The Defeat at Ai

1But yet the chyldren of Israel trespassed in ye forbydden thyng: for Achan ye sonne of Charmi, the sonne of Zabdi, ye sonne of Zareth, of the tribe of Iuda, toke of the forbydden thyng: And the wrath of the Lorde waxed hot against the chyldren of Israel.

2And Iosuah sent men from Iericho to Ai, which is besyde Bethauen, on the east syde of Bethel, and spake vnto them, saying: Get you vp, and viewe the countrey. And the men went vp, & viewed Ai, 3And returned to Iosuah, and sayde vnto him, Let not all the people go vp: but let as it were two or three thousande men go vp, and smyte Ai: and make not all the people to labour thyther, for they are but fewe. 4And so there went vp thyther of the people about a three thousande men, and they fled before the men of Ai. 5And the men of Ai smote of them vpon a thirtie and sixe men: for they chased them from before the gate euen vnto Sebarim, and smote them in the goyng downe: Wherfore the heartes of the people for feare melted away lyke water.

6And Iosuah rent his clothes, & fell to the earth vpo his face before the arke of the Lorde vntill the euentide, he and the elders of Israel, and put earth vpon their heades. 7And Iosuah sayde: Alas, O Lorde God, wherfore hast thou brought this people ouer Iordane, to deliuer vs into the hande of the Amorites, & to destroye vs? Would to God we had ben content, and dwelt on the other side Iordane. 8Oh Lorde what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backes before their enemies? 9Surely the Chanaanites, and all the inhabitauntes of the lande shal heare of it, and shall conspire against vs, and destroy the name of vs out of the worlde: And what wilt thou do vnto thy mightie name?

10And the Lorde sayde vnto Iosuah: Get thee vp, wherfore liest thou thus vpon thy face? 11Israel hath sinned, and they haue transgressed myne appointment which I commaunded them: for they haue taken of the excommunicate thinges, and haue also stolen, and dissembled also, & put them vnto their owne stuffe. 12And therfore is it that the children of Israel can not stande before their enemies, but shal turne their backes before their enemies, because they be excommunicate: Neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the excommunicate from among you. 13Up therfore and sanctifie the people, and say: Sanctifie your selues against to morowe, for so sayde the Lorde God of Israel, there is a dampned thyng among you, O Israel: and therfore ye cannot stande against your enemies, vntyll ye haue put the dampned thing from among you. 14To morowe morning therfore ye shalbe brought according to your tribes: And the tribe which the Lorde taketh, shal come according to the kinredes therof: And the kinred which the Lorde shall finde giltie, shall come by housholdes: And the housholde which the Lorde shal finde faultie, shall come ma by man. 15And he that is founde with the accursed thing, shalbe burnt with fire, he, and all that he hath, because he hath transgressed the couenaunt of the Lord, and wrought follie in Israel.

The Sin of Achan

16And so Iosuah rose vp early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes, & the tribe of Iuda was caught. 17And he brought the kinredes of Iuda, and toke the kinred of the Zarehites: And he brought the kinred of the Zarehites man by ma, & Zabdi was caught. 18And he brought his housholde man by man, & Achan the sonne of Charmi, the sone of Zabdi, ye sonne of Zared of the tribe of Iuda, was caught. 19And Iosuah sayde vnto Achan: My sonne, I beseche thee geue glorie to the Lorde God of Israel, and make confession vnto him, and shewe me what thou hast done, hyde it not from me. 20And Achan auswered Iosuah, & sayd: Of a trueth I haue sinned against the Lorde God of Israel, and thus & thus haue I done. 21I sawe among the spoyles a goodly babilonishe garment, and two hundred sicles of siluer, and a tonge of golde of fiftie sicles wayghte, and I coueted them, and toke them: and beholde they lye hyd in the earth in the middest of my tent, and the siluer is ther vnder.

22And so Iosuah sent messegers: which whe they ranne vnto his tent, beholde they were hyd in his tent, and the siluer ther vnder. 23Therfore they toke them out of the middest of his tent, and brought them vnto Iosuah, and vnto all the children of Israel, and layed them out before the Lorde. 24And Iosuah toke Achan the sonne of Zareth, and the siluer, and the garmet, and the tonge of gold, and his sonnes, and his daughters, & his oxen, and his asses, his sheepe, his tent, and al that he had: and al Israel with him brought them vnto the valley of Achor. 25And Iosuah sayde: In as much as thou hast troubled vs, the Lorde shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned hym with stones, and burned them with fire, and ouerwhelmed them with stones. 26And they cast vpon hym a great heape of stones vnto this day: And so the Lord turned from the wrath of his indignation. And the name of the place is called the valley of Achor vnto this day.