The Fall of Jericho

6 The people of Jericho were afraid because the Israelites were near. They closed the city gates and guarded them [^LNow Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons/^Tchildren of Israel]. No one went into the city, and no one came out.

² Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Look, I have given ·you Jericho [^LJericho into your hands], its king, and all its fighting men. ³ March around the city with your ·army [^Lfighting men] once a day for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry trumpets made from ·horns of male sheep [rams’ horns] and have them march in front of the Ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times and have the priests blow the trumpets as they march. ⁵ They will make one long blast on the trumpets. When you hear that sound, have all the people give a loud shout. Then the walls of the city will ·fall [collapse] so the people can ·go [charge] straight into the city.”

⁶ So Joshua son of Nun called the priests together and said to them, “Carry the Ark of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty]. Tell seven priests to carry trumpets and march in front of it.” ⁷ Then Joshua ordered the ·people [or army], “Now go! March around the city. The ·soldiers with weapons [armed troops; or royal guard] should march in front of the Ark of the ·Agreement with [Covenant/Treaty of] the Lord.”

⁸ When Joshua finished speaking to the ·people [or army], the seven priests began marching before the Lord. They carried the seven trumpets and blew them as they marched. The priests carrying the Ark of the ·Agreement with [Covenant/Treaty of] the Lord followed them. ⁹ ·Soldiers with weapons [Armed troops; or The royal guard] marched in front of the priests, and ·armed men [the rear guard] walked behind the Ark. The priests were blowing their trumpets. ¹⁰ But Joshua had ·told [commanded] the people not to give ·a war cry [the shout]. He said, “Don’t shout. Don’t say a word until the day I tell you. Then shout.” ¹¹ So Joshua had the Ark of the Lord carried around the city one time. Then they went back to camp for the night.

¹² Early the next morning Joshua got up, and the priests carried the Ark of the Lord again. ¹³ The seven priests carried the seven trumpets and marched in front of the Ark of the Lord, blowing their trumpets. ·Soldiers with weapons [Armed troops or The royal guard] marched in front of them, and ·other soldiers [the rear guard] walked behind the Ark of the Lord. ·All this time the priests were blowing their trumpets […while the trumpets kept blowing]. ¹⁴ So on the second day they marched around the city one time and then went back to camp. They did this every day for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day they got up at dawn and marched around the city, just as they had on the days before. But on that day they marched around the city seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time around the priests blew their trumpets. Then Joshua gave the command: “Now, ·shout [give the battle cry]! The Lord has given you this city! ¹⁷ The city and everything in it are to be ·destroyed as an offering [^Ldevoted; set apart; 2:10] to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone in her house should remain alive. They must not be killed, because Rahab hid the ·two spies [^Lmessengers] we sent out [2:1–24]. ¹⁸ ·Don’t take any of [Keep away from] the things that are ·to be destroyed as an offering [devoted; set apart] to the Lord. If you take them and bring them into ·our camp [^Lthe camp of Israel], you yourselves will be ·destroyed [devoted/set apart for destruction], and you will bring trouble to all of Israel. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold and things made from bronze and iron belong to the Lord and must ·be saved for him [^Lgo into the treasury of the Lord].”

²⁰ When the priests blew the trumpets, the ·people [army] shouted. At the sound of the trumpets and the ·people’s [army’s] shout, the walls fell, and everyone ·ran [charged] straight into the city. So the Israelites ·defeated [captured; took] that city. ²¹ They ·completely destroyed [devoted to the Lord] with the ·sword [^Ledge of the sword] every living thing in the city—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

²² Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house. Bring her out and bring out those who ·are with [belong to] her, because of the ·promise you made [oath you swore] to her.” ²³ So the ·two men [young men] went into the house and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all ·those with [who belonged to] her. They put all of her family in a safe place outside the camp of Israel.

²⁴ Then Israel burned the whole city and everything in it, but they did not burn the things made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron. These were ·saved for [^Lput in the treasury of the house of] the Lord. ²⁵ Joshua saved Rahab the prostitute, her ·family [^Lfather’s household], and all who ·were with [belonged to] her, because Rahab had helped the men he had sent to spy out Jericho [Matt. 1:5; Heb. 11:31; James 2:25]. Rahab still lives among the Israelites today.

²⁶ Then Joshua ·made [or caused them to take] this oath:

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua, and Joshua became famous through all the land.

The Sin of Achan

7 But the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] ·did not obey the Lord [^Lacted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; 6:17]. There was a man from the tribe of Judah named Achan. (He was the son of Carmi and grandson of Zabdi, who was the son of Zerah.) Because Achan kept some of the ·things that were to be given to the Lord [^Ldevoted things], the ·Lord became very angry [^LLord’s anger burned] at the Israelites.

² Joshua sent some men from Jericho to Ai [^Cthe name means “dump,” indicating that it should have been an easy military target], which was near Beth Aven, east of Bethel. He told them, “Go to Ai and spy out the area.” So the men went to spy on Ai.

³ Later they came back to Joshua and said, “There are ·only a few people [few soldiers] in Ai, so we will not need all our people to defeat them. Send only two or three thousand men to fight. ·There is no need to send [or Don’t tire out] all of our people.” ⁴ So about three thousand men went up to Ai, but ·the people of Ai beat them badly [^Lthey fled from the men of Ai]. ⁵ The people of Ai killed about thirty-six Israelites and then chased the rest from the city gate all the way down to ·the canyon [or the stone quarries; or Shebarim], killing them as they went down the hill. When the Israelites saw this, ·they lost their courage [^Lthe heart of the people melted and became like water].

⁶ Then Joshua tore his ·clothes in sorrow [^Lclothes]. He ·bowed [fell] facedown on the ground before the Ark of the Lord and stayed there until evening. The ·leaders [^Lelders] of Israel did the same thing. They also threw ·dirt [dust] on their heads [^Cto show their sorrow]. ⁷ Then Joshua said, “·Lord God [or Sovereign Lord], why did you bring our people across the Jordan River ·and then let the Amorites destroy us [to give us into the hands of the Amorites]? ·We would have [^LIf only we had] been happy to stay on the other side of the Jordan. ⁸ Lord, ·there is nothing I can say now [what can I say now that…]. Israel has ·been beaten by [fled from; ^Lturned their back before] the enemy. ⁹ The Canaanites and all the other people in this country will hear about this and will ·surround [encircle] and ·kill us all [^Lcut off our name from the earth]! Then what will you do for your own great name?”

¹⁰ The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why are you down on your face? ¹¹ The Israelites have sinned; they have broken the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] I commanded them to obey. They took some of the ·things I commanded them to destroy [devoted things]. They have stolen and lied and have ·taken those things for themselves [^Lput them among their own belongings]. ¹² That is why the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] cannot ·face [stand before] their enemies. They ·turn away from the fight and run [fled/turned their backs before their enemies], because I have ·commanded that they be destroyed [devoted them for destruction]. I will not ·help [^Lbe with] you anymore unless you destroy ·everything as I commanded [the things devoted for destruction from among] you.

¹³ “Now go! ·Make the people holy [Consecrate the people]. Tell them, ‘·Set yourselves apart to the Lord [Consecrate yourselves] for tomorrow. The Lord, the God of Israel, says ·some of you are keeping things he commanded you to destroy [^Lthere are devoted things among you, Israel!]. You will never ·defeat [^Lstand before] your enemies until you ·throw away those things [^Lremove the devoted things from among you].

¹⁴ “‘Tomorrow morning you must be present with your tribes. The Lord will choose one tribe to stand alone before him. Then the Lord will choose ·one family group [clan] from that tribe to stand before him. Then the Lord will choose one family from that ·family group [clan] to stand before him, person by person. ¹⁵ The one who is ·keeping what should have been destroyed [^Lcaught with the devoted things] will himself be destroyed by fire. Everything ·he owns [that is his] will be destroyed with him. He has broken the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with the Lord and has done a disgraceful thing ·among the people of [^Lin] Israel!’”

¹⁶ Early the next morning Joshua led all of Israel to present themselves in their tribes, and the Lord chose the tribe of Judah. ¹⁷ So the ·family groups [clans] of Judah presented themselves, and the Lord then chose the ·family group [clan] of Zerah. When all the ·families [clan] of Zerah presented themselves, the family of Zabdi was chosen. ¹⁸ And Joshua told all the men in that family to present themselves. The Lord chose Achan son of Carmi. (Carmi was the son of Zabdi, who was the son of Zerah.)

¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, ·tell the truth. Confess to the Lord, the God of Israel [^LGive glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise to him; ^Ca solemn charge to tell the truth and confess his sins to God]. Tell me what you did, and don’t try to hide anything from me.”

²⁰ Achan answered, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I did: ²¹ Among the things I saw was a beautiful ·coat [robe; cloak] from ·Babylonia [^LShinar] and about ·five pounds [^Ltwo hundred shekels] of silver and ·more than one and one-fourth pounds of gold [^La gold bar weighing fifty shekels]. I wanted these things very much for myself, so I took them. You will find them buried in the ground under my tent, with the silver underneath.”

²² So Joshua sent ·men [^Lmessengers] who ran to the tent and ·found the things [^Tbehold, it was] hidden there, with the silver underneath. ²³ The men brought them out of the tent, took them to Joshua and all the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel], and spread them out on the ground before the Lord. ²⁴ Then Joshua and all the people led Achan son of Zerah to the Valley of ·Trouble [or Achor; ^Ca Hebrew word meaning “trouble” or “disaster”]. They also took the silver, the coat, the gold bar, Achan’s sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, tent, and everything he owned. ²⁵ Joshua said, “·I don’t know why [^LWhy have…?] you caused so much trouble [^CHebrew achor] for us, but now the Lord will bring trouble [^CHebrew achor] to you.” Then all the people threw stones at Achan and his family until they died [Ex. 19:13; Lev. 24:23; Num. 15:36]. Then the people burned them. ²⁶ They piled rocks over Achan’s body, and they are still there today. That is why it is called the Valley of ·Trouble [^LAchor]. After this the Lord ·was no longer angry [^Lturned from his burning anger].