Beginning

5 All the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings by the sea heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed. And their hearts became weak. There was no spirit in them any more because of the people of Israel.

² Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Make knives for yourselves out of hard stone. And cut the piece of skin from the sex part of the sons of Israel as before.” ³ So Joshua made knives of hard stone. Then he had the sons of Israel go through this religious act at Gibeath-haaraloth. ⁴ This is the reason why Joshua had them go through this religious act. All the males who had come out of Egypt, all the soldiers, had died in the desert on the way from Egypt. ⁵ All the people who came out went through this religious act. But all the people who were born in the desert on the way from Egypt had not gone through this religious act. ⁶ For the people of Israel walked forty years in the desert, until all the men of war who came out of Egypt died, because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord. The Lord had promised them that He would not let them see the land He had promised to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ So Joshua went through the religious act on their children, whom the Lord raised up in their place. For they had not gone through this religious act along the way. ⁸ When the whole nation had gone through this religious act, they stayed in their places among the tents until they were healed. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the shame of Egypt.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. ¹⁰ The people of Israel stayed at Gilgal. They kept the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. ¹¹ On the very next day after the Passover, they ate some of the food of the land. They ate bread without yeast, and dry grain. ¹² The bread from heaven stopped on the day after they had eaten some of the food of the land. So the people of Israel no longer had bread from heaven. But they ate food of the land of Canaan during that year.

¹³ When Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing near him with his sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said, “Are you for us or for those who hate us?” ¹⁴ “No,” He said, “I have now come as Captain of the army of the Lord.” Joshua fell on his face to the ground and worshiped, and said to Him, “What has my Lord to say to His servant?” ¹⁵ The Captain of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take your shoes off your feet. For the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

6 Now the gates of Jericho were all shut because of the people of Israel. No one went out and no one came in. ² The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and soldiers. ³ Walk around the city. Have all the men of war go around the city once. Do this for six days. ⁴ Seven religious leaders will carry seven rams’ horns. They will walk in front of the special box of the agreement. Then on the seventh day you will walk around the city seven times. And the religious leaders will blow horns. ⁵ When you hear the long sound of the ram’s horn, all the people should call out with a loud noise. The wall of the city will fall to the ground. And then all the people will all go in the city.”

⁶ So Joshua the son of Nun called the religious leaders and said to them, “Take up the special box of the agreement. And let seven religious leaders carry seven rams’ horns in front of the special box of the agreement.” ⁷ Then he said to the people, “Go and walk around the city. Let the men ready for battle go in front of the special box of the agreement.” ⁸ When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven religious leaders carrying the seven rams’ horns before the Lord walked on and blew the horns. And the special box of the agreement of the Lord followed them. ⁹ The men ready for battle went in front of the religious leaders who blew the horns. The other soldiers came behind the special box of the agreement while the horns sounded without stopping. ¹⁰ But Joshua told the people, “Do not call out or let your voice be heard. Not a word should come from your mouth until the day I tell you to call out. Then you must call out.” ¹¹ So he had the special box of the agreement taken around the city once. Then they returned to the tents and stayed there through the night.

¹² Joshua got up early in the morning. And the religious leaders took up the special box of the agreement. ¹³ The seven religious leaders carrying the seven rams’ horns in front of the special box of the agreement began walking and blew the horns without stopping. The men ready for battle went in front of them. The other soldiers came behind the special box of the agreement. And the horns sounded without stopping. ¹⁴ The second day they walked around the city once. Then they returned to the tents. They did this for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they got up early at the rising of the sun. They walked around the city in the same way, but on that day they walked around the city seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time, when the religious leaders blew their horns, Joshua said to the people, “Call out! For the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷ The city and all that is in it must be destroyed because everything in it belongs to the Lord. Only Rahab, the woman who sells the use of her body, and all who are with her in the house will live, because she hid the men we sent. ¹⁸ But keep yourselves from the things that are to be destroyed. Or while you give them up to be destroyed, you might desire them. Then you would make the camp of Israel sinful also, and bring trouble on it. ¹⁹ But all the silver and gold and objects of brass and iron are holy to the Lord. They will go into the store-house of the Lord.” ²⁰ So the people called out and the religious leaders blew the horns. When the people heard the sound of the horns, they called out even louder. And the wall fell to the ground. All the people went straight in and took the city. ²¹ They destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkey, with the sword.

²² Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the house of the woman who sells the use of her body. Bring out the woman and all who are with her, as you promised her.” ²³ So the young men who had spied out the land went in, and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all she had. They brought out all of her family and took them outside the tents of Israel. ²⁴ Then they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold and objects of brass and iron they put into the store-house of the holy tent of the Lord. ²⁵ Joshua saved the life of Rahab, the woman who sold the use of her body, and those of her father’s house and all she had. She has lived among Israel to this day, because she hid the men Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶ Then Joshua made them promise at that time, saying, “May the Lord destroy the man who gets up and builds this city of Jericho. With the loss of his first-born he will begin to build it. With the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.” ²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua. He was well known and respected in all the land.

7 But the people of Israel sinned with the things that were to be destroyed. Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the family of Judah, took some of the things that were to be destroyed. So the Lord was very angry with the people of Israel.

² Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel. He said to them, “Go and spy out the land in secret.” So the men went and spied out Ai. ³ When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Do not have all the people go there. Only about 2,000 or 3,000 men need to go to Ai. Do not make the whole army fight, for the people of Ai are few.” ⁴ So about 3,000 men of Israel went, but they ran away from the men of Ai. ⁵ The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and ran after them from the gate as far as Shebarim. And they killed more on the way down. So the hearts of the people became weak. They became like water.

⁶ Then Joshua and the leaders of Israel tore their clothes. They fell with their faces on the ground in front of the special box of the agreement until evening. And they put dust on their heads. ⁷ Joshua said, “O Lord God, why did You ever bring this nation over the Jordan, only to give us into the hand of the Amorites to be destroyed? If only we had been willing to live on the other side of the Jordan! ⁸ O Lord, what can I say? Israel has turned their backs in front of those who fight against them. ⁹ The Canaanites and all the people living in the land will hear of it. They will gather around us and destroy our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”

¹⁰ The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned. They have gone against My agreement which I told them to keep. They have even taken some of the things that were to be destroyed. They have stolen and lied. And they have put them among their own things. ¹² That is why the people of Israel cannot stand in front of those who fight against them. They turn their backs in front of those who hate them because they are being punished. I will not be with you any more unless you destroy the things among you that should be destroyed. ¹³ Get up! Set apart the people and say, ‘Make yourselves holy for tomorrow. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has said, “There are things among you which should be destroyed, O Israel. You cannot stand in front of those who fight against you until you take away the things among you which should be destroyed.” ¹⁴ In the morning you must come near by your family groups. Then the family group which the Lord takes must come near by families. The family which the Lord takes must come near by tents. And the tent which the Lord takes must come near man by man. ¹⁵ Then the one who is taken with the things which should have been destroyed must be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him because he has sinned against the agreement of the Lord. He has done an act of shame in Israel.’”

¹⁶ So Joshua got up early in the morning and brought Israel near by family groups. The family group of Judah was taken. ¹⁷ He brought the family group of Judah near. And he took the family of the Zerahites. He brought the family of the Zerahites near man by man. Zabdi was taken. ¹⁸ Then he brought those of Zabdi’s tent near man by man. And Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the family of Judah, was taken. ¹⁹ Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give honor and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel. Tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.” ²⁰ Achan answered Joshua, saying, “It is true. I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I did. ²¹ I saw among what was left of the city a beautiful coat from Shinar. I saw 200 pieces of silver, and a large piece of gold as heavy as fifty pieces of silver. I had a desire for them and took them. See, they are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver under it.”

²² So Joshua sent men to the tent. There they found it, with the silver under it. ²³ They took these things from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. ²⁴ Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the coat, the large piece of gold, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys, sheep, tent and all that belonged to him. They brought them to the valley of Achor. ²⁵ And Joshua said, “Why have you brought trouble upon us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” Then all Israel threw stones at them. After that they burned them with fire. ²⁶ They put many stones over him that stand to this day. Then the Lord was no longer angry. The name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor to this day.

8 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid. Take all the men of war with you and go up to Ai. See, I have given the king of Ai into your hand, his people, his city, and his land. ² Do the same to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Take only its riches and its cattle for yourselves. Hide men behind the city to fight against it.”

³ So Joshua and all the men of war got ready to go up to Ai. Joshua chose 30,000 strong soldiers, and sent them out during the night. ⁴ He told them, “See, you are going to fight the city from behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. ⁵ I and all the people will come near the city. When they come out to meet us as they did before, we will run from them. ⁶ They will come out after us until we have taken them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are running from us as they did before.’ So we will run from them. ⁷ Then you will come out of your hiding place and take the city. The Lord will give it to you. ⁸ When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the Lord says. See, I have told you.” ⁹ When Joshua sent them away, they went to the hiding place. They waited between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai. But Joshua stayed that night among the people.

¹⁰ Joshua got up early in the morning and gathered the people. Then he went up with the leaders of Israel in front of the people to Ai. ¹¹ All the men of war who were with him went up and came to the front of the city. They stayed on the north side of Ai. There was a valley between him and Ai. ¹² Then he took about 5,000 men and hid them between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the city. ¹³ So they put the men in their places. There was the army on the north side of the city, and the secret army on the west side of the city. But Joshua stayed that night in the center of the valley. ¹⁴ The king of Ai saw this. So the men of the city were quick to get up early and go out to meet Israel in battle at the chosen place near the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an army hiding behind the city. ¹⁵ Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten in front of them. And they ran away into the desert. ¹⁶ All the people in the city were called together to go after them. They went after Joshua, and were taken away from the city. ¹⁷ So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who had not gone out after Israel. They left the city open and ran after Israel.

¹⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai. For I will give the city to you.” So Joshua held out the spear that was in his hand toward the city. ¹⁹ The men who were hiding got up in a hurry from their place and ran when he held out his hand. They went into the city and took it, and were quick to set it on fire. ²⁰ When the men of Ai looked back, they saw the smoke of the city going up to the sky. They had no place to run. Then the people of Israel who had been running away in the desert turned against those who went after them. ²¹ Joshua and all Israel saw that the men who had been hiding had taken the city. They saw the smoke from the city, so they turned around and killed the men of Ai. ²² The others came out from the city to meet them. The men of Ai were caught in the center of Israel. There were some on one side and some on the other side. They killed until no one was left alive. No one got away. ²³ But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴ Israel killed all the men of Ai in the field and in the desert where they had run after them. All of them were killed with the sword until they were destroyed. Then all Israel returned to Ai and destroyed it with the sword. ²⁵ All the men and women of Ai died that day, 12,000 in all. ²⁶ Joshua did not put down his hand he used to hold out the spear until he had destroyed all the people of Ai. ²⁷ Israel took only the cattle and the riches of that city for themselves, as the Lord had told Joshua. ²⁸ So Joshua burned Ai and destroyed it forever, as it is to this day. ²⁹ He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. When the sun went down, Joshua had them take his body down from the tree and throw it down at the gate of the city. They put many stones over it, and they are there to this day.

³⁰ Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Mount Ebal. ³¹ It was built just as the Lord’s servant Moses had told the people of Israel, as it is written in the book of the Law of Moses. It was an altar made of stones which had not been cut. No one had used an iron object on them. On the altar they gave burnt gifts in worship to the Lord. And there they gave peace gifts in worship. ³² There Joshua wrote on the stones the Law of Moses in front of the people of Israel. ³³ All Israel stood on both sides of the special box, in front of the Levite religious leaders who carried the special box of the agreement of the Lord. Strangers stood there as well as those born among the people, with their leaders and heads and men who judge between what is right or wrong. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim. The other half stood in front of Mount Ebal. They did just as the Lord’s servant Moses had told them before. They prayed for good to come to the people of Israel. ³⁴ After this Joshua read all the words of the Law, the good and the bad that will happen. He read all that is written in the book of the Law. ³⁵ There was not a word of all that Moses had said which Joshua did not read. He read it in front of all the people of Israel, with the women and children and strangers who were living among them.