“It is true,” Achan replied, “I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I did:
Parallel translations
- WEB Achan answered Joshua, and said, “I have truly sinned against Yahweh, the God of Israel, and this is what I have done.
- KJV And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
- NKJV And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I have done:
- NASB So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and this is what I did:
- NLT Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Achan openly confesses that he has sinned against Yahweh and prepares to detail his offense. He admits guilt without excuse.
Overview
Achan's confession is direct: he acknowledges that his crime is ultimately against God, not merely against Israel. True confession names sin honestly and traces it to its offense against the Lord, as David later does in Psalm 51. Yet confession here comes too late to avert temporal judgment, reminding us that the time to forsake sin is before it bears its bitter fruit.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 38:18Yes, I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.
- Gen 42:21Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”
- 1 Sam 15:30“I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”
- Matt 27:4“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.”
- Job 7:20If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You?
- Num 22:34“I have sinned,” Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “for I did not realize that you were standing in the road to confront me. And now, if this is displeasing in your sight, I will go back home.”
- Job 33:27Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved.
- Exod 10:16Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.
- 1 Sam 15:24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 7:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.