1. But the children of Israel transgressed the commandment, and usurped [something] of the anathema. For Achan the son of Charmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zare, of the tribe of Judah, took something of the anathema: and the Lord was angry against the children of Israel. 2. And when Joshua sent men from Jericho against Hai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of the town of Bethel, he said to them: Go up, and view the Land. And they, fulfilling [his] commands, viewed Hai. 3. And returning, they said to him: Let not all the people go up, but let two or three thousand men go, and destroy the city: why shall all the people be vexed in vain against very few enemies? 4. There went up therefore three thousand fighting men. Who straightway turning their backs, 5. were smitten by the men of the city of Hai, and there fell of them thirty-six men: and the adversaries pursued them from the gate as far as Sabarim, and slew [them], fleeing down the slopes: and the heart of the people was afraid, and was melted like water. 6. But Joshua rent his garments, and fell prostrate on the earth before the ark of the Lord until evening, both he and all the elders of Israel: and they cast dust upon their heads. 7. And Joshua said: Alas, O Lord God, why wouldst Thou bring this people over the river Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorite, and to destroy [us]? Would that, as we had begun, we had remained beyond the Jordan. 8. My Lord God, what shall I say, seeing Israel turning their backs to their enemies? 9. The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the Land will hear [it], and being gathered together will surround us, and will blot out our name from the earth: and what wilt Thou do to Thy great name? 10. And the Lord said to Joshua: Arise, why liest thou prostrate on the earth? 11. Israel hath sinned, and hath transgressed my covenant: and they have taken of the anathema, and have stolen and lied, and have hidden [it] among their own vessels.
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12. Neither will Israel be able to stand before their enemies, but will flee from them: because it [Israel] is polluted with the anathema. I will be no more with you, until you destroy him who is guilty of this crime. 13. Arise, sanctify the people, and say to them: Be sanctified for the morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel: The anathema is in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou shalt not be able to stand before thy enemies, until he who is defiled with this crime be blotted out from among thee. 14. And you shall come near in the morning, each one by your tribes: and whatsoever tribe the lot shall find, it shall come near by its kindreds, and the kindred by its houses, and the house by its men. 15. And whosoever he be that shall be caught in this crime, he shall be burnt with fire with all his substance: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and hath done a wicked thing in Israel. 16. Joshua therefore, rising in the morning, brought Israel near by their tribes, and the tribe of Judah was found. 17. Which, when it was offered by its families, the family of Zare was found. Offering that also by houses, he found Zabdi: 18. whose house, dividing into the several men, he found Achan the son of Charmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zare, of the tribe of Judah. 19. And Joshua said to Achan: My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and confess, and tell me what thou hast done, hide it not. 20. And Achan answered Joshua, and said to him: Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. 21. For I saw among the spoils a scarlet garment exceeding good, and two hundred sicles of silver, and a golden rule of fifty sicles: and coveting [them] I took [them] away, and hid [them] in the earth against the middle of my tent, and covered the silver with the earth [I] dug up. 22. Joshua therefore sent ministers: who running to his tent, found all [the things] hidden in the same place, and the silver together. 23. And taking them away from the tent, they brought them to Joshua, and to all the children of Israel, and cast them down before the Lord. 24. Joshua therefore, taking Achan the son of Zare, and the silver and the garment, and the golden rule, his sons also and daughters, oxen and asses and sheep, and the tent itself, and all the household goods — (and all Israel with him) — brought them to the Valley of Achor: 25. where Joshua said: Because thou hast troubled us, may the Lord trouble [/drive] thee out on this day. And all Israel stoned him: and all things that were his were consumed with fire. 26. And they gathered together upon him a great heap of stones, which remaineth unto the present day. And the fury of the Lord was turned away from them. And the name of that place was called, the Valley of Achor, unto this day.
COMMENTARY.
Two events accompanied the storming of Jericho: namely, the detestation [curse] of him who should rebuild that destroyed [city], and the detection in crime, and the punishment, of the one Israelite who had stolen [something] of the city’s anathema. And that former event was set forth toward the end of the previous chapter; of the other [event] this seventh chapter now treats — and indeed in three ways. For, First, the sin is generally recounted. Secondly, the sinner is sought out. Thirdly, he is punished.