Joshua 5

Chapter 5

1 When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coastt heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart and were paralyzed with fear because of them.

Israel Reestablishes Covenant Ceremonies

2 At that time the LORD told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise this second generation of Israelites.t”

3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the entire male population of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.t
4 Joshua had to circumcise them because all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died in the wilderness.5 Those who left Egypt had all been circumcised, but none of those born after the Exodus, during the years in the wilderness, had been circumcised.6 The Israelites had traveled in the wilderness for forty years until all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died. For they had disobeyed the LORD, and the LORD vowed he would not let them enter the land he had sworn to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey.7 So Joshua circumcised their sons—those who had grown up to take their fathers’ places—for they had not been circumcised on the way to the Promised Land.

8 After all the males had been circumcised, they rested in the camp until they were healed.

9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt.” So that place has been called Gilgalt to this day.
10 While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month.t11 The very next day they began to eat unleavened bread and roasted grain harvested from the land.

12 No manna appeared on the day they first ate from the crops of the land, and it was never seen again. So from that time on the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan.

The LORD’s Commander Confronts Joshua

13 When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”

14 “Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the LORD’s army.”
At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?”

15 The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.

JOSHUA 5

1 The Amorite kings west of the Jordan River and the Canaanite kings along the Mediterranean Sea lost their courage and their will to fight, when they heard how the [Lord] had dried up the Jordan River to let Israel go across.

Israel Gets Ready //To Celebrate Passover

2 While Israel was camped at Gilgal, the [Lord] said, “Joshua, make some flint knivest and circumcise the rest of the Israelite men and boys.”t
3 Joshua made the knives, then circumcised those men and boys at Haaraloth Hill.t

4-7 t This had to be done, because none of Israel's baby boys had been circumcised during the 40 years that Israel had wandered through the desert after leaving Egypt.
And why had they wandered for 40 years? It was because right after they left Egypt, the men in the army had disobeyed the [Lord]. And the [Lord] had said, “None of you men will ever live to see the land that I promised Israel. It is a land rich with milk and honey, and someday your children will live there, but not before you die here in the desert.”

8 Everyone who had been circumcised needed time to heal, and they stayed in camp.

9 The [Lord] told Joshua, “It was a disgrace for my people to be slaves in Egypt, but now I have taken away that disgrace.” So the Israelites named the place Gilgal, t and it still has that name.

10  t Israel continued to camp at Gilgal in the desert near Jericho, and on the fourteenth day of the same month, t they celebrated Passover.

11-12  t The next day, God stopped sending the Israelites mannat to eat each morning, and they started eating food grown in the land of Canaan. They ate roasted graint and thin breadt made of the barley they had gathered from nearby fields.

Israel Captures Jericho

13 One day, Joshua was near Jericho when he saw a man standing some distance in front of him. The man was holding a sword, so Joshua walked up to him and asked, “Are you on our side or on our enemies' side?”

14 “Neither,” he answered. “I am here because I am the commander of the [Lord]'s army.”
Joshua fell to his knees and bowed down to the ground. “I am your servant,” he said. “Tell me what to do.”

15 “Take off your sandals,” the commander answered. “This is a holy place.”
So Joshua took off his sandals.