Joshua 5–6

5All the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the Mediterranean Sea heard that the Lord had dried up the Jordan until the people of Israel had crossed it. They became afraid and lost their courage because of the Israelites.

The Circumcision at Gilgal

²Then the Lord told Joshua, “Make some knives out of flint and circumcise the Israelites.” ³So Joshua did as the Lord had commanded, and he circumcised the Israelites at a place called Circumcision Hill. ^4–6When the people of Israel left Egypt, all the males were already circumcised. However, during the 40 years the people spent crossing the desert, none of the baby boys had been circumcised. Also, by the end of that time all the men who were of fighting age when they left Egypt had died because they had disobeyed the Lord. Just as he had sworn, they were not allowed to see the rich and fertile land that he had promised their ancestors. ⁷The sons of these men had never been circumcised, and it was this new generation that Joshua circumcised.

⁸After the circumcision was completed, the whole nation stayed in the camp until the wounds had healed. ⁹The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have removed from you the disgrace of being slaves in Egypt.” That is why the place was named Gilgal,^b the name it still has.

^10*While the Israelites were camping at Gilgal on the plain near Jericho, they observed Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month. ¹¹The next day was the first time they ate food grown in Canaan: roasted grain and bread made without yeast. ^12*The manna stopped falling then, and the Israelites no longer had any. From that time on they ate food grown in Canaan.

Joshua and the Man with a Sword

¹³While Joshua was near Jericho, he suddenly saw a man standing in front of him, holding a sword. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you one of our soldiers, or an enemy?”

¹⁴“Neither,” the man answered. “I am here as the commander of the Lord’s army.”

Joshua threw himself on the ground in worship and said, “I am your servant, sir. What do you want me to do?”

¹⁵And the commander of the Lord’s army told him, “Take your sandals off; you are standing on holy ground.” And Joshua did as he was told.

The Fall of Jericho

6The gates of Jericho were kept shut and guarded to keep the Israelites out. No one could enter or leave the city. ²The Lord said to Joshua, “I am putting into your hands Jericho, with its king and all its brave soldiers. ³You and your soldiers are to march round the city once a day for six days. ⁴Seven priests, each carrying a trumpet, are to go in front of the Covenant Box. On the seventh day you and your soldiers are to march round the city seven times while the priests blow the trumpets. ⁵Then they are to sound one long note. As soon as you hear it, all the people are to give a loud shout, and the city walls will collapse. Then the whole army will go straight into the city.”

⁶Joshua called the priests and said to them, “Take the Covenant Box, and seven of you go in front of it, carrying trumpets.” ⁷Then he ordered the people to start marching round the city, with an advance guard going on ahead of the Lord’s Covenant Box. ^8–9So, just as Joshua had ordered, an advance guard started out ahead of the priests who were blowing trumpets; behind these came the priests who were carrying the Covenant Box, followed by a rearguard. All this time the trumpets were sounding. ¹⁰But Joshua had ordered the people not to shout, not to say a word until he gave the order. ¹¹So he told this group of men to take the Lord’s Covenant Box round the city once. Then they came back to camp and spent the night there.

^12–13Joshua got up early the next morning, and for the second time the priests and soldiers marched round the city in the same order as the day before: first, the advance guard; next, the seven priests blowing the seven trumpets; then, the priests carrying the Lord’s Covenant Box; and finally, the rearguard. All this time the trumpets were sounding. ¹⁴On this second day they again marched round the city once and then returned to camp. They did this for six days.

¹⁵On the seventh day they got up at daybreak and marched seven times round the city in the same way—this was the only day that they marched round it seven times. ¹⁶The seventh time round, when the priests were about to sound the trumpets, Joshua ordered the people to shout, and he said, “The Lord has given you the city! ¹⁷The city and everything in it must be totally destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only the prostitute Rahab and her household will be spared, because she hid our spies. ¹⁸But you are not to take anything that is to be destroyed; if you do, you will bring trouble and destruction on the Israelite camp. ¹⁹Everything made of silver, gold, bronze, or iron is set apart for the Lord. It is to be put in the Lord’s treasury.”

^20*So the priests blew the trumpets. As soon as the people heard it, they gave a loud shout, and the walls collapsed. Then all the army went straight up the hill into the city and captured it. ²¹With their swords they killed everyone in the city, men and women, young and old. They also killed the cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

²²Joshua then told the two men who had served as spies, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her and her family out, as you promised her.” ²³So they went and brought Rahab out, along with her father and mother, her brothers, and the rest of her family. They took them all, family and slaves, to safety near the Israelite camp. ²⁴Then they set fire to the city and burnt it to the ground, along with everything in it, except the things made of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, which they took and put in the Lord’s treasury. ^25*But Joshua spared the lives of the prostitute Rahab and all her relatives, because she had hidden the two spies that he had sent to Jericho. (Her descendants have lived in Israel to this day.)

^26*At that time Joshua issued a solemn warning: “Anyone who tries to rebuild the city of Jericho will be under the Lord’s curse.

Whoever lays the foundation will lose his eldest son;

Whoever builds the gates will lose his youngest.”

²⁷So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread through the whole country.