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¹ BUT the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achar, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things, and hid them; 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 Beth-aon, on the east side of Beth-el, and said to them, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai.³ 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 destroy Ai; and do not send all the people there, for the men of Ai are but few.⁴ So there went up about three thousand men; and they fled before the men of Ai.⁵ And the men of Ai smote thirty-six of the Israelites; and they chased them from before the gate until they were defeated, and they smote them with a great slaughter; wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.

⁶ And 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 put dust upon their heads.⁷ And Joshua said, Alas, O LORD God, why hast thou brought this people over the Jordan, to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites? Would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!⁸ Now, what shall I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!⁹ For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall gather together against us, and cut off our name from the face of the earth; and what wilt thou do to thy great name?

¹⁰ And the LORD said to Joshua, Get up; why do you lie upon your face on the earth?¹¹ Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed the commandment which I commanded them; for they have even taken some of the devoted things, and have also stolen, and lied, and they have hidden them among their own stuff.¹² Therefore the children of Israel cannot stand again before their enemies, but they shall turn their backs before their enemies, because they are accursed; neither will I be with you any more, unless you remove the curse from among you.¹³ Up, summon this people, and say, Be ready tomorrow; for thus says the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of you, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies any more until you remove the accursed thing from among you.¹⁴ In the morning therefore you shall be brought near according to your tribes; and it shall be that the tribe which the LORD takes shall come by families; 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.¹⁵ And it shall be that he who is taken with the devoted thing shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has; because he has transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and because he has done wickedness in Israel.

¹⁶ So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought forward Israel by tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken;¹⁷ And he brought the tribe of Judah by families; and the family of the Zarhites was taken; and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken.¹⁸ Then he brought his household man by man; and Achar, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.¹⁹ And Joshua said to Achar, Give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and give praise to him; and tell me now what you have done; and do not hide it from me.²⁰ Achar answered Joshua, and said, Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did:²¹ When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian tapestry and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them; and, behold, they are hidden in the earth inside of my tent, and the silver under it.²² So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to his tent, and, behold, it was hidden in his tent, and the silver under it.²³ And they took them out of his tent, and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD.²⁴ And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achar the son of Zerah and the silver and the tapestry 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 to the valley of Achar.²⁵ And Joshua said to him, Why have you troubled us? The LORD shall trouble you this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, both him and all that he had, and burned them with fire.²⁶ And they raised over him a great heap of stones which remain to this day. So the LORD turned from his fierce anger. Therefore the name of that place is called the Valley of Achar, to this day.