Joshua 7
1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass on the devoted things; for 'Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerach, of the tribe of Judah, took of the devoted things: and the anger of the Lord 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 said unto them, thus, Go up and spy out the country. And the men went up and spied out '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: do not fatigue all the people [to go] 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; and they chased them from before the gate unto the stone-quarries, and smote them on the declivity [of the hill]; wherefore the heart 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 upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he with the elders of Israel, and they put dust upon their head.
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 Eternal, wherefore hast thou caused this people to pass over the Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Emorites, to destroy us? and oh! that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the 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 I pray thee, O Lord, what shall I say, since Israel have turned their back before their enemies!
Lord, we Israelis have been defeated by our enemies, so I do not know what to say now [RHQ].
9 And when the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, they will environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth; and what wilt thou do for 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 the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou 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 have commanded them; and they have also taken of the devoted things, and have also stolen, and have also dissembled, and they have also put it into their own vessels.
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 will the children of Israel not be able to stand up before their enemies; their back will they turn before their enemies, because they have become accursed: I will not be any more with you, 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 Rise up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow; for thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, An accursed thing is in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou shalt not be able to stand up before thy enemies, until ye have removed the accursed 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 And ye shall be brought near in the morning according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the Lord will seize shall come near according to its families; and the family which the Lord will seize shall come near by households; and the household which the Lord shall seize will come near by its men.
‘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 seized with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he, and all that he hath; because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he hath wrought wickedness 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 near by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was seized;
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 near the family of Judah, and he seized the family of the Zarchites; and he brought near the family of the Zarchites by its men, and Zabdi was seized;
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 near his household by its men, and 'Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerach, of the tribe of Judah, was seized.
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 the Lord, the God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me, I pray thee, what thou hast done: hide nothing 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, Truly! I have indeed sinned against the Lord the 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 I saw among the spoil a handsome Babylonish mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels in weight, and I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver beneath the same.
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 Joshua thereupon sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hidden in his tent, and the silver beneath 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 they laid them out before the Lord.
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 took 'Achan the son of Zerach, and the silver, and the mantle, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his ox, and his ass, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had, and all Israel were with him, and they brought them up 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, How hast thou troubled us! so shall the Lord trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burnt 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 [which is] unto this day; and the Lord 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].
