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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Joshua 7 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/joshua/7.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/joshua/7-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Joshua 7</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../joshua/6.htm" title="Joshua 6">◄</a> Joshua 7 <a href="../joshua/8.htm" title="Joshua 8">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Achan Is Punished for Stealing from the <span class="nd">Lord</span></h3><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_1"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.1" class="v6_7_1">1</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> had said that everything in Jericho belonged to him.<a href="#fn" id="link_Josh.7.1!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> But Achan<a href="#fn" id="link_Josh.7.1!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> from the Judah tribe took some of the things from Jericho for himself. And so the <span class="nd">Lord</span> was angry with the Israelites, because one of them had disobeyed him.<a href="#fn" id="link_Josh.7.1!f.3" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_2"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.2" class="v6_7_2">2</span>While Israel was still camped near Jericho, Joshua sent some spies with these instructions: “Go to the town of Ai<a href="#fn" id="link_Josh.7.2!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and find out whatever you can about the region around the town.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_2">The spies left and went to Ai, which is east of Bethel and near Beth-Aven. </span><span class="v6_7_3"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.3" class="v6_7_3">3</span>They went back to Joshua and reported, “You don't need to send the whole army to attack Ai—2,000 or 3,000 troops will be enough. Why bother the whole army for a town that small?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_4"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.4-Josh.7.5" class="v6_7_4">4-5</span>Joshua sent about 3,000 soldiers to attack Ai. But the men of Ai fought back and chased the Israelite soldiers away from the town gate and down the hill to the stone quarries.<a href="#fn" id="link_Josh.7.4-Josh.7.5!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Thirty-six Israelite soldiers were killed, and the Israelite army felt discouraged.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_6"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.6" class="v6_7_6">6</span>Joshua and the leaders of Israel tore their clothes and put dirt on their heads to show their sorrow. They lay facedown on the ground in front of the sacred chest until sunset. </span><span class="v6_7_7"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.7" class="v6_7_7">7</span>Then Joshua said:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v6_7_7">Our <span class="nd">Lord</span>, did you bring us across the Jordan River just so the Amorites could destroy us? This wouldn't have happened if we had agreed to stay on the other side of the Jordan. </span><span class="v6_7_8"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.8" class="v6_7_8">8</span>I don't even know what to say to you, since Israel's army has turned and run from the enemy. </span><span class="v6_7_9"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.9" class="v6_7_9">9</span>Everyone will think you weren't strong enough to protect your people. Now the Canaanites and everyone else who lives in the land will surround us and wipe us out.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_10"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.10" class="v6_7_10">10</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> answered:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v6_7_10">Stop lying there on the ground! Get up! </span><span class="v6_7_11"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.11" class="v6_7_11">11</span>I said everything in Jericho belonged to me and had to be destroyed. But the Israelites have kept some of the things for themselves. They stole from me and hid what they took. Then they lied about it. </span><span class="v6_7_12"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.12" class="v6_7_12">12</span>What they stole was supposed to be destroyed, and now Israel itself must be destroyed. I cannot help you anymore until you do exactly what I have said. That's why Israel turns and runs from its enemies instead of standing up to them.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v6_7_13"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.13" class="v6_7_13">13</span>Tell the people of Israel, “Tomorrow you will meet with the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God, so make yourselves acceptable to worship him. The <span class="nd">Lord</span> says that you have taken things that should have been destroyed. You won't be able to stand up to your enemies until you get rid of those things.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v6_7_14"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.14" class="v6_7_14">14</span>“Tomorrow morning everyone must gather near the place of worship. You will come forward tribe by tribe, and the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will show which tribe is guilty. Next, the clans in that tribe must come forward, and the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will show which clan is guilty. The families in that clan must come, and the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will point out the guilty family. Finally, the men in that family must come, </span><span class="v6_7_15"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.15" class="v6_7_15">15</span>and the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will show who stole what should have been destroyed. That man must be put to death, his body burned, and his possessions thrown into the fire. He has done a terrible thing by breaking the sacred agreement that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> made with Israel.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_16"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.16" class="v6_7_16">16</span>Joshua got up early the next morning and brought each tribe to the place of worship, where the <span class="nd">Lord</span> showed that the Judah tribe was guilty. </span><span class="v6_7_17"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.17" class="v6_7_17">17</span>Then Joshua brought the clans of Judah to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, and the <span class="nd">Lord</span> showed that the Zerah clan was guilty. One by one he brought the leader of each family in the Zerah clan to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, and the <span class="nd">Lord</span> showed that Zabdi's family was guilty. </span><span class="v6_7_18"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.18" class="v6_7_18">18</span>Finally, Joshua brought each man in Zabdi's family to the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, and the <span class="nd">Lord</span> showed that Achan was the guilty one.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_19"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.19" class="v6_7_19">19</span>“Achan,” Joshua said, “the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God of Israel has decided that you are guilty. So tell me what you did, and don't try to hide anything.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_20"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.20" class="v6_7_20">20</span>“It's true,” Achan answered. “I sinned and disobeyed the <span class="nd">Lord</span> God of Israel. </span><span class="v6_7_21"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.21-Josh.7.22" class="v6_7_21">21-22</span>While we were in Jericho, I saw a beautiful Babylonian robe, 200 pieces of silver, and a gold bar that weighed the same as 50 pieces of gold. I wanted them for myself, so I took them. I dug a hole under my tent and hid the silver, the gold, and the robe.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_21">Joshua told some people to run to Achan's tent, where they found the silver, the gold, and the robe. </span><span class="v6_7_23"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.23" class="v6_7_23">23</span>They brought them back and put them in front of the sacred chest, so Joshua and the rest of the Israelites could see them. </span><span class="v6_7_24"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.24" class="v6_7_24">24</span>Then everyone took Achan and the things he had stolen to Trouble Valley.<a href="#fn" id="link_Josh.7.24!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> They also took along his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys, and sheep, his tent, and everything else that belonged to him.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_25"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.25" class="v6_7_25">25</span>Joshua said, “Achan, you caused us a lot of trouble. Now the <span class="nd">Lord</span> is paying you back with the same kind of trouble.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_25">The people of Israel then stoned to death Achan and his family. They made a fire and burned the bodies, together with what Achan had stolen, and all his possessions. </span><span class="v6_7_26"><span class="reftext" id="Josh.7.26" class="v6_7_26">26</span>They covered the remains with a big pile of rocks, which is still there. Then the <span class="nd">Lord</span> stopped being angry with Israel.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v6_7_26">That's how the place came to be called Trouble Valley.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">7.1 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">belonged to him: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 6.17.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">7.1 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Achan: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Hebrew text has “Achan, son of Carmi, grandson of Abdi, and great-grandson of Zerah.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">7.1 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the <char style="nd">Lord</char> was angry … disobeyed him: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Even though only one person had disobeyed, it meant that the <char style="nd">Lord</char>s instructions to the people of Israel had not been followed, and the whole nation was held responsible.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">7.2 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">of Ai: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “called The Ruins.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">7.4,5 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">stone quarries: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “Shebarim.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">7.24 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Trouble Valley: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “Achor Valley.”</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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