Joshua 7

¹ But the sons of Israel incurred guilt by violating the ban. Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, laid his hands on something that fell under the ban, and the anger of Yahweh flared out against the Israelites.

² Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai,[*a] east of Bethel; his command was: ‘Go up and reconnoitre the country’. The men went up and reconnoitred Ai.

³ They came back to Joshua and said, ‘There is no need for all the people to go up; let some two or three thousand men go and attack Ai. Spare the whole people such a toil; the enemy are not many.’

⁴ Some three thousand men of the people marched up to Ai, but broke before the townsmen.

⁵ These killed some thirty-six of them and drove the men back from the town gate to Shebarim; there on the slope they made havoc of them. Then the people lost heart and their courage melted away.

⁶ Joshua tore his garments and prostrated himself before the ark of Yahweh till nightfall; the elders of Israel did as he did, and all poured dust on their heads.

⁷ And Joshua said, ‘Alas, Lord Yahweh, why did you bring this nation across the Jordan only to deliver us into the power of the Amorite and destroy us?

⁸ I wish we had won a place to live in on the other side of the Jordan! Forgive me, Lord, but what can I say, now that Israel has turned its back on the enemy?

⁹ The Canaanites will hear of it, and all the inhabitants of the country; they will unite against us to wipe our name off the face of the earth. What are you going to do for your great name?’

¹⁰ Yahweh answered Joshua, ‘Stand up! Why are you lying prostrate like this?

¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have violated the covenant I ordained for them. Yes, they have taken what was under the ban, stolen and hidden it and put it into their baggage.

¹² That is why the sons of Israel cannot stand up to their foes; why they have turned their backs on their enemies, because they have come under the ban themselves. I will be with you no longer unless you remove what is under the ban from among you.

¹³ ‘Rise and call the people together and say to them, “Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because Yahweh the God of Israel declares: The ban is now among you, Israel; you can never stand up to your enemies until you take what is under the ban from among you.”

¹⁴ In the morning therefore you will come forward tribe by tribe, and then the tribe that Yahweh marks out by lot will come forward clan by clan, and the clan that Yahweh marks out by lot will come forward family by family, and the family that Yahweh marks out by lot will come forward man by man.

¹⁵ And then the man taken with the thing that is banned is to be delivered over to the fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has violated the covenant with Yahweh and committed an infamy in Israel.’

¹⁶ Joshua rose early; he made Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the lot marked out the tribe of Judah.

¹⁷ He called up to him the clans of Judah, and the lot marked out the clan of Zerah. He called up the clan of Zerah, family by family, and Zabdi was marked out.

¹⁸ Then Joshua called up the family of Zabdi, man by man, and it was Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, who was chosen by the lot.

¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, ‘My son, give glory to Yahweh the God of Israel, and pay him homage; tell me what you have done and hide nothing from me’.

²⁰ Achan answered Joshua, ‘Yes, I am the man who has sinned against Yahweh the God of Israel, and this is what I have done.

²¹ When I saw among the spoil a fine robe from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and an ingot of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden there in the ground inside my tent, and the silver is underneath.’

²² Joshua sent out messengers; they ran to the tent, and the robe was indeed hidden inside the tent, and the silver was underneath.

²³ They took everything from inside the tent and brought it to Joshua and the elders of Israel and laid it out before Yahweh.

²⁴ Then Joshua took Achan son of Zerah, with the silver and the robe and the ingot of gold and led him up to the Vale of Achor – and with him his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent and everything that belonged to him. All Israel went with him.

²⁵ Joshua said, ‘Why did you bring evil on us? May Yahweh bring evil on you today!’ And all Israel stoned him.

²⁶ A great cairn was reared over him,[*b] which is still there today. Then Yahweh ceased from his burning anger. It was then that the place was given the name, the Vale of Achor,[*c] which it is still called now.