Joshua 7:10–26

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.