| Chapter 7 |
| 1 | But the children of Israel
committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the
son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed
thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of
Israel. |
| 2 |
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside
Bethaven, on the east of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view
the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. |
| 3 | And they
returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let
about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people
to labor thither; for they are but few. |
|
4 | So there went up thither of
the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
|
| 5 | And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they
chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the
going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as
water. |
| 6 |
And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his
face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of
Israel, and put dust upon their heads. |
| 7 | And Joshua said, Alas, O LORD
God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us
into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content,
and dwelt on the other side Jordan! |
| 8 | O LORD, what shall I say, when
Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! |
| 9 | For the
Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall
environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do
unto thy great name? |
| 10 | And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up;
wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? |
|
11 | Israel hath sinned, and
they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have
even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also,
and they have put it even among their own stuff. |
| 12 | Therefore
the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their
backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with
you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you. |
| 13 | Up,
sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus
saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee,
O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the
accursed thing from among you. |
| 14 | In the morning therefore ye
shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe
which the LORD taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the
family which the LORD shall take shall come by households; and the household
which the LORD shall take shall come man by man. |
| 15 | And it shall
be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he
and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD,
and because he hath wrought folly in Israel. |
|
16 | So Joshua rose up early
in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was
taken: |
| 17
| And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the
family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man;
and Zabdi was taken: |
| 18 | And he brought his household man by man; and
Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of
Judah, was taken. |
| 19 | And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I
pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and
tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. |
| 20 | And Achan
answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel,
and thus and thus have I done: |
| 21 | When I saw among the spoils a
goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of
gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold,
they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under
it. |
| 22 |
So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and,
behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. |
| 23 | And they
took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto
all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD. |
| 24 | And
Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver,
and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and
his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and
they brought them unto the valley of Achor. |
|
25 | And Joshua said, Why
hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel
stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them
with stones. |
|
26 | And they raised over him a great heap of stones
unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore
the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day. |
