This unlooked-for reverse excited the profoundest despondency in the Israelitish camp. Joshua and the elders, with dust upon their heads, lay till eventide upon the ground before the Ark, which had so lately been led triumphantly round Jericho, anticipated nothing less than a general attack of the collected Canaanites, emboldened by the discomfiture of the people. From this dejection they were roused by the Voice of the Captain of the Lord’s Host informing them that the Israelites themselves were the cause of this defeat; they had not kept themselves from _the accursed thing_ in the devoted city of Jericho, but had taken and concealed a portion of the spoil, nor till atonement was made for this sin, could they expect any further success to attend their arms. On the morrow, therefore, all Israel was assembled by their tribes, and an appeal was made to the sacred Lot to discover the offender. The tribe of Judah having been taken, its clans, families, and households were successively led forth, and at length the transgressor was found in the person of ACHAN, the son of Carmi. Adjured by Joshua to make a full confession, he owned that from the spoils of Jericho he had secretly set aside a richly ornamented Babylonish or Assyrian robe[149], 200 shekels of silver, and a solid wedge of gold weighing 50 shekels, and had hidden them in the ground under his tent. Thither messengers were sent, and there the stolen property was found, and spread before the assembled host. Achan was then taken to a valley south or south-west of Jericho, and there stoned to death, together with his sons, his daughters, and all his family; their remains together with his tent, the stolen property, and all his possessions were then burnt with fire, while a great mound of stones was set up over the scene of the execution, and the valley was henceforth known as that of Achor (_trouble_).