¹But the sons of Israel acted treacherously in the cursed place, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took goods from the cursed place, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the sons of Israel. ²Then Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai which is conglomerate with Beth-Aven to the east of Beth-El, and he spoke to them and said, “Go up and spy out the land.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. ³Then they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up. Have about two thousand or about three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for they are few.” ⁴So about three thousand men from the people went up, but they fled from the men of Ai. ⁵And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, and they pursued them from the front of the gate as far as Shebarim, and they struck them on the way down, and the heart of the people melted away and became water. ⁶Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell face down to the ground before the ark of the Lord until the evening – he and the elders of Israel – and they cast up dust onto their heads. ⁷And Joshua said, “Alas, my Lord the Lord, why did you so specially have this people cross over the Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorite to destroy us? So if only we had been contented to live on the other side of the Jordan. ⁸Please, Lord^*, what shall I say, now that Israel has retreated at the presence of its enemies? ⁹And the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land have heard, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will you do about your great name?” ¹⁰At this the Lord said to Joshua, “Get yourself up. Why is it that you have fallen face down? ¹¹Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them, and they have also taken goods from the cursed place, and they have also stolen, and they have also lied, and they have put them in their boxes. ¹²So the sons of Israel will not be able to stand in the presence of their enemies, and they will retreat in the presence of their enemies, because they have been made an object of cursing. I will not be with you any more if you do not eradicate the cursed object from your midst. ¹³Arise, sanctify the people and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says: «There is a cursed object in your midst, O Israel. You will not be able to stand against your enemies until you have removed the cursed object from your midst. ¹⁴Now you will approach in the morning by your tribes, and it will be the case that the tribe which the Lord convicts will approach by families, and the family which the Lord convicts will approach by households, and the household which the Lord convicts will approach by men. ¹⁵And it will be the case that he who is convicted of the cursed object will be burned with fire – he and everything he has – because he has transgressed the Lord's covenant, and because he has committed a foolish act in Israel.» ’ ” ¹⁶So Joshua arose early in the morning, and he gathered Israel together by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was convicted. ¹⁷So he had the family of Judah approach, and he convicted the family of Zarhi. Then he had the family of Zarhi approach by men, and Zabdi was convicted. ¹⁸Then he had his household approach by men, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was convicted. ¹⁹Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, do accord honour to the Lord God of Israel and make confession to him and tell me, please, what you have done. Do not conceal anything from me.” ²⁰Then Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and I did such and such. ²¹When I saw among the spoil a fine mantle from Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold whose weight was fifty shekels, I coveted them, and I took them, and now they are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver under it.” ²²Then Joshua sent out messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was hidden in his tent, with the silver under it. ²³Then they took the goods from the interior of the tent, and they brought them to Joshua and to all the sons of Israel, and they laid them out before the Lord. ²⁴And Joshua took Achan the great grandson of Zerah, and the silver, and the mantle, and the bar of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his ox and his donkey and his sheep and his tent and everything he had, while all Israel was present with him, and they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. ²⁵And Joshua said, “Why have you caused us trouble? The Lord will cause you trouble this day.” Then all Israel stoned him, and they burned them with fire, and they stoned them. ²⁶And they raised a great heap of stones over him, which is there up to this day, and the Lord relented from the fury of his anger. For this reason he called that place the Valley of Achor, as it is up to this day.