Joshua 7–12

Achan Sins Against the Lord

7But the people of Israel weren’t faithful to the Lord. They didn’t do what they were told to do with the things that had been set apart to him in a special way to be destroyed.

Achan had taken some of those things. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel. Achan was the son of Carmi. Carmi was the son of Zimri. And Zimri was the son of Zerah. They were from the tribe of Judah.

²Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai. Ai is near Beth Aven east of Bethel. Joshua told the men, “Go up and check out the area around Ai.” So the men went up and checked it out.

³Then they returned to Joshua. They said, “The whole army doesn’t have to go up and attack Ai. Send only two or three thousand men. They can take the city. Don’t make the whole army go up there. Ai only has a few men.”

⁴So only about 3,000 men went up. But the men of Ai drove them away. ⁵They chased the men of Israel from the city gate all the way to Shebarim. They killed about 36 of them on the way down.

So the hearts of the people of Israel melted away in fear.

⁶Joshua and the elders of Israel became sad. Joshua tore his clothes. He fell in front of the ark of the Lord with his face to the ground. He remained there until evening. The elders did the same thing. They also sprinkled dust on their heads.

⁷Joshua said, “Lord and King, why did you ever bring these people across the Jordan River? Did you want to hand us over to the Amorites? Did you want them to destroy us? I wish we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!

⁸“Lord, our enemies have driven us away. What can I say? ⁹The people of Canaan will hear about it. So will everyone else in the country. They will surround us. They’ll wipe our name from the face of the earth. Then what will you do when people don’t honor your great name anymore?”

¹⁰The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! What are you doing down there on your face?

¹¹“Israel has sinned. I made a covenant with them. I commanded them to keep it. But they have broken it. They have taken some of the things that had been set apart to me in a special way to be destroyed. They have stolen. They have lied. They have taken the things they stole and have put them with their own things.

¹²“That is why the men of Israel can’t stand up against their enemies. They turn their backs and run. It is because I have decided to let them be destroyed. You must destroy the things you took that had been set apart to me. If you do not, I will not be with you anymore.

¹³“Go. Set the people apart. Tell them, ‘Make yourselves pure. Get ready for tomorrow. Here is what the Lord, the God of Israel, wants you to do. He says, “People of Israel, you have kept some of the things that had been set apart to me in a special way to be destroyed. You can’t stand up against your enemies until you get rid of those things.”

¹⁴“ ‘In the morning, come forward tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord chooses will come forward group by group. The group the Lord chooses will come forward family by family. And the men in the family the Lord chooses will come forward one by one.

¹⁵“ ‘Anyone who is caught with the things that had been set apart to the Lord will be destroyed by fire. Everything that belongs to that person will also be destroyed. He has broken the Lord’s covenant. He has done a very terrible thing in Israel!’ ”

¹⁶Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes. The tribe of Judah was picked. ¹⁷The groups of Judah came forward. Joshua picked the group of Zerah. He had the group of Zerah come forward by families. The family of Zimri was picked. ¹⁸He had their men come forward one by one. Achan was picked. Achan was the son of Carmi. Carmi was the son of Zimri. And Zimri was the son of Zerah. Zerah was from the tribe of Judah.

¹⁹Joshua spoke to Achan. He said, “My son, the Lord is the God of Israel. So give him glory by telling the truth! Give him praise by admitting you have sinned! Tell me what you have done. Don’t hide it from me.”

²⁰Achan replied, “It’s true! I’ve sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. Here is what I’ve done. ²¹I saw a beautiful robe from Babylonia among the things we had taken. I saw five pounds of silver. And I saw a gold bar that weighed 20 ounces. I wanted them, so I took them. I hid them in the ground inside my tent. The silver is on the bottom.”

²²So Joshua sent some messengers. They ran to Achan’s tent. And there was everything, hidden in his tent! The silver was on the bottom. ²³They brought the things out of the tent. They took them to Joshua and all of the people of Israel. And they spread them out in the sight of the Lord.

²⁴Then Joshua and all of the people grabbed hold of Achan, the son of Zerah. They took the silver, the robe and the gold bar. They took Achan’s sons and daughters. They took his cattle, donkeys and sheep. They also took his tent and everything he had. They took all of it to the Valley of Achor.

²⁵Joshua said to Achan, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”

Then all of the people killed Achan by throwing stones at him. They also killed the rest of his family with stones. They burned all of them up. ²⁶They placed a large pile of rocks on top of Achan’s body. The place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since. That pile is still there to this very day.

After the people killed Achan, the Lord turned his burning anger away from them.

Israel Destroys Ai

8Then the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, “Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope. Go up and attack Ai. Take the whole army with you. I have handed the king of Ai over to you. I have given you his people, his city and his land.

²“Remember what you did to Jericho and its king. You will do the same thing to Ai and its king. But this time you can keep for yourselves the livestock and everything else you take from them. Have some of your fighting men hide behind the city and take them by surprise.”

³So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best fighting men. He sent them out at night. ⁴He gave them orders. He said, “Listen carefully to what I’m saying. You must hide behind the city. Don’t go very far away from it. All of you must be ready to attack it.

⁵“I and all of the men who are with me will go up to the city. The men of Ai will come out to fight against us, just as they did before. Then we’ll run away from them. ⁶They’ll chase us until we’ve drawn them away from the city. They’ll say, ‘They are running away from us, just as they did before.’

“When we run away from them, ⁷come out of your hiding place. Take over the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you. ⁸When you have taken it, set it on fire. Do what the Lord has commanded. Make sure you obey my orders.”

⁹Then Joshua sent them away. They went to the place where they had planned to hide. They hid in a place west of Ai. It was between Bethel and Ai. But Joshua spent that night with his men.

¹⁰Early the next morning Joshua brought his men together. He and the leaders of Israel marched in front of them to Ai. ¹¹The whole army that was with him marched up to the city. They stopped in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai. There was a valley between them and the city.

¹²Joshua had chosen about 5,000 soldiers. He had ordered them to hide in a place west of Ai. It was between Bethel and Ai.

¹³The men took up their battle positions. All of the men who were in the camp that was north of the city took up their positions. So did those who were supposed to hide west of the city. That night Joshua went into the valley.

¹⁴The king of Ai saw what the army of Israel was doing. So he and all of his men hurried out of the city early in the morning. They marched out to meet Israel in battle. They went to a place that looked out over the Arabah Valley. The king didn’t know that some of Israel’s fighting men were hiding behind the city.

¹⁵Joshua and all of his men let the men of Ai drive them back. The men of Israel ran away toward the desert.

¹⁶All of the men of Ai were called out to chase them. They chased Joshua. So they were drawn away from the city. ¹⁷Not even one man remained in Ai or Bethel. All of them went out to chase Israel. When they did, they left the city wide open.

¹⁸Then the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, “Point the javelin that is in your hand at Ai. I will hand the city over to you.” So Joshua pointed his javelin at Ai.

¹⁹As soon as he did, the men who were hiding behind the city got up quickly. They came out of their hiding places and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it. They quickly set it on fire.

²⁰The men of Ai looked back. They saw smoke rising up from the city into the sky. But they couldn’t escape in any direction.

The men of Israel had been running away toward the desert. But now they turned around to face those who were chasing them. ²¹Joshua and all of his men saw that the men who had been hiding behind the city had captured it. They also saw the smoke that was going up from it. So they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. ²²The men who had set Ai on fire came out of the city. They also fought against the men of Ai.

So the men of Ai were caught in the middle. The army of Israel was on both sides of them. Israel struck them down. They didn’t let anyone remain alive or get away. ²³But they took the king of Ai alive. They brought him to Joshua.

²⁴Israel finished killing all of the men of Ai. They destroyed them in the fields and in the desert where they had chased them. They struck every one of them down with their swords. Then all of the men of Israel returned to Ai. And they killed those who were left in it.

²⁵The total number of men and women they killed that day was 12,000. They put to death all of the people of Ai.

²⁶Joshua kept the javelin that was in his hand pointed at Ai. He didn’t lower his hand until he and his men had totally destroyed everyone who lived there.

²⁷But this time Israel kept for themselves the livestock and everything else they had taken…