Joshua 7:13

13 Rise, sanctify the people and tell them to sanctify themselves for the morrow: thus says the Lord God of Israel, The accursed thing is among you; ye shall not be able to stand before your enemies, until ye shall have removed the cursed thing from among you.

Joshua 7:13 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 7:13

Up, sanctify the people
The word "up" not only signifies getting up from the ground on which he lay, but to bestir himself, and to be active in what he would now be enjoined and directed to do, and in the first place to "sanctify the people", that is, by giving them orders to do it themselves:

and say, sanctify yourselves against tomorrow;
either by some ceremonial ablutions, or by the performance of moral duties, as prayer, repentance, and good works; or rather, they were to "prepare" themselves, as the Targum and Kimchi interpret it, to get ready against the morrow, and expect to be thoroughly searched, in order to find out the person who had taken the accursed thing:

for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, [there is] an accursed thing in
the midst of thee, O Israel;
an accursed person, who had taken of what was devoted to the Lord for his own use, and so accursed:

thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the
accursed thing from among you;
by putting him to death.

Joshua 7:13 In-Context

11 The people has sinned, and transgressed the covenant which I made with them; they have stolen from the cursed thing, and put it into their store.
12 And the children of Israel will not be able to stand before their enemies; they will turn their back before their enemies, for they have become an accursed thing: I will not any longer be with you, unless ye remove the cursed thing from yourselves.
13 Rise, sanctify the people and tell them to sanctify themselves for the morrow: thus says the Lord God of Israel, The accursed thing is among you; ye shall not be able to stand before your enemies, until ye shall have removed the cursed thing from among you.
14 And ye shall all be gathered together by your tribes in the morning, and it shall come to pass that the tribe which the Lord shall shew, ye shall bring by families; and the family which the Lord shall shew, ye shall bring by households; and the household which the Lord shall shew, ye shall bring man by man.
15 And the man who shall be pointed out, shall be burnt with fire, and all that he has; because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and has wrought wickedness in Israel.

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.