Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 23
7:13-26
J osh u a
11
“Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation
for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Hidden
among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you.
“In the morning you must present yourselves by tribes, and the Lord
will point out the tribe to which the guilty man belongs. That tribe must
come forward with its clans, and the Lord will point out the guilty clan.
That clan will then come forward, and the Lord will point out the guilty
family. Finally, each member of the guilty family must come forward
one by one. The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for
he has broken the covenant of the Lord and has done a horrible thing
in Israel.”
Early the next morning Joshua brought the tribes of Israel before the
Lord, and the tribe of Judah was singled out. Then the clans of Judah
came forward, and the clan of Zerah was singled out. Then the families of
Zerah came forward, and the family of Zimri was singled out. Every member of Zimri’s family was brought forward person by person, and Achan
was singled out.
Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God
of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you
have done. Don’t hide it from me.”
Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of
Israel. Among the plunder I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon, 200 silver
coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so
much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent,
with the silver buried deeper than the rest.”
So Joshua sent some men to make a search. They ran to the tent and
found the stolen goods hidden there, just as Achan had said, with the silver
buried beneath the rest. They took the things from the tent and brought
them to Joshua and all the Israelites. Then they laid them on the ground
in the presence of the Lord.
Then Joshua and all the Israelites took Achan, the silver, the robe, the
bar of gold, his sons, daughters, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, tent, and
everything he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor. Then
Joshua said to Achan, “Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord
will now bring trouble on you.” And all the Israelites stoned Achan and
his family and burned their bodies. They piled a great heap of stones over
Achan, which remains to this day. That is why the place has been called the
Valley of Trouble ever since. So the Lord was no longer angry.