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Joshua 7:16-9:2
New American Standard Bible

The Sin of Achan

16 So Joshua got up early in the morning and brought Israel forward by [a]tribes, and the tribe of Judah was selected. 17 So he brought the family of Judah forward, and he selected the family of the Zerahites; then he brought the family of the Zerahites forward man by man, and Zabdi was selected. 18 And he brought his household forward man by man; and (A)Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was selected. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, (B)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 [b]this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoils a beautiful robe from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I (C)wanted them and took them; and behold, 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 behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath it. 23 So they took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel; and they [c]laid them out before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his [d]oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to (D)the Valley of [e]Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why have you (E)brought disaster on us? The Lord will bring disaster on you this day.” And all Israel stoned [f]them with stones; and they burned them with fire [g]after they had stoned them with stones. 26 Then they erected over him a large 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 (F)the Valley of [h]Achor to this day.

The Conquest of Ai

8 Now the Lord said to Joshua, “(G)Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you. Arise, go up to Ai; see, (H)I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. 2 You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall (I)take only its spoils and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. [i]Set an ambush for the city behind it.”

3 So Joshua rose up with all the people of war to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand men, valiant warriors, and sent them out at night. 4 He commanded them, saying, “See, you are (J)going to ambush the city from behind [j]it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. 5 Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out to meet us as they did the first time, (K)we will flee before them. 6 They will come out after us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us just as they did the first time.’ So we will flee before them. 7 Then you shall rise from your ambush and take possession of the city, for the Lord your God will hand it over to you. 8 Then it will be when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it (L)in accordance with the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.” 9 So Joshua sent them away, and they went to the place of ambush and remained between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.

10 Now Joshua (M)got up early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai. 11 Then all the people of war who were with him went up and approached, and arrived in front of the city; and they camped on the north side of Ai. And there was a valley between him and Ai. 12 Then he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between (N)Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the [k]city. 13 So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley. 14 And it came about, when the king of Ai saw them, that the men of the city hurried and got up early, and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15 Then Joshua and all Israel [l]pretended to be defeated before them, and fled (O)by the way of the wilderness. 16 And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and (P)were lured away from the city. 17 So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel, [m]but they had all gone out after Israel, and they left the city [n]unguarded and pursued Israel.

18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “(Q)Reach out with the sword that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand it over to you.” So Joshua reached out with the sword that was in his hand toward the city. 19 Then the men in ambush rose quickly from their place, and when he had reached out with his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it, and they quickly set the city on fire. 20 When the men of Ai turned [o]back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers. 21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and [p]killed the men of Ai. 22 [q]The others came out from the city to confront them, so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, [r]some on this side and some on that side; and they [s]killed them until there was not (R)one [t]left who escaped or survived. 23 But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

24 Now when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field in the wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were destroyed, then all Israel returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. 25 So (S)all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the [u]people of Ai. 26 For Joshua (T)did not withdraw his hand with which he reached out with the sword until he had [v]utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 (U)Israel took only the cattle and the spoils of that city as plunder for themselves, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had commanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it (V)a refuse heap forever, a desolation until this day. 29 And (W)he hanged the king of Ai on [w]a tree until evening; but at sunset Joshua gave the command and they took his body down from [x]the tree and threw it at the entrance of the city gate, and erected over it a large heap of stones that stands to this day.

30 Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on (X)Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, (Y)an altar of uncut stones on which no one had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 And he (Z)wrote there on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which [y]he had written, in the presence of the sons of Israel. 33 (AA)And all Israel with their elders, officers, and their judges were standing on both sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as the native. Half of them stood in front of (AB)Mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at first to bless the people of Israel. 34 Then afterward he read all the words of the Law, the blessing and the curse, according to everything that is written in (AC)the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel (AD)with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were [z]living among them.

Deception by the Gibeonites

9 Now it came about when (AE)all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, the lowland, and on all the (AF)coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, (AG)the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard about it, 2 that they met together with (AH)one [aa]purpose, to fight with Joshua and with Israel.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 7:16 Lit its tribes
  2. Joshua 7:20 Lit thus and thus I did
  3. Joshua 7:23 Lit emptied
  4. Joshua 7:24 Or cattle
  5. Joshua 7:24 I.e., disaster
  6. Joshua 7:25 Lit him
  7. Joshua 7:25 Lit and they stoned
  8. Joshua 7:26 I.e., disaster
  9. Joshua 8:2 Lit Set for yourself
  10. Joshua 8:4 Lit the city
  11. Joshua 8:12 I.e., Ai
  12. Joshua 8:15 Lit reversed before
  13. Joshua 8:17 Lit who had not gone
  14. Joshua 8:17 Lit open
  15. Joshua 8:20 Lit behind them
  16. Joshua 8:21 Lit struck
  17. Joshua 8:22 Lit These came
  18. Joshua 8:22 Lit these...these
  19. Joshua 8:22 Lit struck
  20. Joshua 8:22 Lit left to it one
  21. Joshua 8:25 Lit men
  22. Joshua 8:26 Lit put under the ban
  23. Joshua 8:29 Lit the wood
  24. Joshua 8:29 Lit the wood
  25. Joshua 8:32 I.e., Moses
  26. Joshua 8:35 Lit walking
  27. Joshua 9:2 Lit mouth
Close NLT

Joshua 7:16-9:2
New Living Translation

Achan’s Sin

16 Early the next morning Joshua brought the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Judah was singled out. 17 Then the clans of Judah came forward, and the clan of Zerah was singled out. Then the families of Zerah came forward, and the family of Zimri was singled out. 18 Every member of Zimri’s family was brought forward person by person, and Achan was singled out.

19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don’t hide it from me.”

20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 Among the plunder I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon,[a] 200 silver coins,[b] and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound.[c] I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest.”

22 So Joshua sent some men to make a search. They ran to the tent and found the stolen goods hidden there, just as Achan had said, with the silver buried beneath the rest. 23 They took the things from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites. Then they laid them on the ground in the presence of the Lord.

24 Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, tent, and everything he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor. 25 Then Joshua said to Achan, “Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you.” And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies. 26 They piled a great heap of stones over Achan, which remains to this day. That is why the place has been called the Valley of Trouble[d] ever since. So the Lord was no longer angry.

The Israelites Defeat Ai

8 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all your fighting men and attack Ai, for I have given you the king of Ai, his people, his town, and his land. 2 You will destroy them as you destroyed Jericho and its king. But this time you may keep the plunder and the livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the town.”

3 So Joshua and all the fighting men set out to attack Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 of his best warriors and sent them out at night 4 with these orders: “Hide in ambush close behind the town and be ready for action. 5 When our main army attacks, the men of Ai will come out to fight as they did before, and we will run away from them. 6 We will let them chase us until we have drawn them away from the town. For they will say, ‘The Israelites are running away from us as they did before.’ Then, while we are running from them, 7 you will jump up from your ambush and take possession of the town, for the Lord your God will give it to you. 8 Set the town on fire, as the Lord has commanded. You have your orders.”

9 So they left and went to the place of ambush between Bethel and the west side of Ai. But Joshua remained among the people in the camp that night. 10 Early the next morning Joshua roused his men and started toward Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel. 11 All the fighting men who were with Joshua marched in front of the town and camped on the north side of Ai, with a valley between them and the town. 12 That night Joshua sent about 5,000 men to lie in ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the town. 13 So they stationed the main army north of the town and the ambush west of the town. Joshua himself spent that night in the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites across the valley, he and all his army hurried out early in the morning and attacked the Israelites at a place overlooking the Jordan Valley.[e] But he didn’t realize there was an ambush behind the town. 15 Joshua and the Israelite army fled toward the wilderness as though they were badly beaten. 16 Then all the men in the town were called out to chase after them. In this way, they were lured away from the town. 17 There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel[f] who did not chase after the Israelites, and the town was left wide open.

18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Point the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the town over to you.” Joshua did as he was commanded. 19 As soon as Joshua gave this signal, all the men in ambush jumped up from their position and poured into the town. They quickly captured it and set it on fire.

20 When the men of Ai looked behind them, smoke from the town was filling the sky, and they had nowhere to go. For the Israelites who had fled in the direction of the wilderness now turned on their pursuers. 21 When Joshua and all the other Israelites saw that the ambush had succeeded and that smoke was rising from the town, they turned and attacked the men of Ai. 22 Meanwhile, the Israelites who were inside the town came out and attacked the enemy from the rear. So the men of Ai were caught in the middle, with Israelite fighters on both sides. Israel attacked them, and not a single person survived or escaped. 23 Only the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua.

24 When the Israelite army finished chasing and killing all the men of Ai in the open fields, they went back and finished off everyone inside. 25 So the entire population of Ai, including men and women, was wiped out that day—12,000 in all. 26 For Joshua kept holding out his spear until everyone who had lived in Ai was completely destroyed.[g] 27 Only the livestock and the treasures of the town were not destroyed, for the Israelites kept these as plunder for themselves, as the Lord had commanded Joshua. 28 So Joshua burned the town of Ai,[h] and it became a permanent mound of ruins, desolate to this very day.

29 Joshua impaled the king of Ai on a sharpened pole and left him there until evening. At sunset the Israelites took down the body, as Joshua commanded, and threw it in front of the town gate. They piled a great heap of stones over him that can still be seen today.

The Lord’s Covenant Renewed

30 Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal. 31 He followed the commands that Moses the Lord’s servant had written in the Book of Instruction: “Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been shaped with iron tools.”[i] Then on the altar they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. 32 And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied onto the stones of the altar[j] the instructions Moses had given them.

33 Then all the Israelites—foreigners and native-born alike—along with the elders, officers, and judges, were divided into two groups. One group stood in front of Mount Gerizim, the other in front of Mount Ebal. Each group faced the other, and between them stood the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant. This was all done according to the commands that Moses, the servant of the Lord, had previously given for blessing the people of Israel.

34 Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of Instruction. 35 Every word of every command that Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among them.

The Gibeonites Deceive Israel

9 Now all the kings west of the Jordan River heard about what had happened. These were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who lived in the hill country, in the western foothills,[k] and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea[l] as far north as the Lebanon mountains. 2 These kings combined their armies to fight as one against Joshua and the Israelites.

Footnotes

  1. 7:21a Hebrew Shinar.
  2. 7:21b Hebrew 200 shekels of silver, about 5 pounds or 2.3 kilograms in weight.
  3. 7:21c Hebrew 50 shekels, about 20 ounces or 570 grams in weight.
  4. 7:26 Hebrew valley of Achor.
  5. 8:14 Hebrew the Arabah.
  6. 8:17 Some manuscripts lack or Bethel.
  7. 8:26 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
  8. 8:28 Ai means “ruin.”
  9. 8:31 Exod 20:25; Deut 27:5-6.
  10. 8:32 Hebrew onto the stones.
  11. 9:1a Hebrew the Shephelah.
  12. 9:1b Hebrew the Great Sea.
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