1 ¶ But the children of Israel committed a trespass in regard to the things that were condemned: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the things that were condemned: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.

2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. So the men went up and spied out Ai.

3 And they returned to Joshua, and said to him, Do not send all the people; but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai; and do not send everyone into the struggle there; for they are few.

4 So of the people about three thousand men went up there: and they fled before the men of Ai.

5 And of them the men of Ai struck down about thirty and six men: for they chased them from the gate as far as Shebarim, and killed them on the way down: as a result the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.

6 ¶ And Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel, and they put dust on their heads.

7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, why did you bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? if only we had been satisfied to live on the other side of the Jordan!

8 O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned its back to the enemy!

9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and wipe out our name from the earth: what will you do then for your great name?

10 ¶ And the LORD said to Joshua, Get up; why are you lying on your face?

11 Israel has sinned, they have broken my covenant which I ordered them to keep: for they have taken some of the condemned goods, stolen them, and also lied about them, and put them among their own goods.

12 That is why the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs to the enemy, because they were condemned: I will not be with you any longer, unless you destroy the condemned things that are among you.

13 Get up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow: for thus says the LORD God of Israel, There is a condemned thing in the midst of you, O Israel: you can not stand before your enemies, until you remove the condemned thing from among you.

14 Therefore in the morning you shall come forward according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe that the LORD chooses shall come forward by families; and the family that the LORD takes shall come forward by households; and the household that the LORD chooses shall come man by man.

15 And it shall be, that he who is caught with the condemned goods shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he has: because he has transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he has done a shameful thing in Israel.

16 ¶ So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel forward by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:

17 And he brought forward the families of Judah; and the family of the Zarhites was taken: and he brought forward the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:

18 And he brought forward 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 And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to him; and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.

20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, I have truly sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done:

21 When I saw among the spoils a fine Babylonian robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them, and took them; and, they are buried in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.

22 So Joshua sent messengers, who ran to the tent; and, behold, the spoil was hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.

23 And they removed them from the tent, and brought them to Joshua, and to all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD.

24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the robe, and the bar of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his donkeys, and his sheep, and his tent, and everything that he had: and they brought them to the valley of Achor.

25 And Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? the LORD will trouble you this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.

26 And they piled up over him a great heap of stones which remains to this day. Then the LORD withdrew his fierce anger. Therefore that place was called, The valley of Achor, and is to this day.