The Sin of Achan

7¹ And the sons of Israel commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, taketh of the devoted thing, and the anger of Jehovah burneth against the sons of Israel. ² And Joshua sendeth men from Jericho to Ai, which 'is' near Beth-Aven, on the east of Bethel, and speaketh unto them, saying, 'Go up and spy the land;' and the men go up and spy Ai, ³ and they turn back unto Joshua, and say unto him, 'Let not all the people go up; let about two thousand men, or about three thousand men, go up, and they smite Ai; cause not all the people to labour thither; for they 'are' few.' ⁴ And there go up of the people thither about three thousand men, and they flee before the men of Ai, ⁵ and the men of Ai smite of them about thirty and six men, and pursue them before the gate unto Shebarim, and they smite them in Morad; and the heart of the people is melted, and becometh water.

⁶ And Joshua rendeth his garments, and falleth on his face to the earth before the ark of Jehovah till the evening, he and the elders of Israel, and they cause dust to go up on their head. ⁷ And Joshua saith, 'Ah, Lord Jehovah, why hast Thou at all caused this people to pass over the Jordan, to give us into the hand of the Amorite to destroy us?—and oh that we had been willing—and we dwell beyond the Jordan! ⁸ Oh, Lord, what do I say, after that Israel hath turned the neck before its enemies? ⁹ and the Canaanite and all the inhabitants of the land do hear, and have come round against us, and cut off our name out of the earth; and what dost Thou do for Thy great name?'

¹⁰ And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, 'Rise for thee, why 'is' this?—thou 'art' falling on thy face? ¹¹ Israel hath sinned, and also they have transgressed My covenant which I commanded them, and also taken of the devoted thing, and also stolen, and also deceived, and also put 'it' among their vessels, ¹² and the sons of Israel have not been able to stand before their enemies; the neck they turn before their enemies, for they have become a devoted thing; I add not to be with you—if ye destroy not the devoted thing out of your midst. ¹³ 'Rise, sanctify the people, and thou hast said, Sanctify yourselves for to-morrow; for thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, A devoted thing 'is' in thy midst, O Israel, thou art not able to stand before thine enemies till your turning aside of the devoted thing out of your midst; ¹⁴ and ye have been brought near in the morning by your tribes, and it hath been, the tribe which Jehovah doth capture doth draw near by families, and the family which Jehovah doth capture doth draw near by households, and the household which Jehovah doth capture doth draw near by men; ¹⁵ and it hath been, he who is captured with the devoted thing is burnt with fire, he and all that he hath, because he hath transgressed the covenant of Jehovah, and because he hath done folly in Israel.'

¹⁶ And Joshua riseth early in the morning, and bringeth Israel near by its tribes, and the tribe of Judah is captured; ¹⁷ and he bringeth near the family of Judah, and he captureth the family of the Zarhite; and he bringeth near the family of the Zarhite by men, and Zabdi is captured; ¹⁸ and he bringeth near his household by men, and Achan—son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah—is captured. ¹⁹ And Joshua saith unto Achan, 'My son, put, I pray thee, honour on Jehovah, God of Israel, and give to Him thanks, and declare, I pray thee, to me, what thou hast done—hide not from me.' ²⁰ And Achan answereth Joshua, and saith, 'Truly I have sinned against Jehovah, God of Israel, and thus and thus I have done; ²¹ and I see among the spoil a goodly robe of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and one wedge of gold, whose weight 'is' fifty shekels, and I desire them, and take them; and lo, they 'are' hid in the earth, in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.' ²² And Joshua sendeth messengers, and they run unto the tent, and lo, it is hidden in his tent, and the silver under it; ²³ and they take them out of the midst of the tent, and bring them in unto Joshua, and unto all the sons of Israel, and pour them out before Jehovah. ²⁴ And Joshua taketh Achan son of Zerah, and the silver, and the robe, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his ox, and his ass, and his flock, and his tent, and all that he hath, and all Israel with him, and they cause them to go up the valley of Achor. ²⁵ And Joshua saith, 'What! thou hast troubled us!—Jehovah doth trouble thee this day;' and all Israel cast stones at him, and they burn them with fire, and they stone them with stones, ²⁶ and they raise up over him a great heap of stones unto this day, and Jehovah turneth back from the heat of His anger, therefore hath 'one' called the name of that place 'Valley of Achor' till this day.

The Capture and Destruction of Ai

8¹ And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, 'Fear not, nor be affrighted, take with thee all the people of war, and rise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land, ² and thou hast done to Ai and to her king as thou hast done to Jericho and to her king; only, its spoil and its cattle ye spoil for yourselves; set for thee an ambush for the city at its rear.'

³ And Joshua riseth, and all the people of war, to go up to Ai, and Joshua chooseth thirty thousand men, mighty ones of valour, and sendeth them away by night, ⁴ and commandeth them, saying, 'See, ye are liers in wait against the city, at the rear of the city, ye go not very far off from the city, and all of you have been prepared, ⁵ and I and all the people who 'are' with me draw near unto the city, and it hath come to pass when they come out to meet us as at the first, and we have fled before them, ⁶ and they have come out after us till we have drawn them out of the city, for they say, They are fleeing before us as at the first, and we have fled before them, ⁷ and ye rise from the ambush, and have occupied the city, and Jehovah your God hath given it into your hand; ⁸ and it hath been, when ye capture the city, ye burn the city with fire, according to the word of Jehovah ye do, see, I have commanded you.' ⁹ And Joshua sendeth them away, and they go unto the ambush, and abide between Bethel and Ai, on the west of Ai; and Joshua lodgeth on that night in the midst of the people. ¹⁰ And Joshua riseth early in the morning, and inspecteth the people, and goeth up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai; ¹¹ and all the people of war who 'are' with him have gone up, and draw nigh and come in over-against the city, and encamp on the north of Ai; and the valley 'is' between him and Ai. ¹² And he taketh about five thousand men, and setteth them an ambush between Bethel and Ai, on the west of the city; ¹³ and they set the people, all the camp which 'is' on the north of the city, and its rear on the west of the city, and Joshua goeth on that night into the midst of the valley. ¹⁴ And it cometh to pass, when the king of Ai seeth 'it', that hasten, and rise early, and go out do the men of the city to meet Israel for battle, he and all his people, at the appointed season, at the front of the plain, and he hath not known that an ambush 'is' against him, on the rear of the city. ¹⁵ And Joshua and all Israel 'seem' stricken before them, and flee the way of the wilderness, ¹⁶ and all the people who 'are' in the city are called to pursue after them, and they pursue after Joshua, and are drawn away out of the city, ¹⁷ and there hath not been left a man in Ai and Bethel who hath not gone out after Israel, and they leave the city open, and pursue after Israel. ¹⁸ And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, 'Stretch out with the javelin which 'is' in thy hand towards Ai, for into thy hand I give it;' and Joshua stretcheth out with the javelin which 'is' in his hand toward the city, ¹⁹ and the ambush hath risen 'with' haste, out of its place, and they run at the stretching out of his hand, and go into the city, and capture it, and hasten, and burn the city with fire. ²⁰ And the men of Ai look behind them, and see, and lo, the smoke of the city hath gone up unto the heavens, and there hath not been in them power to flee hither and thither—and the people who are fleeing to the wilderness have turned against the pursuer,— ²¹ and Joshua and all Israel have seen that the ambush hath captured the city, and that the smoke of the city hath gone up, and they turn back and smite the men of Ai; ²² and these have come out from the city to meet them, and they are in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that, and they smite them till he hath not left to them a remnant and escaped one;

²³ and the king of Ai they caught alive, and bring him near unto Joshua. ²⁴ And it cometh to pass, at Israel's finishing to slay all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness in which they pursued them (and they fall all of them by the mouth of the sword till their consumption), that all Israel turn back to Ai, and smite it by the mouth of the sword; ²⁵ and all who fall during the day, of men and of women, are twelve thousand—all men of Ai. ²⁶ And Joshua hath not brought back his hand which he stretched out with the javelin till that he hath devoted all the inhabitants of Ai; ²⁷ only, the cattle and the spoil of that city have Israel spoiled for themselves, according to the word of Jehovah which He commanded Joshua. ²⁸ And Joshua burneth Ai, and maketh it a heap age-during—a desolation unto this day; ²⁹ and the king of Ai he hath hanged on the tree till even-time, and at the going in of the sun hath Joshua commanded, and they take down his carcase from the tree, and cast it unto the opening of the gate of the city, and raise over it a great heap of stones till this day.

The Law Recorded at Mount Ebal

³⁰ Then doth Joshua build an altar to Jehovah, God of Israel, in mount Ebal, ³¹ as Moses, servant of Jehovah, commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses—an altar of whole stones, over which he hath not waved iron—and they cause to go up upon it burnt-offerings to Jehovah, and sacrifice peace-offerings; ³² and he writeth there on the stones the copy of the law of Moses, which he hath written in the presence of the sons of Israel. ³³ And all Israel, and its elders, and authorities, and its judges, are standing on this side and on that of the ark, over-against the priests, the Levites, bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, as well the sojourner as the native, half of them over-against mount Gerizim, and the half of them over-against mount Ebal, as Moses servant of Jehovah commanded to bless the people of Israel at the first. ³⁴ And afterwards he hath proclaimed all the words of the law, the blessing and the reviling, according to all that is written in the book of the law; ³⁵ there hath not been a thing of all that Moses commanded which Joshua hath not proclaimed before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the infants, and the sojourner who is going in their midst.

The Deceit of the Gibeonites

9¹ And it cometh to pass, when all the kings who 'are' beyond the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the low-country, and in every haven of the great sea, over-against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, hear— ² that they gather themselves together to fight with Joshua, and with Israel—one mouth.

³ And the inhabitants of Gibeon have heard that which Joshua hath done to Jericho and to Ai, ⁴ and they work, even they, with subtilty, and go, and feign to be ambassadors, and take old sacks for their asses, and wine-bottles, old, and rent, and bound up, ⁵ and sandals, old and patched, on their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread of their provision is dry—it was crumbs. ⁶ And they go unto Joshua, unto the camp at Gilgal, and say unto him, and unto the men of Israel, 'From a land far off we have come, and now, make with us a covenant;' ⁷ and the men of Israel say unto the Hivite, 'It may be in our midst ye are dwelling, and how do we make with thee a covenant?' ⁸ and they say unto Joshua, 'Thy servants we 'are'.' And Joshua saith unto them, 'Who 'are' ye? and whence come ye?' ⁹ And they say unto him, 'From a land very far off have thy servants come, for the name of Jehovah thy God, for we have heard His fame, and all that He hath done in Egypt, ¹⁰ and all that He hath done to the two kings of the Amorite who 'are' beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who 'is' in Ashtaroth. ¹¹ 'And our elders, and all the inhabitants of our land speak unto us, saying, Take in your hand provision for the way, and go to meet them, and ye have said unto them, Your servants we 'are', and now, make with us a covenant; ¹² this our bread—hot we provided ourselves with it out of our houses, on the day of our coming out to go unto you, and now, lo, it is dry, and hath been crumbs; ¹³ and these 'are' the wine-bottles which we filled, new, and lo, they have rent; and these, our garments and our sandals, have become old, from the exceeding greatness of the way.' ¹⁴ And the men take of their provision, and the mouth of Jehovah have not asked;

¹⁵ and Joshua maketh with them peace, and maketh with them a covenant, to keep them alive; and swear to them do the princes of the company. ¹⁶ And it cometh to pass, at the end of three days after that they have made with them a covenant, that they hear that they 'are' their neighbours—that in their midst they are dwelling. ¹⁷ And the sons of Israel journey and come in unto their cities on the third day—and their cities 'are' Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-Jearim— ¹⁸ and the sons of Israel have not smitten them, for sworn to them have the princes of the company by Jehovah God of Israel, and all the company murmur against the princes. ¹⁹ And all the princes say unto all the company, 'We—we have sworn to them by Jehovah, God of Israel; and now, we are not able to come against them; ²⁰ this we do to them, and have kept them alive, and wrath is not upon us, because of the oath which we have sworn to them.' ²¹ And the princes say unto them, 'They live, and are hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the company, as the princes spake to them.'

²² And Joshua calleth for them, and speaketh unto them, saying, 'Why have ye deceived us, saying, We are very far from you, and ye in our midst dwelling? ²³ and now, cursed are ye, and none of you is cut off 'from being' a servant, even hewers of wood and drawers of water, for the house of my God.' ²⁴ And they answer Joshua and say, 'Because it was certainly declared to thy servants, that Jehovah thy God commanded Moses His servant to give to you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; and we fear greatly for ourselves because of you, and we do this thing; ²⁵ and now, lo, we 'are' in thy hand, as 'it is' good, and as 'it is' right in thine eyes to do to us—do.' ²⁶ And he doth to them so, and delivereth them from the hand of the sons of Israel, and they have not slain them; ²⁷ and Joshua maketh them on that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the company, and for the altar of Jehovah, unto this day, at the place which He doth choose.

²¹ And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and wondering at his tarrying in the sanctuary, ²² and having come out, he was not able to speak to them, and they perceived that a vision he had seen in the sanctuary, and he was beckoning to them, and did remain dumb. ²³ And it came to pass, when the days of his service were fulfilled, he went away to his house, ²⁴ and after those days, his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying— ²⁵ 'Thus hath the Lord done to me, in days in which He looked upon 'me', to take away my reproach among men.'

Jesus' Birth Foretold

²⁶ And in the sixth month was the messenger Gabriel sent by God, to a city of Galilee, the name of which 'is' Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin, betrothed to a man, whose name 'is' Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin 'is' Mary. ²⁸ And the messenger having come in unto her, said, 'Hail, favoured one, the Lord 'is' with thee; blessed 'art' thou among women;' ²⁹ and she, having seen, was troubled at his word, and was reasoning of what kind this salutation may be. ³⁰ And the messenger said to her, 'Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God; ³¹ and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus; ³² he shall be great, and Son of the Highest he shall be called, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father, ³³ and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.' ³⁴ And Mary said unto the messenger, 'How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?' ³⁵ And the messenger answering said to her, 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God; ³⁶ and lo, Elisabeth, thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren; ³⁷ because nothing shall be impossible with God.' ³⁸ And Mary said, 'Lo, the maid-servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to thy saying,' and the messenger went away from her.