Joshua 7:6-15
New Catholic Bible
6 Joshua tore his clothes and threw himself face down on the earth in front of the Ark of the Lord, remaining there until the evening. The elders of Israel did the same, tossing dust upon their heads. 7 [a]Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord, why did you bring this people across the Jordan just to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites so they could destroy us? It would have been better if we had stayed on the other side of the Jordan. 8 O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has fled before its enemies? 9 The Canaanites and all of the other inhabitants of the land will surely hear about this. They will surround us and wipe out remembrance of our name from the earth. What would happen to the grandeur of your name?”
10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing on your face? 11 Israel has sinned. They have violated my covenant that I commanded them to observe. They have taken some of the dedicated things for themselves. They have stolen, they have lied, they have placed these things together with their own property. 12 This is why the Israelites could not stand up to their enemies. They turned their backs and fled because they were under a curse. I will not be with you anymore unless you wipe out those who are cursed from your midst. 13 Arise, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “There are things that have been dedicated in your midst, O Israel. You will not be able to stand up to your enemies until you remove the dedicated things from your midst.” 14 In the morning you will present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe that the Lord chooses will present itself clan by clan. The clan that the Lord chooses will present itself family by family. The family that the Lord chooses will present itself person by person.[b] 15 That person who has taken dedicated things will be thrown into the flames, he and all that he owns. He has violated the covenant of the Lord and he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel.’ ”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Joshua 7:7 This informal and heartfelt prayer reveals Joshua’s confusion in the light of defeat. His resort to persuasive questioning of God reveals his weakness and fear (i.e., humanity).
- Joshua 7:14 Tribes, which are subdivisions of nomadic societies, are made up of a number of clans; clans are made up of a number of families that descend from a common ancestor and are united by ties of blood; a family is made up of relatives living together, the head of it having juridical and religious authority.
