Old/New Testament
7 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the accursed thing. Therefore, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.
2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai (which is beside Beth Aven), on the East side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and view the country.” And the men went up and viewed Ai,
3 and returned to Joshua, and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up. Let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai; and do not make all the people labor there, for they are few.”
4 So, about three thousand men of the people went up there. And they fled before the men of Ai.
5 And the men of Ai struck thirty six of their men; for they chased them from before the gate to Shebarim and struck them as they went down. Therefore the hearts of the people melted away like water.
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the Ark of the LORD until sunset—he and the elders of Israel—and put dust upon their heads.
7 And Joshua said, “Alas, O LORD God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan? To deliver us into the hand of the Amorites and to destroy us? If only we had been content to dwell on the other side of the Jordan!
8 “Oh LORD, what shall I say when Israel turns their backs before their enemies?
9 “For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it and shall surround us and destroy our name out of the Earth. And what will You do for Your mighty Name?”
10 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Get up. Why do you lie upon your face like that?”
11 “Israel has sinned. For they have transgressed My Covenant which I Commanded them. And they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen and deceived and have even put it with their own stuff.
12 “Therefore, the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies—have turned their backs before their enemies—because they are doomed. Nor will I be with you anymore unless you destroy the accursed from among you.
13 “Up! Sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you have destroyed the accursed thing from among you.
14 “In the morning, therefore, you shall come, according to your tribes. And the tribe which the LORD takes shall come, according to the families. And the family which the LORD shall take, shall come by the households. And the household which the LORD shall take, shall come man by man.
15 “And he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the Covenant of the LORD; and because he has wrought folly in Israel.”’”
16 So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes. And the tribe of Judah was taken.
17 And he brought the families of Judah, and took the family of the Zarhites. And he brought the family of the Zarhites, man by man. And Zabdi was taken.
18 And he brought his household, man by man. And Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and show me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.”
20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel. And thus and so have I done.
21 “I saw, among the plunder, a beautiful Babylonian garment and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels in weight. And I covered them, and took them. And behold, they lie hidden in the earth, in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.”
22 Then Joshua sent messengers, who ran to the tent. And behold, it was hidden in his tent, and the silver under it.
23 Therefore, they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua, and to all the children of Israel, and laid them before the LORD.
24 Then Joshua took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his donkeys, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had. And he and all Israel with him brought them to the valley of Achor.
25 And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD shall trouble you this day.” And all Israel threw stones at him, and burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones.
26 And they erected a great heap of stones upon him, which stands to this day. And the LORD turned from His fierce wrath. Therefore, He called the name of that place, The Valley of Achor, which stands to this day.
8 After, the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the men of war with you and arise. Go up to Ai. Behold, I have given the king of Ai into your hand, and his people, and his city, and his land.
2 “And you shall do to Ai and to its king as you did to Jericho and to its king. Only, you shall take its spoils and its cattle to you as plunder. You shall lie in wait against the city, on its back side.”
3 Then Joshua and all the men of war arose to go up against Ai. And Joshua chose out thirty thousand strong and valiant men and sent them away by night.
4 And he commanded them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in wait against the city, on the back side of the city. Do not go very far from the city, but everyone be ready.
5 “And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they shall come out against us, as they did the first time, then will we flee before them.
6 “For they will come out after us, till we have brought them out of the city. For they will say, ‘They flee before us, as the first time.’ So we will flee before them.
7 “Then you shall rise up from lying in wait and destroy the city. For the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
8 “And when you have taken the city, you shall set it on fire. According to the Commandment of the LORD you shall do so. Behold, I have charged you.”
9 Joshua then sent them forth. And they went to lie in wait, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the West side of Ai. But Joshua lodged that night among the people.
10 And Joshua rose up early in the morning and numbered the people. And he and the elders of Israel went up before the people against Ai.
11 Also all the men of war who were with him went up and drew near and came against the city, and pitched on the North side of Ai. And there was a valley between them and Ai.
12 And he took about five thousand men and set them to lie in wait between Bethel and Ai, on the West side of the city.
13 And the people set all the army that was on the north side against the city, and those who lay in wait on the west, opposite the city. Joshua went the same night into the midst of the valley.
14 And when the king of Ai saw it, then the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, in front of the plain. For he did not know that anyone lay in wait against him on the back side of the city.
15 Then Joshua and all Israel, as if beaten before them, fled by the way of the wilderness.
16 And all the people of the city were called together to pursue after them. And they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away out of the city,
17 so that there was not a man left in Ai or in Bethel who did not go out after Israel. And they left the city open and pursued after Israel.
18 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai. For I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.
19 And those who lay in wait arose quickly out of their place and ran, as soon as he had stretched out his hand. And they entered into the city and took it and hurried and set the city on fire.
20 And the men of Ai looked behind them and saw it. For lo, the smoke of the city ascended up to Heaven. And they had no power to flee this way or that way. For the people who fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.
21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that those who lay in wait had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city mounted up, then they turned back and killed the men of Ai.
22 Also, the others came out of the city against them. So, they were in the midst of Israel, some on one side and the rest on the other side. And they killed them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.
23 And they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
24 And when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field (in the wilderness where they chased them), and when they had all fallen on the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.
25 And all who fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, including all the men of Ai.
26 For Joshua did not draw his hand which he had stretched out with the spear back again until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.
27 Only the cattle and the spoils of this city did Israel take as plunder for themselves, according to the Word of the LORD which He Commanded Joshua.
28 And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap forever, a wilderness to this day.
29 And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree, until the evening. And as soon as the Sun was down, Joshua commanded that they take his carcass down from the tree and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and lay a great heap of stones upon it, which remains to this day.
30 Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel on Mount Ebal—
31 as Moses, the servant of the LORD had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an Altar of whole stone, over which no man had lifted an iron. And they offered Burnt Offerings unto the LORD on it and sacrificed Peace Offerings.
32 Also, he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
33 And all Israel (and their elders and officers and their judges) stood on this side of the Ark and on that side, before the Priests of the Levites (who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD), the stranger as well as he who is born in the country, half of them opposite Mount Gerizim and half of them opposite Mount Ebal, as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded before, so that they should bless the children of Israel.
34 Then, afterward, he read all the Words of the Law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in 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 Congregation of Israel, the women as well as the children, and the stranger who was conversant among them.
9 And when all the kings who were beyond Jordan, in the mountains and in the valleys, and by all the borders of the Great Sea, opposite Lebanon (the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites) heard of it,
2 they gathered themselves together to fight against Joshua and against Israel, with one accord.
3 But the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai.
4 And therefore they worked craftily. They went, and pretended to be ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their donkeys, and old bottles for wine, both torn and mended,
5 and old spotted shoes upon their feet. Also the clothing upon them was old, and all their provision of bread was dried and molded.
6 So they came to Joshua, into the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country. Now, therefore, make an alliance with us.”
7 Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “It may be that you dwell among us; how, then, can I make an alliance with you?”
8 And they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” Then Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And from where have you come?”
9 And they answered him, “Your servants have come from a very far country for the Name of the LORD your God. For we have heard His fame and all that He has done in Egypt,
10 “and all that He has done to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond Jordan—to Sihon, king of Heshbon and to Og, king of Bashan— who were at Ashtaroth.
11 “Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants. Now, therefore, make an alliance with us.”’
12 “This, our bread, we took hot with us out of our houses for provisions the day we departed to come to you. But now, behold, it is dried and it is molded.
13 “Also, these bottles of wine which we filled were new. And lo, they are torn. And these our garments and our shoes are old by reason of the exceedingly great journey.”
14 And the men accepted their tale concerning their provisions and did not counsel with the mouth of the LORD.
15 So Joshua made peace with them, and made an alliance with them, and allowed them to live. Also, the princes of the Congregation swore to them.
16 But at the end of three days, after they had made an alliance with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they dwelt among them.
17 And the children of Israel took their journey, and came to their cities on the third day. And their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth and Kirjath Jearim.
18 And the children of Israel did not kill them, because the princes of the Congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. Therefore, all the Congregation murmured against the princes.
19 Then, all the princes said to all the Congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. Now, therefore, we may not touch them.
20 “This we will do to them, and let them live, lest the Wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.”
21 And the princes said to them again, “Let them live. But they shall cut wood and draw water for all the Congregation, as the princes appoint them.”
22 Joshua then called them, and talked with them, and said, “Why have you tricked us, saying, ‘We are very far from you’, when you dwell among us?
23 “Now, therefore, you are accursed. And there shall be none of you freed from being bondmen, and woodcutters, and drawers of water for the House of my God.”
24 And they answered Joshua, and said, “Because it was told to your servants that the LORD your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land not within your sight, therefore we were exceedingly very afraid for our lives at the presence of you, and have done this thing.
25 “And behold now, we are in your hand. Do as seems good and right in your eyes to do to us.”
26 And so he did to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they did not kill them.
27 And Joshua appointed them on that same day to be woodcutters and drawers of water for the Congregation and for the Altar of the LORD, until this day, in the place which he would choose.
21 Now the people waited for Zacharias. And they marveled that he remained so long in the Temple.
22 And when he came out, he could not speak to them. Then, they perceived that he had seen a vision in the Temple. For he made signs to them and remained silent.
23 And it happened that when the days of his office were fulfilled, he departed to his own house.
24 And after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and hid herself for five months, saying,
25 “Thus has the Lord dealt with me, in the days on when he looked on me, to take from me my rebuke among man.”
26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the House of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And the angel went in to her, and said, “Hail, you who are freely beloved. The Lord is with you. You are blessed among women.”
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and thought what kind of greeting that should be.
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not fear, Mary. For you have found favor with God.
31 “For lo, you shall conceive in your womb, and bear a Son, and shall call His Name, Jesus.
32 “He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give to Him the throne of his father David.
33 “And He shall reign over the House of Jacob forever. And of His Kingdom shall be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How shall this be, seeing I do not know man?”
35 And the angel answered, and said to her, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. Therefore, also, that Holy Thing which shall be born by you, shall be called the Son of God.
36 “And behold, your cousin, Elizabeth. She has also conceived a son in her old age. And this is her sixth month, who was called barren.
37 “For with God shall nothing be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the servant of the Lord. May it be to me according to your word.” So, the angel departed from her.
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