Old/New Testament
Achan Sins and is Punished
7 But the Israelites disobeyed the command about the city’s riches.[a] Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi,[b] son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the riches.[c] The Lord was furious with the Israelites.[d]
2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel) and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai. 3 They returned and reported to Joshua,[e] “Don’t send the whole army.[f] About two or three thousand men are adequate to defeat Ai.[g] Don’t tire out the whole army, for Ai is small.”[h]
4 So about 3,000 men went up, but they fled from the men of Ai. 5 The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures[i] and defeated them on the steep slope.[j] The people’s[k] courage melted away like water.[l]
6 Joshua tore his clothes;[m] he and the leaders[n] of Israel lay face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening[o] and threw dirt on their heads.[p] 7 Joshua prayed,[q] “O, Sovereign Lord! Why did you bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us? If only we had been satisfied to live on the other side of the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what can I say now that Israel has retreated[r] before its enemies? 9 When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will turn against us and destroy the very memory of us[s] from the earth. What will you do to protect your great reputation?”[t]
10 The Lord responded[u] to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying there face down?[v] 11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenantal commandment![w] They have taken some of the riches;[x] they have stolen them and deceitfully put them among their own possessions.[y] 12 The Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies; they retreat because they have become subject to annihilation.[z] I will no longer be with you,[aa] unless you destroy what has contaminated you.[ab] 13 Get up! Ritually consecrate the people and tell them this: ‘Ritually consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because this is what the Lord God of Israel has said, “You are contaminated,[ac] O Israel! You will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove what is contaminating you.”[ad] 14 In the morning you must approach in tribal order.[ae] The tribe the Lord selects[af] must approach by clans. The clan the Lord selects must approach by families.[ag] The family the Lord selects must approach man by man.[ah] 15 The one caught with the riches[ai] must be burned up[aj] along with all who belong to him, because he violated the Lord’s covenant and did such a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”
16 Bright and early the next morning Joshua made Israel approach in tribal order,[ak] and the tribe of Judah was selected. 17 He then made the clans of Judah approach, and the clan of the Zerahites was selected. He made the clan of the Zerahites approach, and Zabdi[al] was selected.[am] 18 He then made Zabdi’s[an] family approach man by man[ao] and Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was selected. 19 So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, honor[ap] the Lord God of Israel and give him praise! Tell me what you did; don’t hide anything from me.” 20 Achan told Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel in this way:[aq] 21 I saw among the goods we seized a nice robe from Babylon,[ar] 200 silver pieces,[as] and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels. I wanted them, so I took them. They are hidden in the ground right in the middle of my tent, with the silver underneath.”
22 Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent. The things were hidden right in his tent, with the silver underneath.[at] 23 They took it all from the middle of the tent, brought it to Joshua and all the Israelites, and placed[au] it before the Lord. 24 Then Joshua and all Israel took Achan, son of Zerah, along with the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, daughters, oxen, donkeys, sheep, tent, and all that belonged to him and brought them up to the Valley of Disaster.[av] 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought disaster on[aw] us? The Lord will bring disaster on you today!” All Israel stoned him to death. (They also stoned and burned the others.)[ax] 26 Then they erected over him a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day[ay]) and the Lord’s anger subsided. So that place is called the Valley of Disaster to this very day.
Israel Conquers Ai
8 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid and don’t panic![az] Take the whole army with you and march against Ai![ba] See, I am handing over to you[bb] the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land. 2 Do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king, except you may plunder its goods and cattle. Set an ambush behind the city.”
3 Joshua and the whole army marched against Ai.[bc] Joshua selected 30,000 brave warriors and sent them out at night. 4 He ordered them, “Look, set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from the city; all of you be ready! 5 I and all the troops[bd] who are with me will approach the city. When they come out to fight us like before, we will retreat from them. 6 They will attack[be] us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are retreating from us like before.’ We will retreat from them. 7 Then you rise up from your hiding place[bf] and seize[bg] the city. The Lord your God will hand it over to you. 8 When you capture the city, set it[bh] on fire in keeping with the Lord’s message. See, I have given you orders.”[bi] 9 Joshua sent them away and they went to their hiding place[bj] west of Ai, between Bethel and Ai.[bk] Joshua spent that night with the army.[bl]
10 Bright and early the next morning Joshua gathered[bm] the army,[bn] and he and the leaders[bo] of Israel marched[bp] at the head of it[bq] to Ai. 11 All the troops that were with him marched up and drew near the city.[br] They camped north of Ai on the other side of the valley.[bs] 12 He took 5,000 men and set an ambush west of the city between Bethel and Ai. 13 The army was in position—the main army north of the city and the rear guard west of the city. That night Joshua went into[bt] the middle of the valley.
14 When the king of Ai and all his people saw Israel, they rushed to get up early. Then the king and the men of the city went out to meet Israel in battle, at the meeting place near the rift valley.[bu] But he did not realize an ambush was waiting for him behind the city.[bv] 15 Joshua and all Israel pretended to be defeated by them, and they retreated along the way to the wilderness. 16 All the reinforcements[bw] in Ai[bx] were ordered[by] to chase them; they chased Joshua and were lured away from the city. 17 No men were left in Ai or Bethel;[bz] they all went out after Israel.[ca] They left the city wide open and chased Israel.
18 The Lord told Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the curved sword[cb] in your hand, for I am handing the city[cc] over to you.” So Joshua held out toward Ai the curved sword in his hand. 19 When he held out his hand, the men waiting in ambush rose up quickly from their place and attacked.[cd] They entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire. 20 When the men of Ai turned around, they saw[ce] the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction.[cf] In the meantime the men who were retreating to the wilderness turned against their pursuers. 21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the city was going up in smoke,[cg] they turned around and struck down the men of Ai. 22 At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle.[ch] The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees. 23 But they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 When Israel had finished killing all the men[ci] of Ai who had chased them toward the wilderness[cj] (they all fell by the sword),[ck] all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it. 25 So 12,000 men and women died[cl] that day, including all the men of Ai. 26 Joshua kept holding out his curved sword until Israel had annihilated all who lived in Ai.[cm] 27 But Israel did plunder the cattle and the goods of the city, in keeping with the Lord’s orders[cn] to Joshua. 28 Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanently uninhabited mound (it remains that way to this very day).[co] 29 He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening.[cp] At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree.[cq] They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and erected over it a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day).[cr]
Covenant Renewal
30 Then Joshua built an altar for the Lord God of Israel on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded the Israelites. As described in the law scroll of Moses, it was made with uncut stones untouched by an iron tool.[cs] On it they offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord and sacrificed tokens of peace.[ct] 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a duplicate of the law written by Moses.[cu] 33 All the people,[cv] rulers,[cw] leaders, and judges were standing on either side of the ark, in front of the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Both resident foreigners and native Israelites were there.[cx] Half the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and the other half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the Lord’s servant had previously instructed them to do for the formal blessing ceremony.[cy] 34 Then[cz] Joshua read aloud all the words of the law, including the blessings and the curses, just as they are written in the law scroll. 35 Joshua read aloud every commandment Moses had given[da] before the whole assembly of Israel, including the women, children, and resident foreigners who lived among them.[db]
The Gibeonites Deceive Israel
9 When the news reached all the kings on the west side of the Jordan[dc]—in the hill country, the foothills,[dd] and all along the Mediterranean coast[de] as far as[df] Lebanon (including the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites)— 2 they formed an alliance to fight against Joshua and Israel.[dg]
3 When the residents of Gibeon heard what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai, 4 they did something clever. They collected some provisions[dh] and put worn-out sacks on their donkeys, along with worn-out wineskins that were ripped and patched. 5 They had worn-out, patched sandals on their feet and dressed in worn-out clothes. All their bread[di] was dry and hard.[dj] 6 They came to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Make a treaty with us.” 7 The men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live near us.[dk] So how can we make a treaty with you?” 8 But they said to Joshua, “We are willing to be your subjects.”[dl] So Joshua said to them, “Who are you and where do you come from?” 9 They told him, “Your subjects[dm] have come from a very distant land because of the reputation[dn] of the Lord your God, for we have heard the news about all he did in Egypt[do] 10 and all he did to the two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan—King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan in Ashtaroth. 11 Our leaders and all who live in our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey and go meet them. Tell them, “We are willing to be your subjects.[dp] Make a treaty with us.”’ 12 This bread of ours was warm when we packed it in our homes the day we started out to meet you,[dq] but now it is dry and hard.[dr] 13 These wineskins we filled were brand new, but look how they have ripped. Our clothes and sandals have worn out because it has been a very long journey.” 14 The men examined[ds] some of their provisions, but they failed to ask the Lord’s advice.[dt] 15 Joshua made a peace treaty with them and agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community[du] sealed it with an oath.[dv]
16 Three days after they made the treaty with them, the Israelites found out they were from the local area and lived nearby.[dw] 17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities—Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. 18 The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel.[dx] The whole community criticized[dy] the leaders, 19 but all the leaders told the whole community, “We swore an oath to them in the name of[dz] the Lord God of Israel! So now we can’t hurt[ea] them. 20 We must let them live so we can escape the curse attached to the oath we swore to them.”[eb] 21 The leaders then added,[ec] “Let them live.” So they became[ed] woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had decided.[ee]
22 [ef] Joshua summoned the Gibeonites[eg] and said to them, “Why did you trick[eh] us by saying, ‘We live far away from you,’ when you really live nearby?[ei] 23 Now you are condemned to perpetual servitude as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”[ej] 24 They said to Joshua, “It was carefully reported to your subjects[ek] how the Lord your God commanded Moses his servant to assign you the whole land and to destroy all who live in the land from before you. Because of you we were terrified[el] we would lose our lives, so we did this thing. 25 So now we are in your power.[em] Do to us what you think is good and appropriate.”[en] 26 Joshua did as they said; he kept the Israelites from killing them[eo] 27 and that day made them woodcutters and water carriers for the community and for the altar of the Lord at the divinely chosen site. (They continue in that capacity to this very day.)[ep]
21 Now[a] the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they began to wonder[b] why he was delayed in the Holy Place.[c] 22 When[d] he came out, he was not able to speak to them. They[e] realized that he had seen a vision[f] in the Holy Place,[g] because[h] he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak.[i] 23 When his time of service was over,[j] he went to his home.
24 After some time[k] his wife Elizabeth became pregnant,[l] and for five months she kept herself in seclusion.[m] She said,[n] 25 “This is what[o] the Lord has done for me at the time[p] when he has been gracious to me,[q] to take away my disgrace[r] among people.”[s]
Birth Announcement of Jesus the Messiah
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy,[t] the angel Gabriel[u] was sent by[v] God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,[w] 27 to a virgin engaged[x] to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David,[y] and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The[z] angel[aa] came[ab] to her and said, “Greetings, favored one,[ac] the Lord is with you!”[ad] 29 But[ae] she was greatly troubled[af] by his words and began to wonder about the meaning of this greeting.[ag] 30 So[ah] the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,[ai] Mary, for you have found favor[aj] with God! 31 Listen:[ak] You will become pregnant[al] and give birth to[am] a son, and you will name him[an] Jesus.[ao] 32 He[ap] will be great,[aq] and will be called the Son of the Most High,[ar] and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father[as] David. 33 He[at] will reign over the house of Jacob[au] forever, and his kingdom will never end.” 34 Mary[av] said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not been intimate with[aw] a man?” 35 The angel replied,[ax] “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow[ay] you. Therefore the child[az] to be born[ba] will be holy;[bb] he will be called the Son of God.
36 “And look,[bc] your relative[bd] Elizabeth has also become pregnant with[be] a son in her old age—although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month![bf] 37 For nothing[bg] will be impossible with God.” 38 So[bh] Mary said, “Yes,[bi] I am a servant[bj] of the Lord; let this happen to me[bk] according to your word.”[bl] Then[bm] the angel departed from her.
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