Joshua 6:1–12:24

¹(And Jericho shutteth itself up, and is shut up, because of the presence of the sons of Israel—none going out, and none coming in;) ²And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, ‘See, I have given into thy hand Jericho and its king—mighty ones of valour, ³and ye have compassed the city—all the men of battle—going round the city once; thus thou dost six days; ⁴and seven priests do bear seven trumpets of the jubilee before the ark, and on the seventh day ye compass the city seven times, and the priests blow with the trumpets, ⁵and it hath been, in the prolongation of the horn of the jubilee, in your hearing the voice of the trumpet, all the people shout—a great shout, and the wall of the city hath fallen under it, and the people have gone up, each over-against him.’

⁶And Joshua son of Nun calleth unto the priests, and saith unto them, ‘Bear ye the ark of the covenant, and seven priests do bear seven trumpets of the jubilee before the ark of Jehovah;’ ⁷and He said unto the people, ‘Pass over, and compass the city, and he who is armed doth pass over before the ark of Jehovah.’ ⁸And it cometh to pass, when Joshua speaketh unto the people, that the seven priests bearing seven trumpets of the jubilee before Jehovah have passed over and blown with the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is going after them; ⁹and he who is armed is going before the priests blowing the trumpets, and he who is gathering up is going after the ark, going on and blowing with the trumpets; ¹⁰and the people hath Joshua commanded, saying, ‘Ye do not shout, nor cause your voice to be heard, nor doth there go out from your mouth a word, till the day of my saying unto you, Shout ye—then ye have shouted.’ ¹¹And the ark of Jehovah doth compass the city, going round once, and they come into the camp, and lodge in the camp. ¹²And Joshua riseth early in the morning, and the priests bear the ark of Jehovah, ¹³and seven priests bearing seven trumpets of the jubilee before the ark of Jehovah are walking, going on, and they have blown with the trumpets—and he who is armed is going before them, and he who is gathering up is going behind the ark of Jehovah—going on and blowing with the trumpets. ¹⁴And they compass the city on the second day once, and turn back to the camp; thus they have done six days. ¹⁵And it cometh to pass, on the seventh day, that they rise early, at the ascending of the dawn, and compass the city, according to this manner, seven times; (only, on that day they have compassed the city seven times); ¹⁶and it cometh to pass, at the seventh time, the priests have blown with the trumpets, and Joshua saith unto the people, ‘Shout ye, for Jehovah hath given to you the city.

¹⁷And the city hath been devoted, it and all that is in it, to Jehovah; only Rahab the harlot doth live, she and all who are with her in the house, for she hid the messengers whom we sent; ¹⁸and surely ye have kept from the devoted thing, lest ye devote yourselves, and have taken from the devoted thing, and have made the camp of Israel become a devoted thing, and have troubled it; ¹⁹and all the silver and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, holy they are to Jehovah; into the treasury of Jehovah they come.’ ²⁰And the people shout, and blow with the trumpets, and it cometh to pass when the people hear the voice of the trumpet, that the people shout—a great shout, and the wall falleth under it, and the people goeth up into the city, each over-against him, and they capture the city; ²¹and they devote all that is in the city, from man even unto woman, from young even unto aged, even unto ox, and sheep, and ass, by the mouth of the sword. ²²And to the two men who are spying the land Joshua said, ‘Go into the house of the woman, the harlot, and bring out thence the woman, and all whom she hath, as ye have sworn to her.’ ²³And the young man, the spies, go in and bring out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all whom she hath; yea, all her families they have brought out, and place them at the outside of the camp of Israel. ²⁴And the city they have burnt with fire, and all that is in it; only, the silver and the gold, and the vessels of brass, and of iron, they have given to the treasury of the house of Jehovah; ²⁵and Rahab the harlot, and the house of her father, and all whom she hath, hath Joshua kept alive; and she dwelleth in the midst of Israel unto this day, for she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. ²⁶And Joshua adjureth them at that time, saying, ‘Cursed is the man before Jehovah who raiseth up and hath built this city, even Jericho; in his first-born he doth lay its foundation, and in his youngest he doth set up its doors;’ ²⁷and Jehovah is with Joshua, and his fame is in all the land.

Chapter 7

¹And the sons of Israel commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, taketh of the devoted thing, and the anger of Jehovah burneth against the sons of Israel. ²And Joshua sendeth men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-Aven, on the east of Bethel, and speaketh unto them, saying, ‘Go up and spy the land;’ and the men go up and spy Ai, ³and they turn back unto Joshua, and say unto him, ‘Let not all the people go up; let about two thousand men, or about three thousand men, go up, and they smite Ai; cause not all the people to labour thither; for they are few.’ ⁴And there go up of the people thither about three thousand men, and they flee before the men of Ai, ⁵and the men of Ai smite of them about thirty and six men, and pursue them before the gate unto Shebarim, and they smite them in Morad; and the heart of the people is melted, and becometh water.

⁶And Joshua rendeth his garments, and falleth on his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah till the evening, he and the elders of Israel, and they cause dust to go up on their head. ⁷And Joshua saith, ‘Ah, Lord Jehovah, why hast Thou at all caused this people to pass over the Jordan, to give us into the hand of the Amorite to destroy us?—and oh that we had been willing—and we dwell beyond the Jordan! ⁸Oh, Lord, what do I say, after that Israel hath turned the neck before its enemies? ⁹and the Canaanite and all the inhabitants of the land do hear, and have come round against us, and cut off our name out of the earth; and what dost Thou do for Thy great name?’

¹⁰And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, ‘Rise for thee, why is this?—thou art falling on thy face? ¹¹Israel hath sinned, and also they have transgressed My covenant which I commanded them, and also taken of the devoted thing, and also stolen, and also deceived, and also put it among their vessels, ¹²and the sons of Israel have not been able to stand before their enemies; the neck they turn before their enemies, for they have become a devoted thing; I add not to be with you—if ye destroy not the devoted thing out of your midst.

¹³‘Rise, sanctify the people, and thou hast said, Sanctify yourselves for to-morrow; for thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, A devoted thing is in thy midst, O Israel, thou art not able to stand before thine enemies till your turning aside of the devoted thing out of your midst; ¹⁴and ye have been brought near in the morning by your tribes, and it hath been, the tribe which Jehovah doth capture doth draw near by families, and the family which Jehovah doth capture doth draw near by households, and the household which Jehovah doth capture doth draw near by men; ¹⁵and it hath been, he who is captured with the devoted thing is burnt with fire, he and all that he hath, because he hath transgressed the covenant of Jehovah, and because he hath done folly in Israel.’

¹⁶And Joshua riseth early in the morning, and bringeth Israel near by its tribes, and the tribe of Judah is captured; ¹⁷and he bringeth near the family of Judah, and he captureth the family of the Zarhite; and he bringeth near the family of the Zarhite by men, and Zabdi is captured; ¹⁸and he bringeth near his household by men, and Achan—son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah—is captured. ¹⁹And Joshua saith unto Achan, ‘My son, put, I pray thee, honour on Jehovah, God of Israel, and give to Him thanks, and declare, I pray thee, to me, what thou hast done—hide not from me.’ ²⁰And Achan answereth Joshua, and saith, ‘Truly I have sinned against Jehovah, God of Israel, and thus and thus I have done; ²¹and I see among the spoil a goodly robe of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and one wedge of gold, whose weight is fifty shekels, and I desire them, and take them; and lo, they are hid in the earth, in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.’ ²²And Joshua sendeth messengers, and they run unto the tent, and lo, it is hidden in his tent, and the silver under it; ²³and they take them out of the midst of the tent, and bring them in unto Joshua, and unto all the sons of Israel, and pour them out before Jehovah. ²⁴And Joshua taketh Achan son of Zerah, and the silver, and the robe, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his ox, and his ass, and his flock, and his tent, and all that he hath, and all Israel with him, and they cause them to go up the valley of Achor. ²⁵And Joshua saith, ‘What! thou hast troubled us!—Jehovah doth trouble thee this day;’ and all Israel cast stones at him, and they burn them with fire, and they stone them with stones, ²⁶and they raise up over him a great heap of stones unto this day, and Jehovah turneth back from the heat of His anger, therefore hath one called the name of that place ‘Valley of Achor’ till this day.

Chapter 8

¹And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, ‘Fear not, nor be affrighted, take with thee all the people of war, and rise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land, ²and thou hast done to Ai and to her king as thou hast done to Jericho and to her king; only, its spoil and its cattle ye spoil for yourselves; set for thee an ambush for the city at its rear.’

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