In Jericho, I saw a beautiful coat from Babylonia, about 5 pounds of silver, and about a pound of gold. I wanted these things for myself, so I took them. You will find them buried in the ground under my tent. The silver is under the coat.”
But the Israelites did not obey God. There was a man from the tribe of Judah named Achan son of Carmi, grandson of Zimri, great-grandson of Zerah. Achan kept some of the things that should have been destroyed. So the Lord became very angry with the Israelites.
But soon enough, all those people will laugh at him and tell stories about his defeat. They will laugh and say, ‘It’s too bad that the man who took so many things will not get to keep them! He made himself rich by collecting debts.’
Look at them! They try to hide things from the Lord. They think he will not understand. They do their evil things in darkness. They tell themselves: “No one can see us. No one will know who we are.”