Jos 7, Jos 14 | ESV | STEP | But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things , for Achan the son of Carmi , son of Zabdi , son of Zerah , of the tribe of Judah , took some of the devoted things . And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel .

Joshua 7

Israel Defeated at Ai

1 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for ^aAchan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near ^bBeth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” 4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And ^cthey fled before the men of Ai, 5 and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people ^dmelted and became as water.

6 Then Joshua ^etore his clothes and ^ffell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put ^gdust on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, ^hwhy have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! 9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and ⁱcut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?”

The Sin of Achan

10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have ^jtransgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the ^kdevoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. 12 ^lTherefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They ^mturn their backs before their enemies, because they have become ⁿdevoted for destruction. ^{▼▼That is, set apart ( devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)} I will be with you no more, unless you destroy ^pthe devoted things from among you. 13 Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ^q‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought near ^rby your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. 15 ^sAnd he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has ^ttransgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done ^uan outrageous thing in Israel.’”

16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17 And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the ^vZerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, ^wgive glory to the Lord God of Israel and ^xgive praise ^{▼▼Or and make confession} to him. And ^ztell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly ^aaI have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams} then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. 24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the ^acValley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you ^adbring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel ^aestoned him with stones. ^afThey burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him ^aga great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then ^ahthe Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor. ^{▼▼ Achor means trouble}

Joshua 14

The Inheritance West of the Jordan

1 These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which ^ajEleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel gave them to inherit. 2 Their inheritance was ^akby lot, just as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine and one-half tribes. 3 ^alFor Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan, ^ambut to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. 4 For ^anthe people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands for their livestock and their substance. 5 The people of Israel did ^aoas the Lord commanded Moses; they allotted the land.

Caleb’s Request and Inheritance

6 Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the ^apKenizzite said to him, “You know ^aqwhat the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord ^arsent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8 But ^asmy brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. 9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ^at‘Surely the land ^auon which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, ^avjust as he said, these ^awforty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day ^axeighty-five years old. 11 ^ayI am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and ^azfor going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the ^baAnakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”

13 Then Joshua ^bbblessed him, and he gave ^bcHebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, ^bdbecause he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 ^beNow the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. ^{▼▼ Kiriath-arba means the city of Arba} (Arba ^{▼▼Hebrew He} was the greatest man among the Anakim.) ^bhAnd the land had rest from war.