Joshua 7

¹Forsothe the sones of Israel braken `the comaundement, and mystoken of the halewid thing; for Achar, the son of Charmy, sone of Zabdi, sone of Zare, of the lynage of Juda, toke sum thing of the halewid thing; and the Lord was wrooth ayens the sones of Israel.

²And whanne Josue sente men fro Jerico ayens Hai, which is bisidis Bethauen, at the eest coost of the citee Bethel, he seide to hem, Stie ye, and aspie ye the lond. Whiche filliden `the comaundementis, and aspieden Hay;

³and thei turneden ayen, and seiden to hym, `Not al the puple stie, but twey ether thre thousynde of men go, and do awei the citee; whi schal al the puple be trauelid in veyn ayens feweste enemyes?

⁴Therfor thre thousynde of fiyteris stieden, whiche turneden the backis anoon,

⁵and weren smytun of the men of Hay; and sixe and thretti men of hem `felden doun; and aduersaries pursueden hem fro the yate til to Saberym; and thei felden doun fleynge bi lowe places. And the herte of the puple dredde, and was maad vnstidefast at the licnesse of watir.

⁶Sotheli Josue torente hise clothis, and felde lowe to the erthe bifor the arke of the Lord, `til to euentid, as wel he, as alle the elde men of Israel; and thei castiden powdir on her heedis.

⁷And Josue seide, Alas! alas! Lord God, what woldist thou lede this puple ouer the flood Jordan, that thou schuldist bitake vs in the hond of Ammorrey, and schulde leese vs? Y wolde, that as we bygunnen, we hadden dwellid biyondis Jordan.

⁸My Lord God, what schal Y seie, seynge Israel turnynge the backis to hise enemyes?

⁹Cananeys, and alle dwelleris of the lond schulen here, and thei schulen be gaderid togidere, and schulen cumpas vs, and schulen do awei oure name fro erthe; and what schalt thou do to thi grete name?

¹⁰And the Lord seide to Josue, Rise thou; whi liggist thou low in the erthe?

¹¹Israel synnede, and brak my couenaunt; and thei token of the halewid thing, and thei han stole, and lieden, and hidden among her vessels.

¹²And Israel may not stonde bifore hise enemyes, and Israel schal fle hem, for it is defoulid with cursyng; Y schal no more be with you, til ye al to breke hym which is gilti of this trespas.

¹³Rise thou, halewe the puple, and seie thou to hem, Be ye halewid ayens to morewe; for the Lord God of Israel seith these thingis, A! Israel! cursyng is in the myddis of thee; thou schalt not mowe stonde bifor thin enemyes, til he that is defoulyd bi this trespas, be doon awei fro thee.

¹⁴And ye schulen come eerli, alle men bi youre lynagis; and whateuer lynage the lot schal fynde, it schal come bi hise meynees; and the meynee schal come bi housis, and the hous schal come bi men.

¹⁵And whoeuer schal be takun with this trespas, he schal be brent bi fier with al his catel, for he brak the couenaunt of the Lord, and dide vnleueful thing in Israel.

¹⁶Therfor Josue roos eerly, and settide in ordre Israel, bi hise lynagis; and the lynage of Juda was foundun;

¹⁷and whanne that lynage was brouyt forth bi hise meynees, the meyne of Zare was foundun. And Josue brouyte forth it bi men, ethir housis, and foond Zabdi;

¹⁸whos hows he departide in to alle men bi hemsilf; and he foond Achar, the sone of Charmy, sone of Zabdi, sone of Zare, of the lynage of Juda.

¹⁹And he seide to Achar, My sone, yyue thou glorie to the Lord God of Israel, and knowleche thou, and schew to me what thou hast do; hide thou not.

²⁰And Achar answeryde to Josue, and seide to hym, Verily, Y synnede bifor the Lord God of Israel, and Y dide `so and so;

²¹for among the spuylis Y siy a reed mentil ful good, and two hundrid siclis of siluer, and a goldun reule of fifti siclis; and Y coueytide, and took awei, and hidde in the erthe, ayens the myddis of my tabernacle; and Y hilide the siluer with erthe doluun.

²²Therfor Josue sente mynystris, whyche runnen to his tabernacle, and foundun alle thingis hid in the same place, and the siluer togidere; and thei token awei fro the tente,

²³and brouyten `tho thingis to Josue, and to alle the sones of Israel; and thei castiden forth bifor the Lord.

²⁴Therfor Josue took Achar, the sone of Zare, and the siluer, and the mentil, and the goldun reule, and hise sones, and douytris, oxun, assis, and scheep, and the tabernacle `it silf, and al the purtenaunce of household, and al Israel with Josue; and thei ledden hem to the valei of Achar;

²⁵where Josue seide, For thou disturblidist vs, the Lord schal disturble thee in this dai. And al Israel stonyde hym; and alle thingis that weren hise, weren wastid bi fier.

²⁶And thei gaderiden on hym a greet heep of stoonys, whiche dwellen til in to present day. And the strong veniaunce of the Lord was turned awei fro hem; and the name of that place was clepid the valey of Achar `til to day.

Joshua 7

¹But 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 the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.

²And 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.

³And 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.

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

⁵And 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.

⁶And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.

⁷And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, 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!

⁸O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!

⁹For 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?

¹⁰And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?

¹¹Israel 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.

¹²Therefore 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.

¹³Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord 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.

¹⁴In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households; and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man.

¹⁵And 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 the Lord, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.

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

¹⁷And 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:

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.

²⁰And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:

²¹When 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.

²²So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.

²³And 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 the Lord.

²⁴And 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 asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.

²⁵And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.

²⁶And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.