1All the Amorite and Canaanite kings heard how the LORD had dried up the River Jordan. They heard how he had dried it up for the Israelites until they had gone across it. The Amorite kings lived west of the Jordan. The kings of Canaan lived along the Mediterranean Sea. When all those kings heard what the LORD had done, they were terrified. They weren’t brave enough to face the Israelites anymore.
Circumcision and Passover at Gilgal
2At that time the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Make knives out of flint. Use them to circumcise the men of Israel.’3So Joshua made knives out of flint. Then he used them to circumcise the men of Israel at Gibeath Haaraloth.4Here is why Joshua circumcised them. All the men who came out of Egypt had died. They died while they were wandering through the Sinai Desert. They were the men old enough to serve in the army.5All the men who came out had been circumcised. But all the men born in the desert during the journey from Egypt hadn’t been circumcised.6The Israelites had moved around in the desert for 40 years. By the end of that time all the men old enough to serve in the army when they left Egypt had died. That’s because they hadn’t obeyed the LORD. He had made a promise to them. He had told them they wouldn’t see the land. It’s the land he had promised to their people to give us. It’s a land that has plenty of milk and honey.7Because they hadn’t obeyed him, he raised up their sons to take their place. They were the ones Joshua circumcised. They hadn’t been circumcised yet. That’s because no one had circumcised them during the journey.8So Joshua circumcised all those men. The whole nation remained in the camp until the men were healed.9Then the LORD spoke to Joshua. He said, ‘Today I have taken away from you the shame of being slaves in Egypt.’ That’s why the place where the men were circumcised has been called Gilgal to this very day.10The Israelites celebrated the Passover Feast. They observed it on the evening of the 14th day of the month. They did it while they were camped at Gilgal on the plains around Jericho.11The day after the Passover, they ate some of the food grown in the land. On that same day they ate corn that had been cooked. They also ate bread made without yeast.12The manna stopped coming down the day after they ate the food grown in the land. The Israelites didn’t have manna anymore. Instead, that year they ate food grown in Canaan.
Israel captures Jericho
13When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him. The man was holding a sword. He was ready for battle. Joshua went up to him. He asked, ‘Are you on our side? Or are you on the side of our enemies?’14‘I am not on either side,’ he replied. ‘I have come as the commander of the LORD’s army.’ Then Joshua fell with his face to the ground. He asked the man, ‘What message does my Lord have for me?’15The commander of the LORD’s army replied, ‘Take off your sandals. The place you are standing on is holy ground.’ So Joshua took them off.
Joshua 5
English Standard Version
The New Generation Circumcised
1As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. (Ex 15:14; Nu 13:29; Jos 2:11; 1Ki 10:5)2At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” (Ex 4:25)3So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.[1]4And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all 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. (Nu 14:29; Nu 26:64; De 2:16; Ps 106:26; 1Co 10:5; Heb 3:17)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 forty 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 swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. (Ex 3:8; Nu 14:23; Nu 14:33; De 1:3; De 2:7; De 2:14; De 8:4; Ps 95:10; Ps 95:11; Heb 3:11)7So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way. (Nu 14:31; De 1:39)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 reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal[2] to this day. (Ge 34:14; Jos 4:19)
First Passover in Canaan
10While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. (Ex 12:6; Nu 9:5)11And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.12And the 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. (Ex 16:35)
The Commander of the Lord’s Army
13When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” (Ge 18:2; Ge 32:24; Ex 23:20; Ex 23:23; Nu 22:23; Nu 22:31; Ac 1:10)14And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped[3] and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” (Ge 17:3)15And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. (Ex 3:5; Ac 7:33)