Joshua

Joshua leads the Israelites into the Promised Land, conquering it through many battles.

Chapter 7

1 But 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.

*But the Israelites did something wrong with a cursed object. It was Achan, from the tribe of Judah, who took it. This made God very angry with the Israelites.

2 And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.

*Joshua sent messengers from Jericho to a place called Ai, near Bethaven, close to Bethel on its east side. He told them to go and check out the area. The messengers went and explored Ai.

3 And 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.

*They went back to Joshua and told him, "Don't make everyone go; just send around 2,000 to 3,000 men to fight Ai. Don't make everyone go because there aren't many people there."

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

*About 3,000 people went to that place, but they ran away from the people of Ai.

5 And 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.

*The men of Ai killed 36 people. They chased them from the city gate to Shebarim and attacked them while they were running away. This made the people's hearts very weak and scared, like melting water.

6 And 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.

*Joshua tore his clothes, bowed down on the ground in front of the Lord's Ark with the older people from Israel, and put dirt on their heads. They did this until evening.

7 And 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!

*Joshua asked, "Oh Lord, why did you bring us here just to hand us over to the Amorites for them to defeat us? We wish we had stayed where we were, on the other side of the Jordan River."

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

*O GOD, what should I tell them, when Israel runs away, facing their opponents?

9 For 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?

*The people living in the land, including the Canaanites, will hear about this and surround us. They will try to erase our name from the earth. How will you protect your great name?

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

*And God told Joshua, "Get up! Why are you lying like this on the ground?"

11 Israel 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.

*Israel has done wrong and broken their promise to me. They took something they shouldn't have, stole, lied, and mixed it with their other things.

12 Therefore 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.

*So, the Israelites couldn't fight their enemies because they were cursed and running away. God also said he would leave them unless they get rid of the cursed people.

13 Up, 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.

*"Gather the people and tell them to get ready. Tomorrow, the Lord God of Israel says that there is something cursed among you. You cannot fight your enemies until you remove this cursed thing."

14 In 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.

*In the morning, you will be arranged based on your tribes. Then, the tribe chosen by God will come in groups of families. From those families, God will choose a household, and that household will come with each person individually.

15 And 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.

*If someone is caught with a cursed object, they and everything they own will be burned. This happens because they broke the Lord's agreement and did something foolish in Israel.

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

*So, in the morning, Joshua gathered the people and arranged them by groups. The group of Judah was chosen.

17 And 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:

*He gathered the people from the tribe of Judah, focused on the group called Zarhites, then chose each individual within that group. Among them, Zabdi was chosen.

18 And 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.

*He took each person from his family, and Achan, a descendant of Carmi, Zabdi, and Zerah from the Judah tribe, was caught.

19 And 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.

*Joshua told Achan, "Please, honor God and confess to Him. Then, you must tell me what happened and don't hide anything."

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

*And Achan told Joshua, "I did sin against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what happened."

21 When 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.

*When I found a nice Babylonian outfit, 200 silver coins, and a 50-shekel gold bar, I wanted them and took them. Now, they're hidden under my tent, with the silver beside them.

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

*Joshua sent messengers who went to the tent. They found that the valuable item was hidden inside, along with the silver beneath it.

23 And 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.

*They removed them from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, then placed them in front of God.

24 And 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.

*Joshua and all of Israel captured Achan, Zerah's son, along with his silver, clothing, gold wedge, children, animals, tent, and everything else he had. They took it all to the Valley of Achor.

25 And 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.

*Joshua asked, "Why did you cause us trouble?" God will trouble you today. Then, all of Israel threw rocks at him and burned the rocks with fire once they had thrown rocks at them.

26 And 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.

*They piled a huge pile of stones in honor of him. God then calmed his anger. This place was named "Valley of Achor" and it's still called that today.

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