Achan’s Sin

Achan’s Sin

Joshua 7:1-8:35

Bible Stories

 

Joshua 7:1 But the sons of Israel transgressed the commandment, and they usurped what was anathema. For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took something from what was anathema. And the Lord became angry against the sons of Israel.

Joshua 7:2 And when Joshua sent men from Jericho against Ai, which is beside Bethaven, toward the eastern region of the town of Bethel, he said to them, “Go up and explore the land.” And they fulfilled his instruction, and they explored Ai.

Joshua 7:3 And returning, they said to him: “Let not the entire people go up. Instead, let two or three thousand men go out and destroy the city. Why should all the people be troubled without cause against enemies that are so very few?”

Joshua 7:4 Therefore, they went up with three thousand fighters. And they promptly turned their backs,

Joshua 7:5 and were struck down by the men of the city of Ai. And thirty-six men of them fell. And the adversaries pursued them from the gate, even as far as Shebarim. And they felled them as they were fleeing downward. And the heart of the people was struck with fear, and it melted like water.

Joshua 7:6 And truly, Joshua tore his garments, and he fell prone on the ground before the ark of the Lord, even until evening, both he and all the elders of Israel. And they cast dust upon their heads.

Joshua 7:7 And Joshua said: “Alas, O Lord God! Why would you want to lead this people over the river Jordan, so that you might deliver us into the hand of the Amorite and destroy us? I wish that we had remained beyond the Jordan, as when we began.

Joshua 7:8 My Lord God, what shall I say, seeing Israel turning their backs to their enemies?

Joshua 7:9 The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and coming together as one, they will surround us, and they will wipe our name from the earth. And what will you do concerning your great name?”

Joshua 7:10 And the Lord said to Joshua: “Rise up. Why are you lying flat on the ground?

Joshua 7:11 Israel has sinned and transgressed my covenant. And they have taken from what is anathema. And they have stolen and lied, and they have hidden it among their goods.

Joshua 7:12 Israel is not able to stand before his enemies, and he will flee from them. For he has been defiled by what is anathema. I will be no longer be with you, until you destroy him who is guilty of this wickedness.

Joshua 7:13 Rise up. Sanctify the people. And you shall say to them: ‘Be sanctified tomorrow. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: That which is anathema is in your midst, O Israel! You are not able to stand before your enemies, until he who has been contaminated by this wickedness is taken away from you.’

Joshua 7:14 And you shall draw near in the morning, each one by your tribes. And whichever tribe will be found by lot shall come forward by its families, and the families by houses, and the house by the men.

Joshua 7:15 And whoever he may be that will be found guilty of this deed, he shall be burnt with fire with all his substance. For he transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and he committed a wicked act in Israel.”

Joshua 7:16 And so Joshua, rising in the morning, brought forth Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was found.

Joshua 7:17 And when its families had been presented, the family of Zerah was found. Likewise, bringing that one forward by the houses, he discovered Zabdi.

Joshua 7:18 And dividing his house by each man, he found Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah.

Joshua 7:19 And Joshua said to Achan: “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and confess, and reveal to me what you have done. You may not conceal it.”

Joshua 7:20 And Achan responded to Joshua, and he said to him: “Truly, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and I have done one thing and another.

Joshua 7:21 For I saw among the spoils a very fine scarlet cloak, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a gold bar of fifty shekels. And coveting these, I took and hid them in the ground near the middle of my tent, and I covered the silver with the soil that I had dug.”

Joshua 7:22 Therefore, Joshua sent ministers, who, running to his tent, discovered everything hidden in the same place, together with the silver.

Joshua 7:23 And taking these from the tent, they brought them to Joshua, and to all the sons of Israel, and they cast them down before the Lord.

Joshua 7:24 And so Joshua took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the cloak, and the gold bar, also his sons and daughters, the oxen and donkeys and sheep, and even the tent and all his goods, (and all of Israel went with him,) and he brought these to the valley of Achor.

Joshua 7:25 There, Joshua said: “Because you have troubled us, the Lord troubles you, on this day.” And all of Israel stoned him. And all the things that were his were consumed by fire.

Joshua 7:26 And they gathered upon him a great pile of stones, which remains even to the present day. And the fury of the Lord was averted from them. And the name of that place was called the Valley of Achor, even to this day.

Joshua 8:1 Then the Lord said to Joshua: “You should not fear, and you should not dread. Take with you the entire multitude of fighters, and rising up, ascend to the town of Ai. Behold, I have delivered into your hand its king and people, and the city and the land.

Joshua 8:2 And you shall do to the city of Ai, and to its king, just as you did to Jericho, and to its king. Yet truly, the spoils, and all the living things, you shall plunder for yourselves. Set an ambush against the city behind it.”

Joshua 8:3 And Joshua rose up, and the entire army of warriors with him, so that they might ascend against Ai. And he sent thirty thousand elect strong men in the night.

Joshua 8:4 And he instructed them, saying: “Set an ambush behind the city. You shall withdraw not far away, and let everyone be prepared.

Joshua 8:5 But I and the remainder of the multitude that is with me will approach from the opposite side of the city. And when they come out against us, we will flee and turn our backs, just as we did before,

Joshua 8:6 until, pursuing us, they are drawn away from the city. For they will think that we are fleeing as before.

Joshua 8:7 Then, while we are fleeing and they are pursuing, you shall rise up from the ambush, and you shall lay waste to the city. And the Lord your God will deliver it into your hands.

Joshua 8:8 And when you have seized it, set it on fire. And you shall do all that I have ordered.”

Joshua 8:9 And he sent them away, and they traveled to the place of the ambush, and they settled between Bethel and Ai, toward the western region of the city of Ai. But Joshua remained for that night in the midst of the people.

Joshua 8:10 And rising at first light, he reviewed his troops, and he went up, with the elders at the front of the army, surrounded by an auxiliary of fighters.

Joshua 8:11 And when they had arrived, and had ascended from the opposite side of the city, they stood toward the northern region of the city. And there was a valley in the middle, between them and the city.

Joshua 8:12 Now he had chosen five thousand men, and he had positioned them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, at the western part of the same city.

Joshua 8:13 Yet truly, all the remainder of the army was arranged in a line to the north, so that the very end of that multitude reached to the western region of the city. Then Joshua went out that night, and he stood in the middle of the valley.

Joshua 8:14 And when the king of Ai had seen this, he hurried in the morning, and he went out with the entire army of the city. And he arranged them in a line opposite the desert, not knowing that an ambush lay hidden behind his back.

Joshua 8:15 Yet truly, Joshua, and all of Israel, withdrew from the place, pretending to be afraid, and fleeing along the way of the wilderness.

Joshua 8:16 And they pursued them, shouting together and encouraging one another. And when they had withdrawn from the city,

Joshua 8:17 and indeed not one remained in the city of Ai and of Bethel who did not pursue after Israel, (leaving the towns open after they had rushed out,)

Joshua 8:18 the Lord said to Joshua: “Lift up the shield that is in your hand, toward the city of Ai. For I will deliver it to you.”

Joshua 8:19 And when he had lifted up the shield toward the city, the ambush, which lay hidden, rose up quickly. And advancing to the city, they seized it, and set it on fire.

Joshua 8:20 Now the men of the city who were pursuing Joshua, looking back and seeing the smoke of the city rising up even to heaven, were no longer able to flee in one direction or another, especially since those who had pretended to flee, and who were heading toward the wilderness, had turned back very strongly against those who were pursuing them.

Joshua 8:21 And Joshua, and all of Israel, seeing that the city had been captured, and that the smoke of the city was ascending, returned and struck down the men of Ai.

Joshua 8:22 Then too, those who had seized and set the city on fire, departing from the city toward their own men, began to strike the enemies in the middle. Therefore, since the adversaries were cut off from both sides, none of so great a multitude was saved.

Joshua 8:23 Also, they apprehended the king of the city of Ai, alive, and they brought him before Joshua.

Joshua 8:24 And so, after all were slain who had pursued Israel fleeing toward the wilderness, and after they fell by the sword in the same place, the sons of Israel returned and struck the city.

Joshua 8:25 Now there were twelve thousand persons who had fallen on the same day, from man even to woman, the entire city of Ai.

Joshua 8:26 Truly Joshua did not draw back his hand, which he had stretched out on high, keeping hold of the shield until all the inhabitants of Ai were put to death.

Joshua 8:27 Then the sons of Israel divided among themselves the cattle and the plunder of the city, just as the Lord had instructed Joshua.

Joshua 8:28 And he set fire to the city, and he caused it to be a perpetual tomb.

Joshua 8:29 Also, he suspended the king on a gallows, until evening and the setting of the sun. And Joshua instructed, and they took down his dead body from the hanging tree. And they cast it at the very entrance of the city, gathering a great pile of stones upon it, which remains even to the present day.

Joshua 8:30 Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

Joshua 8:31 just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had instructed to the sons of Israel, and this was written in the book of the law of Moses: truly, an altar of uncut stones, which iron has not touched. And he offered holocausts upon it to the Lord, and he immolated victims as peace-offerings.

Joshua 8:32 And he wrote on the stones, the Deuteronomy of the law of Moses, which he had set in order before the sons of Israel.

Joshua 8:33 Then all the people, and those greater by birth, and the commanders and judges were standing on both sides of the ark, in the sight of the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, with both the new arrival and the native born, one half part of them beside Mount Gerizim, and one half beside Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, had instructed. And first, certainly, he blessed the people of Israel.

Joshua 8:34 After this, he read all the words of the blessing and the cursing, and all the things that were written in the book of the law.

Joshua 8:35 He left nothing untouched out of those things that Moses had ordered, and he repeated everything before the entire multitude of Israel, with the women and the little ones, and the new arrivals who were staying among them.