Joshua 7
7
1But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the devoted thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel. 2And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai. 3And 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; make not all the people to toil thither; for they are but few. 4So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. 5And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: and they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them at the going down: and the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
6And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust upon their heads. 7And 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 cause us to perish? would that we had been content and dwelt beyond Jordan! 8Oh Lord, what shall I say, after that Israel hath turned their backs before their enemies! 9For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall compass us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do for thy great name?
10And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore art thou thus fallen upon thy face? 11Israel hath sinned; yea, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: yea, they have even taken of the devoted thing; and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have even put it among their own stuff. 12Therefore the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies, they turn their backs before their enemies, because they are become accursed: I will not be with you any more, except ye destroy the devoted thing from among you. 13Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, There is a devoted thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the devoted thing from among you. 14In the morning therefore ye shall be brought near by your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the LORD taketh shall come near by families; and the family which the LORD shall take shall come near by households; and the household which the LORD shall take shall come near man by man. 15And it shall be, that he that is taken with the devoted 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.
16So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel near by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: 17and he brought near the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zerahites: and he brought near the family 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, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. 20And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Of a truth I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: 21when I saw among the spoil a goodly Babylonish mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, beheld, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. 22So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. 23And they took them from the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children 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 mantle, 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 up unto the valley of Achor. 25And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones. 26And they raised over him a great heap of stones, unto this day; and the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
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Joshua 7: RV1885
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Joshua 7
7
Achan disobeys the Lord
1The LORD had said that everything in Jericho belonged to him.#7.1 belonged to him: See the note at 6.17. But Achan#7.1 Achan: The Hebrew text has “Achan, son of Carmi, grandson of Abdi, and great-grandson of Zerah”. from the Judah tribe took some of the things from Jericho for himself. And so the LORD was angry with the Israelites, because one of them had disobeyed him.#7.1 the LORD was angry…disobeyed him: Even though only one person had disobeyed, it meant that the LORD's instructions to the people of Israel had not been followed, and the whole nation was held responsible.
2While Israel was still camped near Jericho, Joshua sent some spies with these instructions: “Go to the town of Ai#7.2 of Ai: Or “called The Ruins”. and find out whatever you can about the region around the town.”
The spies left and went to Ai, which is east of Bethel and near Beth-Aven. 3They went back to Joshua and reported, “You don't need to send the whole army to attack Ai—two or three thousand troops will be enough. Why bother the whole army for a town that small?”
4-5Joshua sent about three thousand soldiers to attack Ai. But the men of Ai fought back and chased the Israelite soldiers away from the town gate and down the hill to the stone quarries.#7.4,5 stone quarries: Or “Shebarim”. Thirty-six Israelite soldiers were killed, and the Israelite army felt discouraged.
6Joshua and the leaders of Israel tore their clothes and put dust on their heads to show their sorrow. They lay face down on the ground in front of the sacred chest until sunset. 7Then Joshua said:
Our LORD, did you bring us across the River Jordan just so the Amorites could destroy us? This wouldn't have happened if we had agreed to stay on the other side of the Jordan. 8I don't even know what to say to you, since Israel's army has turned and run from the enemy. 9Everyone will think you weren't strong enough to protect your people. Now the Canaanites and everyone else who lives in the land will surround us and wipe us out.
10The LORD answered:
Stop lying there on the ground! Get up! 11I said everything in Jericho belonged to me and had to be destroyed. But the Israelites have kept some of the things for themselves. They stole from me and hid what they took. Then they lied about it. 12What they stole was supposed to be destroyed, and now Israel itself must be destroyed. I cannot help you any more until you do exactly what I have said. That's why Israel turns and runs from its enemies instead of standing up to them.
13Tell the people of Israel, “Tomorrow you will meet with the LORD your God, so make yourselves acceptable to worship him. The LORD says that you have taken things that should have been destroyed. You won't be able to stand up to your enemies until you get rid of those things.
14“Tomorrow morning everyone must gather near the place of worship. You will come forward tribe by tribe, and the LORD will show which tribe is guilty. Next, the clans in that tribe must come forward, and the LORD will show which clan is guilty. The families in that clan must come, and the LORD will point out the guilty family. Finally, the men in that family must come, 15and the LORD will show who stole what should have been destroyed. That man must be put to death, his body burnt, and his possessions thrown into the fire. He has done a terrible thing by breaking the sacred agreement that the LORD made with Israel.”
16Joshua got up early the next morning and brought each tribe to the place of worship, where the LORD showed that the Judah tribe was guilty. 17Then Joshua brought the clans of Judah to the LORD, and the LORD showed that the Zerah clan was guilty. One by one he brought the leader of each family in the Zerah clan to the LORD, and the LORD showed that Zabdi's family was guilty. 18Finally, Joshua brought each man in Zabdi's family to the LORD, and the LORD showed that Achan was the guilty one.
19“Achan,” Joshua said, “the LORD God of Israel has decided that you are guilty. Is this true? Tell me what you did, and don't try to hide anything.”
20“It's true,” Achan answered. “I sinned and disobeyed the LORD God of Israel. 21-22While we were in Jericho, I saw a beautiful Babylonian robe, two hundred pieces of silver, and a gold bar that weighed the same as fifty pieces of gold. I wanted them for myself, so I took them. I dug a hole under my tent and hid the silver, the gold, and the robe.”
Joshua told some people to run to Achan's tent, where they found the silver, the gold, and the robe. 23They brought them back and put them in front of the sacred chest, so Joshua and the rest of the Israelites could see them. 24Then everyone took Achan and the things he had stolen to Trouble Valley.#7.24 Trouble Valley: Or “Achor Valley”. They also took along his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys, and sheep, his tent, and everything else that belonged to him.
25Joshua said, “Achan, you caused us a lot of trouble. Now the LORD is paying you back with the same kind of trouble.”
The people of Israel then stoned to death Achan and his family. They made a fire and burnt the bodies, together with what Achan had stolen, and all his possessions. 26They covered the remains with a big pile of rocks, which is still there. Then the LORD stopped being angry with Israel.
That's how the place came to be called Trouble Valley.
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