Israel Is Defeated at Ai

7 ^(A)But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel.

² Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near ^(B)Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “^[a]Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. ³ They returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up; only about two or three thousand men need go up ^[b]to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few.” ⁴ So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but ^(C)they fled ^[c]from the men of Ai. ⁵ The men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them ^[d]from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them down on the descent, so the ^(D)hearts of the people melted and became as water.

⁶ Then Joshua ^(E)tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and ^(F)they put dust on their heads. ⁷ Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord ^[e]God, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing ^[f]to dwell beyond the Jordan! ⁸ O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their ^[g]back before their enemies? ^9 (G)For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?”

¹⁰ So the Lord said to Joshua, “Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned, and ^(H)they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. ¹² Therefore the ^(I)sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their ^[h]backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst. ¹³ Rise up! ^(J)Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for thus the Lord, the God of Israel, has said, “^(K)There are things under the ban in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you have removed the things under the ban from your midst.” ¹⁴ In the morning then you shall come near by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which ^(L)the Lord takes by lot shall come near by families, and the family which the Lord takes shall come near by households, and the household which the Lord takes shall come near man by man. ^15 (M)It shall be that the one who is taken with the things under the ban shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he ^(N)has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”

The Sin of Achan

¹⁶ So Joshua arose early in the morning and brought Israel near by ^[i]tribes, and the tribe of Judah was taken. ¹⁷ He brought the family of Judah near, and he took the family of the Zerahites; and he brought the family of the Zerahites near man by man, and Zabdi was taken. ¹⁸ He brought his household near man by man; and ^(O)Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was taken. ¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, ^(P)give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.” ²⁰ So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and ^[j]this is what I did: ²¹ when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I ^(Q)coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it.”

²² So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was concealed in his tent with the silver underneath it. ²³ They took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and they poured them out before the Lord. ²⁴ Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his ^[k]oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to ^(R)the valley of ^[l]Achor. ²⁵ Joshua said, “Why have you ^(S)troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” And all Israel stoned ^[m]them with stones; and they burned them with fire ^[n]after they had stoned them with stones. ²⁶ They raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called ^(T)the valley of ^[o]Achor to this day.

Paul at Corinth

18 After these things he left ^(A)Athens and went to ^(B)Corinth. ² And he found a Jew named ^(C)Aquila, a native of ^(D)Pontus, having recently come from ^(E)Italy with his wife ^(F)Priscilla, because ^(G)Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, ³ and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and ^(H)they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. ⁴ And he was reasoning ^(I)in the synagogue every ^(J)Sabbath and trying to persuade ^(K)Jews and Greeks.

⁵ But when ^(L)Silas and Timothy ^(M)came down from ^(N)Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly ^(O)testifying to the Jews that ^(P)Jesus was the ^[a]Christ. ⁶ But when they resisted and blasphemed, he ^(Q)shook out his garments and said to them, “Your ^(R)blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go ^(S)to the Gentiles.” ⁷ Then he left there and went to the house of a man named ^[b]Titius Justus, ^(T)a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. ^8 (U)Crispus, ^(V)the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord ^(W)with all his household, and many of the ^(X)Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. ⁹ And the Lord said to Paul in the night by ^(Y)a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹² But while Gallio was ^(Z)proconsul of ^(AA)Achaia, ^(AB)the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before ^(AC)the judgment seat, ¹³ saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to ^(AD)the law.” ¹⁴ But when Paul was about to ^(AE)open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; ¹⁵ but if there are ^(AF)questions about words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.” ¹⁶ And he drove them away from ^(AG)the judgment seat. ¹⁷ And they all took hold of ^(AH)Sosthenes, ^(AI)the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of ^(AJ)the judgment seat. But Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

¹⁸ Paul, having remained many days longer, ^(AK)took leave of ^(AL)the brethren and put out to sea for ^(AM)Syria, and with him were ^(AN)Priscilla and ^(AO)Aquila. In ^(AP)Cenchrea ^[c]he ^(AQ)had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow.