⁴² “And the Lord said to me, ‘Tell them, ^(A)“Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.” ’

⁸ O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its ^[a]back before its enemies? ⁹ For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and ^(A)cut off our name from the earth. Then ^(B)what will You do for Your great name?”

The Sin of Achan

¹⁰ So the Lord said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. ^(C)For they have even taken some of the ^[b]accursed things, and have both stolen and ^(D)deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. ^12 (E)Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because ^(F)they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. ¹³ Get up, ^(G)sanctify^[c] the people, and say, ^(H)‘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.”

Separated from God

² Then the ^(A)Philistines put themselves in battle array against Israel. And when they joined battle, Israel was ^[a]defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men of the army in the field.

⁴¹ And Moses said, “Now why do you ^[a]transgress the command of the Lord? For this will not succeed. ^42 (A)Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. ⁴³ For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; ^(B)because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.”

¹⁰ So the Philistines fought, and ^(A)Israel was ^[a]defeated, and every man fled to his tent. There was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand foot soldiers.