Joshua 7

Israel Defeated at Ai

1But 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.

2Joshua 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. 3And 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.” 4So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And cthey fled before the men of Ai, 5and 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.

6Then 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. 7And 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! 8O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! 9For 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

10The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? 11Israel 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.
13Get up! Consecrate the people and say, qConsecrate 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.” 14In 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.’”

16So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17And 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. 18And 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. 19Then 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.”
20And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly aaI have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21when 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.”

22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23And 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. 24And 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. 25And 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. 26And 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 8:1-28

The Fall of Ai

1And the Lord said to Joshua, aj“Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, akI have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. 2And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did alto Jericho and its king. Only amits spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”

3So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. 4And he commanded them, “Behold, anyou shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. 5And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us aojust as before, we shall flee before them. 6And they will come out after us, until we have apdrawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. 7Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand. 8And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the Lord. aqSee, I have commanded you.” 9So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people.

10Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. 11And arall the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. 12He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. 14And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place
Hebrew  appointed time
toward atthe Arabah to meet Israel in battle. auBut he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
15And Joshua and all Israel avpretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. 16So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they awwere drawn away from the city. 17Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.

18Then the Lord said to Joshua, ax“Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. 19And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. 20So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. 21And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. 22And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And Israel struck them down, until there was ayleft none that survived or escaped. 23But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua.

24When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. 25And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. 26But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he azstretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction.
That is, set apart ( devoted) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
27Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the Lord that he bbcommanded Joshua. 28So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a bcheap of ruins, as it is to this day.
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