Bible Gateway passage: Joshua 7 - New King James Version (2024)

Defeat at Ai

7But the children of Israel ^[a]committed a ^(A)trespass regarding the ^(B)accursed^[b] things, for ^(C)Achan the son of Carmi, the son of ^[c]Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the Lord burned against the children of Israel.

²Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the country.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. ³And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.” ⁴So about three thousand men went up there from the people, ^(D)but they fled before the men of Ai. ⁵And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore ^(E)the^[d] hearts of the people melted and became like water.

⁶Then Joshua ^(F)tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they ^(G)put dust on their heads. ⁷And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord ^[e]God, ^(H)why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! ⁸O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its ^[f]back before its enemies? ⁹For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and ^(I)cut off our name from the earth. Then ^(J)what will You do for Your great name?”

The Sin of Achan

¹⁰So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? ¹¹Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. ^(K)For they have even taken some of the ^[g]accursed things, and have both stolen and ^(L)deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. ^12(M)Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because ^(N)they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. ¹³Get up, ^(O)sanctify^[h] the people, and say, ^(P)‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.” ¹⁴In the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which ^(Q)the Lord takes shall come according to families; and the family which the Lord takes shall come by households; and the household which the Lord takes shall come man by man. ^15(R)Then it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has ^(S)transgressed^[i] the covenant of the Lord, and because he ^(T)has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ”

¹⁶So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. ¹⁷He brought the clan 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. ¹⁸Then 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, ^(U)was taken.

¹⁹Now Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, ^(V)give glory to the Lord God of Israel, ^(W)and make confession to Him, and ^(X)tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

²⁰And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed ^(Y)I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done: ²¹When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I ^[j]coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”

²²So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. ²³And they took them from the midst of the tent, brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. ²⁴Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the garment, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and ^(Z)all that he had, and they brought them to ^(AA)the Valley of Achor. ²⁵And Joshua said, ^(AB)“Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” ^(AC)So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.

²⁶Then they ^(AD)raised over him a great heap of stones, still there to this day. So ^(AE)the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called ^(AF)the Valley of ^[k]Achor to this day.