Joshua 7
1 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 of the accursed thing: and the anger of Yhwh was kindled against the children of Israel.
Yahweh had commanded that all the things [that they had captured in Jericho] should be [destroyed to show that they belong] to him. But there was a man from the tribe of Judah named Achan. He was the son of Carmi and grandson of Zabdi and great-grandson of Zerah. He disobeyed [what] Yahweh [had commanded] and took for himself some of those things. So Yahweh was very angry with the Israelis.
2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth–aven, on the east side of Beth–el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
Joshua told some of his men to go from Jericho to Ai [town], which was east of Bethel [city] and near Beth-Aven [town]. He said to them, “Go to Ai and (spy out the area/see what the area is like).” So the men went.
3 And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.
When they returned to Joshua they said, “There are only a few people in Ai. So we do not need to send all of our soldiers to defeat them. Send 2.000 or 3,000 men to attack them. That will be enough.”
4 So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
So about 3,000 Israeli men went [to attack Ai]. But the men of Ai defeated them badly.
5 And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.
They killed about 36 Israelis and chased the rest of Israeli men from the city gate to the bottom of the hill. When the other Israelis saw that this had happened, they became very discouraged.
6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of Yhwh until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
Joshua and the other Israeli leaders tore their clothes [because they were very sad about being defeated]. They prostrated themselves on the ground in front of [the Sacred Tent in which was] the sacred chest. They stayed there until that evening. They also threw dirt on their heads [to show that they were very sad about what had happened].
7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord Yhwh, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!
Then Joshua prayed and said, “Lord God, you brought us Israelis [safely] across the Jordan River. So why are you now allowing the Amor people-group to defeat us [RHQ]? [This would not have happened] if we had stayed on the other side of the Jordan River!
8 O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!
Lord, we Israelis have been defeated by our enemies, so I do not know what to say now [RHQ].
9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?
The Canaan people-group and all the other people who are living in this land will hear about this. Then they will surround us and kill all of us! Then what will you do (to defend your reputation [MTY]/to show that you are a powerful God)?”
10 And Yhwh said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?
But Yahweh said to Joshua, “Stand up! Stop lying there with your face on the ground [RHQ]!
11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.
You Israelis have sinned! You have disobeyed the commands that I told you to obey. [One of] your men has taken some of the things that I told you to destroy. He has stolen them and taken them for himself and lied [about it].
12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
That is why you Israelis have been unable to be strong when you went to attack your enemies. That is why you have run away from them. And now you yourselves may be destroyed. If you do not do as I commanded you and destroy everything [that you captured in Jericho] I will not help you any more!”
13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith Yhwh God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
“Now go and tell this to the people: ‘Tomorrow you must [perform the rituals that will] cause yourselves to become acceptable to Yahweh again. Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], says that one of you has kept things that he told you to destroy. You will never defeat your enemies until you get rid of those things.
14 In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which Yhwh taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which Yhwh shall take shall come by households; and the household which Yhwh shall take shall come man by man.
‘Tomorrow morning you must present yourselves before Yahweh, tribe by tribe. Then Yahweh will indicate to which tribe [the man who took those things belongs]. Then Yahweh will indicate to which clan from that tribe [the guilty man belongs]. Then Yahweh will indicate to which family he belongs. And then he will indicate which person [in that family took those things].
15 And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of Yhwh, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.
Then the one who has taken some of the things that should have been destroyed will be destroyed in a fire. And everything he owns will be destroyed with him, because he has disobeyed the command that Yahweh gave us and has done something that is disgraceful to us Israeli people.’”
16 So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
Early the next morning, Joshua told all the Israeli people to stand before the Sacred Tent, tribe by tribe. [When they did that], Yahweh indicated that a man from the tribe of Judah [was the one who had taken the things].
17 And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:
Then the clans of Judah presented themselves, and Yahweh indicated that someone from the clan of Zerah was the guilty one. Then the families of Zerah’s clan presented themselves, and Yahweh indicated that someone from the family of Zabdi [was the guilty one].
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.
Then Joshua told the men from that family to present themselves. And Yahweh indicated that Achan was guilty.
19 And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to Yhwh God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
Then Joshua said to Achan, “Son, tell the truth [IDM]. Confess to Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship, what you have done]. And tell me what you did, and do not try to (conceal anything/prevent me from knowing what you did).”
20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against Yhwh God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
Achan replied, “It is true. I have sinned against Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship].
21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
Among the things [in Jericho] that I saw was a beautiful coat from Babylonia. I also saw 200 pieces of silver and some gold that weighed as much as 50 pieces of silver. I wanted those things very much for myself, so I took them. I buried them all in the ground under my tent. You will find them there. The silver is buried under the other things.”
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
So Joshua sent some men [to find those things]. They ran to Achan’s tent and found all the things hidden there.
23 And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before Yhwh.
The men brought them all out of the tent and took them to Joshua and the rest of the Israeli people. Then they spread/laid them out on the ground, where Yahweh could see them.
24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, 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 they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
Then Joshua and the rest of the people led Achan down to the valley. They also took down there the silver, the coat, the gold, Achan’s [wife and] sons and daughters, and his cattle and donkeys and sheep, and his tent, and everything else that he owned.
25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? Yhwh shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
Joshua said, “(I do not know why you caused so much trouble for us/You have caused a lot of trouble for us) [RHQ], but now Yahweh will cause trouble for you.” Then all the people threw stones at Achan and his family until they all died. Then the people burned their corpses.
26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So Yhwh turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
They piled rocks over [the ashes of] their [corpses], and those rocks are still there. That is why that valley is called Trouble Valley. After that, Yahweh was no longer angry [with the Israeli people].
