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Joshua 7

Achan's hidden theft brings judgment on Israel, and God requires the covenant breach to be exposed and dealt with.

Achan has taken forbidden plunder, and Israel's small force suffers defeat at Ai, with about thirty-six men killed. Joshua and the elders mourn before YHWH’s ark. God tells Joshua that Israel has broken his covenant and must remove the devoted things. A selection process identifies Achan, who confesses and reveals the stolen goods beneath his tent. The account ends with judgment on Achan and his household, a heap of stones, and the turning away of God's anger.

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1But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against the children of Israel.
2Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the land.” The men went up and spied out Ai.
3They returned to Joshua, and said to him, “Don’t let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Don’t make all the people to toil there, for there are only a few of them.”
4So about three thousand men of the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai.
5The men of Ai struck about thirty-six men of them. They chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent. The hearts of the people melted, and became like water.
6Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the LORD’s ark until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
7Joshua said, “Alas, Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? I wish that we had been content and lived beyond the Jordan!
8Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after Israel has turned their backs before their enemies?
9For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. What will you do for your great name?”
10The LORD said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face like that?
11Israel has sinned. Yes, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. Yes, they have even taken some of the devoted things, and have also stolen, and also deceived. They have even put it among their own stuff.
12Therefore the children of Israel can’t stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will not be with you any more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.
13Get up! Sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, for the LORD, the God of Israel, says, “There is a devoted thing among you, Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted thing from among you.”
14In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. It shall be that the tribe which the LORD selects shall come near by families. The family which the LORD selects shall come near by households. The household which the LORD selects shall come near man by man.
15It 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 LORD’s covenant, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’”
16So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel near by their tribes. The tribe of Judah was selected.
17He brought near the family of Judah, and he selected the family of the Zerahites. He brought near the family of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was selected.
18He brought near 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 selected.
19Joshua said to Achan, “My son, please give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make confession to him. Tell me now what you have done! Don’t hide it from me!”
20Achan answered Joshua, and said, “I have truly sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel, and this is what I have done.
21When I saw among the plunder a beautiful Babylonian robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground in the middle of my tent, with the silver under it.”
24Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor.
25Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you today.” All Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.
26They raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. The LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Therefore the name of that place was called “The valley of Achor” to this day.
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Key verses
Joshua 7:11God identifies Israel's covenant breach as the cause of defeat, exposing theft and deception within the camp.
Joshua 7:19Joshua calls Achan to honor God through confession, bringing the concealed offense into the open before Israel.
Joshua 7:21Achan traces his theft from seeing and coveting to taking and hiding, then names the location of the evidence.
Where this chapter reaches

Numbers also records a leader pleading for Israel with concern for God's reputation among the nations. Deuteronomy shares the commands concerning things devoted to destruction and the warning that taking them brings those who take them under the same judgment.

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What does Achan's confession reveal about the relationship between hidden choices and harm to others?

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Questions people ask about Joshua 7

What are the devoted things in Joshua 7?

The devoted things are items placed under God's claim and forbidden for Israel to take as personal plunder. Achan takes a Babylonian robe, silver, and gold. God calls this theft and a breach of his covenant. The chapter treats possession of these goods as grounds for judgment.

Why was all Israel punished for Achan's sin?

God addresses Israel as a covenant people and counts Achan's theft as a breach within that community. His anger falls on Israel, and the army suffers defeat. The chapter presents shared consequences for this offense; it does not establish that every military defeat or personal loss results from someone's hidden sin.

Why were Achan's children punished with him?

Achan's sons and daughters are brought with him and his possessions to the valley of Achor, where the account describes stoning and burning. The judgment extends to his household. The text does not say whether his children knew about or helped conceal the theft, leaving their individual responsibility unexplained.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).