Joshua 7:1-15

New American Standard Bible

Israel Is Defeated at Ai

7 ^(A)But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully regarding the things designated for destruction, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the designated things; 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 Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up; have only about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not trouble all the people there, for they are few.” ⁴ So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but ^(C)they fled ^[b]from the men of Ai. ⁵ And the men of Ai struck and killed about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them ^[c]from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them on the mountainside; and the ^(D)hearts of the people melted and became like water.

⁶ Then Joshua ^(E)tore his clothes and fell to the ground 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 And Joshua said, “Oh, Lord ^[d]God! Why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan, only to hand us over to the Amorites, to eliminate us? If only we had been willing ^[e]to live beyond the Jordan! ⁸ O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their ^[f]back before their enemies? ^9 (G)For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear about it, and they will surround us and eliminate our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?”

¹⁰ So the Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned, and ^(H)they have also violated My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things designated for destruction, and have both stolen and kept it a secret. Furthermore, they have also put them among their own things. ¹² Therefore the ^(I)sons of Israel cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their ^[g]backs before their enemies, because they have become designated for destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you eliminate from your midst the things designated for destruction. ¹³ Stand up! ^(J)Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has said this: “^(K)There are things designated for destruction in your midst, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you have removed the designated things from your midst.” ¹⁴ So in the morning you shall come forward by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which ^(L)the Lord selects by lot shall come forward by families, and the family which the Lord selects shall come forward by households, and the household which the Lord selects shall come forward man by man. ¹⁵ And ^(M)it shall be that the one who is selected with the things designated for destruction shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has violated the covenant of the Lord, and because he ^(N)has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”