rsv Joshua:7:1-26 SEEK
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But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things ;
for Achan the son of Carmi ,
son of Zabdi ,
son of Zerah ,
of the tribe of Judah ,
took some of the devoted things ;
and the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel .
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Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai ,
which is near Beth-a '
ven ,
east of Bethel ,
and said to them , "
Go up and spy out the land ."
And the men went up and spied out Ai .
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And they returned to Joshua ,
and said to him , "
Let not all the people go up ,
but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai ;
do not make the whole people toil up there ,
for they are but few ."
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So about three thousand went up there from the people ;
and they fled before the men of Ai ,
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and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six men of them ,
and chased them before the gate as far as Sheb '
arim ,
and slew them at the descent .
And the hearts of the people melted ,
and became as water .
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Then Joshua rent his clothes ,
and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening ,
he and the elders of Israel ;
and they put dust upon their heads .
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And Joshua said , "
Alas ,
O Lord GOD ,
why hast thou brought this people over the Jordan at all ,
to give us into the hands of the Amorites ,
to destroy us ?
Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan !
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O Lord ,
what can I say ,
when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies !
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For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it ,
and will surround us ,
and cut off our name from the earth ;
and what wilt thou do for thy great name ?"
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The LORD said to Joshua , "
Arise ,
why have you thus fallen upon your face ?
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Israel has sinned ;
they have transgressed my covenant which I commanded them ;
they have taken some of the devoted things ;
they have stolen ,
and lied ,
and put them among their own stuff .
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Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies ;
they turn their backs before their enemies ,
because they have become a thing for destruction .
I will be with you no more ,
unless you destroy the devoted things from among you .
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Up ,
sanctify the people ,
and say , `
Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow ;
for thus says the LORD ,
God of Israel , "
There are devoted things in the midst of you ,
O Israel ;
you cannot stand before your enemies ,
until you take away the devoted things from among you ."
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In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes ;
and the tribe which the LORD takes shall come near by families ;
and the family which the LORD takes shall come near by households ;
and the household which the LORD takes shall come near man by man .
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And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned 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 .'"
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So Joshua rose early in the morning ,
and brought Israel near tribe by tribe ,
and the tribe of Judah was taken ;
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and he brought near the families of Judah ,
and the family of the Zer '
ahites was taken ;
and he brought near the family of the Zer '
ahites man by man ,
and Zabdi was taken ;
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and he brought near his household man by man ,
and Achan the son of Carmi ,
son of Zabdi ,
son of Zerah ,
of the tribe of Judah ,
was taken .
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Then Joshua said to Achan , "
My son ,
give glory to the LORD God of Israel ,
and render praise to him ;
and tell me now what you have done ;
do not hide it from me ."
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And Achan answered Joshua , "
Of a truth I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel ,
and this is what I did :
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when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar ,
and two hundred shekels of silver ,
and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels ,
then I coveted them ,
and took them ;
and behold ,
they are hidden in the earth inside my tent ,
with the silver underneath ."
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So Joshua sent messengers ,
and they ran to the tent ;
and behold ,
it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath .
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And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the people of Israel ;
and they laid them down before the LORD .
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And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah ,
and the silver and the mantle and the bar of gold ,
and his sons and daughters ,
and his oxen and asses and sheep ,
and his tent ,
and all that he had ;
and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor .
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And Joshua said , "
Why did you bring trouble on us ?
The LORD brings trouble on you today ."
And all Israel stoned him with stones ;
they burned them with fire ,
and stoned them with stones .
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And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day ;
then the LORD turned from his burning anger .
Therefore to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor .