And the sons of Israel committed a great trespass and pilfered from the devoted thing; and Achar son of Charmi, son of Zambri, son of Zara, of the tribe of Judah, took from the devoted thing. And the Lord was kindled with anger against the sons of Israel.
And they returned to Joshua and said to him: Let not all the people go up, but let about two thousand or three thousand men go up and take the city by siege; do not lead all the people up there, for they are few.
And the men of Ai killed about thirty-six men of them, and pursued them from the gate and crushed them on the slope. And the heart of the people was dismayed and became like water.
And Joshua tore his garments and fell to the ground on his face before the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel, and they put dust on their heads.
And Joshua said: I beg you, Lord, why did your servant bring this people across the Jordan, to hand it over to the Amorite, to destroy us? If only we had stayed and been settled beside the Jordan!
The people has sinned and has transgressed the covenant which I made with them; and stealing from the devoted thing they have put it among their own goods.
The sons of Israel will not be able to stand before their enemies; they will turn their neck before their enemies, because they have become a devoted thing. I will not continue to be with you any longer unless you remove the devoted thing from among yourselves.
Arise, sanctify the people, and say that they be sanctified for tomorrow. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: The devoted thing is among you; you will not be able to stand against your enemies until you remove the devoted thing from among you.
And you shall all be gathered in the morning by tribes; and the tribe which the Lord shall point out, you shall bring near by clans; and the clan which the Lord shall point out, you shall bring near by household; and the household which the Lord shall point out, you shall bring near man by man.
And whoever is pointed out shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he transgressed the covenant of the Lord and did a lawless thing in Israel.
And Joshua said to Achar: Give glory today to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make confession; and tell me what you have done, and do not hide it from me.
I saw among the plunder a fine multicolored rug, and two hundred didrachmas of silver, and one tongue of gold weighing fifty didrachmas; and coveting them I took them. And behold, they are hidden in the ground inside my tent, and the silver is hidden beneath them.
And Joshua took Achar son of Zara and brought him up to the ravine of Achor, and his sons and his daughters and his calves and his beasts of burden and all his sheep and his tent and all his possessions, and all the people with him; and he brought them up to Emekachor.