Joshua 5–6

The Second Generation Circumcised

5So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites ^awho were by the sea, ^bheard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until ¹we had crossed over, that ²their heart melted; ^cand there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.

²At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make ^dflint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.” ³So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at ³the hill of the foreskins. ⁴And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: ^eAll the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt. ⁵For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised. ⁶For the children of Israel walked ^fforty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were ⁴consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord—to whom the Lord swore that ^gHe would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, ^h“a land flowing with milk and honey.” ⁷Then Joshua circumcised ⁱtheir sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

⁸So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp ^jtill they were healed. ⁹Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away ^kthe reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called ^lGilgal ⁵to this day.

¹⁰Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover ^mon the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. ¹¹And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and ⁶parched grain, on the very same day. ¹²Then ⁿthe manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

The Commander of the Army of the Lord

¹³And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, ^oa Man stood opposite him ^pwith His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

¹⁴So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

And Joshua ^qfell on his face to the earth and ^rworshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

¹⁵Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, ^s“Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

The Destruction of Jericho

6Now ^aJericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. ²And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! ^bI have given Jericho into your hand, its ^cking, and the mighty men of valor. ³You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. ⁴And seven priests shall bear seven ^dtrumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city ^eseven times, and ^fthe priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

⁶Then 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, “Proceed, and march around the city, and let him who is armed advance before the ark of the Lord.”

⁸So it was, when Joshua had spoken to the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord advanced 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, ^gand the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. ¹⁰Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.” ¹¹So he had ^hthe ark of the Lord circle the city, going around it once. Then they came into the camp and ¹lodged in the camp.

¹²And Joshua rose early in the morning, ⁱand the priests took up the ark of the Lord. ¹³Then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. But the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. ¹⁴And the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days.

¹⁵But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. ¹⁶And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city! ¹⁷Now the city shall be ^jdoomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only ^kRahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because ^lshe hid the messengers that we sent. ¹⁸And you, ^mby all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, ⁿand trouble it. ¹⁹But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are ²consecrated to the Lord; they ³shall come into the treasury of the Lord.”

²⁰So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that ^othe wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. ²¹And they ^putterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

²²But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, “Go into the harlot’s house, and from there bring out the woman and all that she has, ^qas you swore to her.” ²³And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, ^rher father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel. ²⁴But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. ²⁵And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father’s household, and all that she had. So ^sshe dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶Then Joshua ⁴charged them at that time, saying, ^t“Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates.”

²⁷So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout all the country.