Joshua 7–12

Achan’s Sin

7But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things^a;^f Achan^g son of Karmi, the son of Zimri,^b the son of Zerah,^h of the tribe of Judah,ⁱ took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned^j against Israel.^k

²Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai,^l which is near Beth Aven^m to the east of Bethel,ⁿ and told them, “Go up and spy out^o the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.

³When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.” ⁴So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai,^{p 5}who killed about thirty-six^q of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear^r and became like water.

⁶Then Joshua tore his clothes^s and fell facedown^t to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening.^u The elders of Israel^v did the same, and sprinkled dust^w on their heads. ⁷And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why^x did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us?^y If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! ⁸Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? ⁹The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth.^z What then will you do for your own great name?^a”

¹⁰The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? ¹¹Israel has sinned;^b they have violated my covenant,^c which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied,^d they have put them with their own possessions.^{e 12}That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies;^f they turn their backs^g and run^h because they have been made liable to destruction.ⁱ I will not be with you anymore^j unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

¹³“Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves^k in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.

¹⁴“ ‘In the morning, present^l yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord chooses^m shall come forward clan by clan; the clan the Lord chooses shall come forward family by family; and the family the Lord chooses shall come forward man by man. ¹⁵Whoever is caught with the devoted thingsⁿ shall be destroyed by fire,^o along with all that belongs to him.^p He has violated the covenant^q of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’ ”^r

¹⁶Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen. ¹⁷The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen.^s He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen. ¹⁸Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah,^t was chosen.^u

¹⁹Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory^v to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell^w me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

²⁰Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: ²¹When I saw in the plunder^x a beautiful robe from Babylonia,^c two hundred shekels^d of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels,^e I coveted^y them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

²²So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. ²³They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.

²⁴Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons^z and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.^{a 25}Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble^b on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”

Then all Israel stoned him,^c and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them.^{d 26}Over Achan they heaped^e up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.^f Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger.^g Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor^fh ever since.

Ai Destroyed

8Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid;ⁱ do not be discouraged.^j Take the whole army^k with you, and go up and attack Ai.^l For I have delivered^m into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. ²You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunderⁿ and livestock for yourselves.^o Set an ambush^p behind the city.”

³So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night ⁴with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. ⁵I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. ⁶They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, ⁷you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand.^{q 8}When you have taken the city, set it on fire.^r Do what the Lord has commanded.^s See to it; you have my orders.”

⁹Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush^t and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people.

¹⁰Early the next morning^u Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel^v marched before them to Ai. ¹¹The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. ¹²Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. ¹³So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.

¹⁴When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah.^w But he did not know^x that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. ¹⁵Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back^y before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.^{z 16}All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away^a from the city. ¹⁷Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.

¹⁸Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin^b that is in your hand,^c for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand.^{d 19}As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly^e from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.^f

²⁰The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky,^g but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. ²¹For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around^h and attacked the men of Ai. ²²Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives.^{i 23}But they took the king of Ai alive^j and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. ²⁵Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.^{k 26}For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin^l until he had destroyed^am all who lived in Ai.^{n 27}But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.^o

²⁸So Joshua burned^p Ai^bq and made it a permanent heap of ruins,^r a desolate place to this day.^{s 29}He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset,^t Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks^u over it, which remains to this day.

The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal

³⁰Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal^v an altar^w to the Lord, the God of Israel, ³¹as Moses the servant of the Lord 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^x had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings.^{y 32}There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses.^{z 33}All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing the Levitical^a priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born^b were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal,^c as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.

³⁴…