Joshua 5–6

Chapter 5

Israel Is Circumcised

¹Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the ^aCanaanites who were by the sea, ^bheard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until ¹they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.

²At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make for yourself ^aflint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.”

³So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at ¹Gibeath-haaraloth.

⁴This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: ^aall the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way after they came out of Egypt.

⁵For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised.

⁶For the sons of Israel walked ^aforty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, ¹perished because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord, ^bto whom the Lord had sworn that He would not let them see the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁷Their children whom He raised up in their place, Joshua ¹circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them along the way.

⁸Now when they had finished circumcising all the nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they were ¹healed.

⁹Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away ^athe reproach of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called ¹Gilgal to this day.

¹⁰While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal ^athey observed the Passover on the evening of the ^bfourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho.

¹¹On the ¹day after the Passover, on ²that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.

^12aThe manna ceased on the ¹day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.

¹³Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, ^aa man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”

¹⁴He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” And Joshua ^afell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?”

¹⁵The captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, “^aRemove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Chapter 6

The Conquest of Jericho

¹Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in.

²The Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with ^aits king and the valiant warriors.

³“You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days.

⁴“Also seven priests shall carry seven ^atrumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

⁵“It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down ¹flat, and the people will go up every man ²straight ahead.”

⁶So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.”

⁷Then ¹he said to the people, “Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of the Lord.”

⁸And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them.

⁹The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and ^athe rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets.

¹⁰But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!”

¹¹So he had the ark of the Lord ¹taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹²Now Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.

^13aThe seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went before them and ^bthe rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while they continued to blow the trumpets.

¹⁴Thus the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did so for six days.

¹⁵Then on the seventh day they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times.

¹⁶At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “^aShout! For the Lord has given you the city.

¹⁷“The city shall be ^aunder the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord; only Rahab the harlot ¹and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.

¹⁸“But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not ¹covet them and ^atake some of the things under the ban, and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it.

¹⁹“^aBut all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.”

²⁰So the people shouted, and ¹priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and the ^awall fell down ²flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ³ahead, and they took the city.

^21aThey ¹utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

²²Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “^aGo into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.”

²³So the young men who were spies went in and ^abrought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel.

^24aThey burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the ¹house of the Lord.

²⁵However, ^aRahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua ¹spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for ^bshe hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “^aCursed before the Lord is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.”

²⁷So ^athe Lord was with Joshua, and his ^bfame was in all the land.