Israel Defeated at Ai

7 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for ^(A)Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.

² Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near ^(B)Beth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. ³ And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” ⁴ So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And ^(C)they fled before the men of Ai, ⁵ and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people ^(D)melted and became as water.

⁶ Then Joshua ^(E)tore his clothes and ^(F)fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put ^(G)dust on their heads. ⁷ And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, ^(H)why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! ⁸ O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! ⁹ For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and ^(I)cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?”

The Sin of Achan

¹⁰ The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have ^(J)transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the ^(K)devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. ^12 (L)Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They ^(M)turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become ^(N)devoted for destruction.^[a] I will be with you no more, unless you destroy ^(O)the devoted things from among you. ¹³ Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ^(P)‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” ¹⁴ In the morning therefore you shall be brought near ^(Q)by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. ^15 (R)And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has ^(S)transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done ^(T)an outrageous thing in Israel.’”

¹⁶ So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. ¹⁷ And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the ^(U)Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. ¹⁸ And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. ¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, ^(V)give glory to the Lord God of Israel and ^(W)give praise^[b] to him. And ^(X)tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” ²⁰ And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly ^(Y)I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: ²¹ when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels,^[c] then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

²² So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. ²³ And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. ²⁴ And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the ^(Z)Valley of Achor. ²⁵ And Joshua said, “Why did you ^(AA)bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel ^(AB)stoned him with stones. ^(AC)They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. ²⁶ And they raised over him ^(AD)a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then ^(AE)the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.^[d]

The Fall of Ai

8 And the Lord said to Joshua, ^(AF)“Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, ^(AG)I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land. ² And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did ^(AH)to Jericho and its king. Only ^(AI)its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”

³ So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. ⁴ And he commanded them, “Behold, ^(AJ)you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. ⁵ And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us ^(AK)just as before, we shall flee before them. ⁶ And they will come out after us, until we have ^(AL)drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. ⁷ Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand. ⁸ And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the Lord. ^(AM)See, I have commanded you.” ⁹ So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people.

¹⁰ Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai. ¹¹ And ^(AN)all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. ¹² He took about 5,000 men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. ¹³ So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley. ¹⁴ And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place^[e] toward ^(AO)the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. ^(AP)But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. ¹⁵ And Joshua and all Israel ^(AQ)pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness. ¹⁶ So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they ^(AR)were drawn away from the city. ¹⁷ Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.

¹⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, ^(AS)“Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city. ¹⁹ And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire. ²⁰ So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. ²¹ And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai. ²² And the others came out from the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And Israel struck them down, until there was ^(AT)left none that survived or escaped. ²³ But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him near to Joshua.

²⁴ When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword. ²⁵ And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai. ²⁶ But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he ^(AU)stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction.^{[f] 27} Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the Lord that he ^(AV)commanded Joshua. ²⁸ So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a ^(AW)heap of ruins, as it is to this day. ^29 (AX)And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. ^(AY)And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and ^(AZ)raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.

Joshua Renews the Covenant

³⁰ At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(BA)on Mount Ebal, ³¹ just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings. ³² And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on ^(BB)the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. ³³ And all Israel, ^(BC)sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests ^(BD)who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, ^(BE)just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel. ³⁴ And afterward ^(BF)he read all the words of the law, ^(BG)the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. ³⁵ There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, ^(BH)and the women, and the little ones, and ^(BI)the sojourners who lived^[g] among them.

^7 (A)Again, I saw vanity under the sun: ⁸ one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his ^(B)eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, ^(C)“For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy ^(D)business.

⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. ¹⁰ For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ¹¹ Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, ^(E)but how can one keep warm alone? ¹² And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

¹³ Better was ^(F)a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how ^(G)to take advice. ¹⁴ For he went ^(H)from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. ¹⁵ I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that^[a] youth who was to stand in the king's^[b] place. ¹⁶ There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is ^(I)vanity and a striving after wind.

Jesus at the Feast of Booths

7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because ^(A)the Jews^[a] were seeking to kill him. ² Now ^(B)the Jews' Feast of ^(C)Booths was at hand. ^3 (D)So his brothers^[b] said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. ⁴ For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, ^(E)show yourself to the world.” ^5 (F)For not even ^(G)his brothers believed in him. ⁶ Jesus said to them, ^(H)“My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but ^(I)it hates me because I testify about it that ^(J)its works are evil. ⁸ You go up to the feast. I am not^[c] going up to this feast, for ^(K)my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

¹⁰ But after ^(L)his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. ^11 (M)The Jews ^(N)were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” ¹² And there was much ^(O)muttering about him among the people. ^(P)While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, ^(Q)he is leading the people astray.” ¹³ Yet ^(R)for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

¹⁴ About the middle of the feast Jesus went up ^(S)into the temple and began teaching. ¹⁵ The Jews therefore ^(T)marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,^[d] when he has never studied?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them, ^(U)“My teaching is not mine, but his ^(V)who sent me. ^17 (W)If anyone's will is to do God's^[e] will, ^(X)he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I ^(Y)am speaking on my own authority. ¹⁸ The one who speaks on his own authority ^(Z)seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. ^19 (AA)Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. ^(AB)Why do you seek to kill me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, ^(AC)“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did ^(AD)one work, and you all marvel at it. ^22 (AE)Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but ^(AF)from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³ If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, ^(AG)are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? ^24 (AH)Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Can This Be the Christ?

²⁵ Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom ^(AI)they seek to kill? ²⁶ And here he is, ^(AJ)speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that ^(AK)the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷ But ^(AL)we know ^(AM)where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, ^(AN)no one will know where he comes from.” ²⁸ So Jesus proclaimed, ^(AO)as he taught in the temple, ^(AP)“You know me, and you know where I come from. But ^(AQ)I have not come of my own accord. ^(AR)He who sent me is true, ^(AS)and him you do not know. ^29 (AT)I know him, for I come ^(AU)from him, and ^(AV)he sent me.” ^30 (AW)So they were seeking to arrest him, but ^(AX)no one laid a hand on him, ^(AY)because his hour had not yet come. ³¹ Yet ^(AZ)many of the people believed in him. They said, ^(BA)“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd ^(BB)muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent ^(BC)officers to arrest him. ³³ Jesus then said, ^(BD)“I will be with you a little longer, and then ^(BE)I am going to him who sent me. ^34 (BF)You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” ³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? ^(BG)Does he intend to go to ^(BH)the Dispersion among ^(BI)the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does he mean by saying, ^(BJ)‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Rivers of Living Water

^37 (BK)On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ^(BL)“If anyone thirsts, let him ^(BM)come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, ^(BN)as^[f] the Scripture has said, ^(BO)‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of ^(BP)living water.’” ³⁹ Now ^(BQ)this he said about the Spirit, ^(BR)whom those who believed in him were to receive, ^(BS)for as yet the Spirit had not been ^(BT)given, ^(BU)because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

⁴⁰ When they heard these words, ^(BV)some of the people said, “This really is ^(BW)the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “This is ^(BX)the Christ.” But some said, ^(BY)“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes ^(BZ)from the offspring of David, and comes ^(CA)from Bethlehem, the village ^(CB)where David was?” ⁴³ So there was ^(CC)a division among the people over him. ^44 (CD)Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

^45 (CE)The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” ⁴⁶ The officers answered, ^(CF)“No one ever spoke like this man!” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees answered them, ^(CG)“Have you also been deceived? ^48 (CH)Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” ^50 (CI)Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ^51 (CJ)“Does our law judge a man without first ^(CK)giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” ⁵² They replied, ^(CL)“Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that ^(CM)no prophet arises from Galilee.”

[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.]^[g]

The Woman Caught in Adultery

⁵³ [[They went each to his own house,