Joshua 5
New Living Translation
5 When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast[a] 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.[b]” 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the entire male population of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.[c]
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 Gilgal[d] 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.[e] 11 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
New American Standard Bible
Israel Is Circumcised
5 Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the (A)Canaanites who were by the sea, (B)heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until [a]they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.
2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make for yourself (C)flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.” 3 So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at [b]Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: (D)all 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. 5 For 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. 6 For the sons of Israel walked (E)forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, [c]perished because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord, (F)to 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. 7 So their children whom He raised up in their place, Joshua [d]circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them along the way.
8 Now when they had finished circumcising all the nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they recovered. 9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away (G)the shame of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called [e]Gilgal to this day.
10 While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal (H)they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the (I)fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. 11 Then on the day after the Passover, on [f]that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted grain. 12 And (J)the manna ceased on the day 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.
13 Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, he raised his eyes and looked, and behold, (K)a 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 enemies?” 14 He said, “No; rather I have come now as captain of the army of the Lord.” And Joshua (L)fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” 15 And the captain of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “(M)Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Footnotes
- Joshua 5:1 Other mss we
- Joshua 5:3 I.e., the hill of the foreskins
- Joshua 5:6 Lit were finished
- Joshua 5:7 Lit circumcised them
- Joshua 5:9 I.e., wheel, or stone circle
- Joshua 5:11 Lit this
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
