aAchan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was taken.

¹⁹Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, ^agive glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.”

²⁰So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and ¹this is what I did:

²¹when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I ^acoveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it.”

²²So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was concealed in his tent with the silver underneath it.

²³They took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and they poured them out before the Lord.

²⁴Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his ¹oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to ^athe valley of ²Achor.

²⁵Joshua said, “Why have you ^atroubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” And all Israel stoned ¹them with stones; and they burned them with fire ²after they had stoned them with stones.

²⁶They raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called ^athe valley of ¹Achor to this day.

Chapter 8

The Conquest of Ai

¹Now the Lord said to Joshua, “^aDo not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, ^bI have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.

²“You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall ^atake only its spoil and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. ¹Set an ambush for the city behind it.”

³So Joshua rose with all the people of…