Joshua 6:1-7:26

The Conquest of Jericho

6 Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. ² But the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, with its king and the valiant warriors. ³ And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. ⁴ Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵ It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down ^[a]flat, and the people shall go up, everyone ^[b]straight ahead.”

⁶ So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.” ⁷ Then ^[c]he said to the people, “Go forward and march around the city, and the armed men shall go on ahead of the ark of the Lord.” ⁸ And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them. ⁹ And the armed men went ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets. ¹⁰ But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed from your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!” ¹¹ So he had the ark of the Lord ^[d]taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹² Now Joshua got up early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ Then the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went ahead of them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while they continued to blow the trumpets. ¹⁴ So the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did the same for six days.

¹⁵ Then on the seventh day they got up early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same way seven times; only on that day did they march around the city seven times. ¹⁶ And at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷ But the city shall be designated for ^[e]destruction, it and everything that is in it belongs to the Lord; only Rahab the prostitute ^[f]and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. ¹⁸ But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things designated for destruction, so that you do not covet them and take some of the designated things, and turn the camp of Israel into something designated for destruction and bring disaster on it. ¹⁹ But all the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” ²⁰ So the people shouted, and ^[g]the priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down ^[h]flat, so that the people went up into the city, everyone straight ^[i]ahead, and they took the city. ²¹ They ^[j]utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

²² And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, just as you have sworn to her.” ²³ So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives, and placed them outside the camp of Israel. ²⁴ Then they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and the articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the ^[k]house of the Lord. ²⁵ However, Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua ^[l]spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶ Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.” ²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.

Israel Is Defeated at Ai

7 But the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully regarding the things designated for destruction, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the designated things; therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel.

² Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “^[m]Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. ³ Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up; have only about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; do not trouble all the people there, for they are few.” ⁴ So about three thousand men from the people went up there, but they fled ^[n]from the men of Ai. ⁵ And the men of Ai struck and killed about thirty-six of their men, and pursued them ^[o]from the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them on the mountainside; and the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

⁶ Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the ground on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, both he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. ⁷ And Joshua said, “Oh, Lord ^[p]God! Why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan, only to hand us over to the Amorites, to eliminate us? If only we had been willing ^[q]to live beyond the Jordan! ⁸ O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their ^[r]back before their enemies? ⁹ For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear about it, and they will surround us and eliminate our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?”

¹⁰ So the Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned, and they have also violated My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things designated for destruction, and have both stolen and kept it a secret. Furthermore, they have also put them among their own things. ¹² Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their ^[s]backs before their enemies, because they have become designated for destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you eliminate from your midst the things designated for destruction. ¹³ Stand up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because the Lord, the God of Israel, has said this: “There are things designated for destruction in your midst, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you have removed the designated things from your midst.” ¹⁴ So in the morning you shall come forward by your tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord selects by lot shall come forward by families, and the family which the Lord selects shall come forward by households, and the household which the Lord selects shall come forward man by man. ¹⁵ And it shall be that the one who is selected with the things designated for destruction shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has violated the covenant of the Lord, and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”

The Sin of Achan

¹⁶ So Joshua got up early in the morning and brought Israel forward by ^[t]tribes, and the tribe of Judah was selected. ¹⁷ So he brought the family of Judah forward, and he selected the family of the Zerahites; then he brought the family of the Zerahites forward man by man, and Zabdi was selected. ¹⁸ And he brought his household forward man by man; and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was selected. ¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.” ²⁰ So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and ^[u]this is what I did: ²¹ when I saw among the spoils a beautiful robe from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I wanted them and took them; and behold, they are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

²² So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath it. ²³ So they took them from inside the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel; and they ^[v]laid them out before the Lord. ²⁴ Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the bar of gold, his sons, his daughters, his ^[w]oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that belonged to him; and they brought them up to the Valley of ^[x]Achor. ²⁵ And Joshua said, “Why have you brought disaster on us? The Lord will bring disaster on you this day.” And all Israel stoned ^[y]them with stones; and they burned them with fire ^[z]after they had stoned them with stones. ²⁶ Then they erected over him a large heap of stones that stands to this day, and the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of ^[aa]Achor to this day.