¹⁹ But you have now rejected^(A) your God, who saves^(B) you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, ‘No, appoint a king^(C) over us.’^(D) So now present^(E) yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.”

¹² “But when you saw that Nahash^(A) king^(B) of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule^(C) over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king.

¹⁹ But the people refused^(A) to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want^(B) a king^(C) over us.

The Covenant Renewed at Shechem

24 Then Joshua assembled^(A) all the tribes of Israel at Shechem.^(B) He summoned^(C) the elders,^(D) leaders, judges and officials of Israel,^(E) and they presented themselves before God.

¹⁷ Is it not wheat harvest^(A) now? I will call^(B) on the Lord to send thunder^(C) and rain.^(D) And you will realize what an evil^(E) thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.”

¹⁸ Then Samuel called on the Lord,^(F) and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe^(G) of the Lord and of Samuel.

¹⁹ The people all said to Samuel, “Pray^(H) to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die,^(I) for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”

⁶ But when they said, “Give us a king^(A) to lead us,” this displeased^(B) Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord told him: “Listen^(C) to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected,^(D) but they have rejected me as their king.^{(E) 8} As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking^(F) me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ⁹ Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know^(G) what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

¹⁴ “‘In the morning, present^(A) yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord chooses^(B) shall come forward clan by clan; the clan the Lord chooses shall come forward family by family; and the family the Lord chooses shall come forward man by man. ¹⁵ Whoever is caught with the devoted things^(C) shall be destroyed by fire,^(D) along with all that belongs to him.^(E) He has violated the covenant^(F) of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’”^(G)

¹⁶ Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen. ¹⁷ The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen.^(H) He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen. ¹⁸ Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah,^(I) was chosen.^(J)

¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory^(K) to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell^(L) me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

²⁰ Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: ²¹ When I saw in the plunder^(M) a beautiful robe from Babylonia,^[a] two hundred shekels^[b] of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels,^[c] I coveted^(N) them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

²² So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. ²³ They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.

²⁴ Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons^(O) and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.^{(P) 25} Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble^(Q) on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”

Then all Israel stoned him,^(R) and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them.^{(S) 26} Over Achan they heaped^(T) up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.^(U) Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger.^(V) Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor^[d](W) ever since.

² “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs^(A) from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes.^(B) Write the name of each man on his staff.