Joshua 5–12

The New Generation Circumcised

5As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites ^owho were by the sea, ^pheard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts ^qmelted and ^rthere was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.

²At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make ^sflint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” ³So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.^{1 4}And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: ^tall the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. ⁵Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. ⁶For the people of Israel walked ^uforty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord ^vswore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, ^wa land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷So it was ^xtheir children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

⁸When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. ⁹And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the ^yreproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called ^zGilgal² to this day.

First Passover in Canaan

¹⁰While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover ^aon the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. ¹¹And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹²And ^bthe manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

The Commander of the Lord’s Army

¹³When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, ^ca man was standing before him ^dwith his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” ¹⁴And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua ^efell on his face to the earth and worshiped³ and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” ¹⁵And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, ^f“Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

The Fall of Jericho

6Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. ²And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, ^gI have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. ³You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. ⁴Seven priests shall bear seven ^htrumpets of ⁱrams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and ^jthe priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat,¹ and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” ⁶So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.” ⁷And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let ^kthe armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”

⁸And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. ⁹The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the ^lrear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually. ¹⁰But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.” ¹¹So he caused the ark of the Lord to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹²Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and ^mthe priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually. And the armed men were walking before them, and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets blew continually. ¹⁴And the second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did for six days.

¹⁵On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. ¹⁶And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. ¹⁷And the city and all that is within it shall be ⁿdevoted to the Lord for destruction.² Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she ^ohid the messengers whom we sent. ¹⁸But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel ^pa thing for destruction and ^qbring trouble upon it. ¹⁹But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.” ²⁰So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and ^rthe wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. ²¹Then they ^sdevoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

²²But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, ^tas you swore to her.” ²³So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and ^uher father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. ²⁴And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. ^vOnly the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. ²⁵But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And ^wshe has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, ^x“Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho.

“At the cost of his firstborn

shall he lay its foundation,

and at the cost of his youngest son

shall he set up its gates.”

^27ySo the Lord was with Joshua, and ^zhis fame was in all the land.

Israel Defeated at Ai

7But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for ^aAchan 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.

²Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near ^bBeth-aven, east of Bethel, and said to them, “Go up and spy out the land.” And the men went up and spied out Ai. ³And 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.” ⁴So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And ^cthey fled before the men of Ai, ⁵and 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 ^dmelted and became as water.

⁶Then Joshua ^etore his clothes and ^ffell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put ^gdust on their heads. ⁷And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, ^hwhy 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! ⁸O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! ⁹For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and ⁱcut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?”

The Sin of Achan

¹⁰The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? ¹¹Israel has sinned; they have ^jtransgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the ^kdevoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. ^12lTherefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They ^mturn their backs before their enemies, because they have become ⁿdevoted for destruction.¹ I will be with you no more, unless you destroy ^othe devoted things from among you. ¹³Get 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.” ¹⁴In the morning therefore you shall be brought near …