Israel Goes Across the Jordan River

3 Early one morning Joshua and all the Israelites started out from Shittim. They went down to the Jordan River. They camped there before they went across it. ² After three days the officers went all through the camp. ³ They gave orders to the people. They said, “Watch for the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. The priests, who are Levites, will be carrying it. When you see it, you must move out from where you are and follow it. ⁴ Then you will know which way to go. You have never gone this way before. But don’t go near the ark. Stay about 1,000 yards away from it.”

⁵ Joshua said to the people, “Set yourselves apart to the Lord. Tomorrow he’ll do amazing things among you.”

⁶ Joshua said to the priests, “Go and get the ark of the covenant. Walk on ahead of the people.” So they went and got it. Then they walked on ahead of them.

⁷ The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to honor you in the eyes of all the Israelites. Then they will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses. ⁸ Speak to the priests who carry the ark of the covenant. Tell them, ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan River, go into the water and stand there.’ ”

⁹ Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here. Listen to what the Lord your God is saying. ¹⁰ You will soon know that the living God is among you. He will certainly drive out the people now living in the land. He’ll do it to make room for you. He’ll drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. ¹¹ The ark will go into the Jordan River ahead of you. It’s the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth. ¹² Choose 12 men from the tribes of Israel. Choose one from each tribe. ¹³ The priests will carry the ark of the Lord. He’s the Lord of the whole earth. As soon as the priests step into the Jordan, it will stop flowing. The water that’s coming down the river will pile up in one place. That’s how you will know that the living God is among you.”

¹⁴ So the people took their tents down. They prepared to go across the Jordan River. The priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. ¹⁵ The water of the Jordan was going over its banks. It always does that at the time the crops are being gathered. The priests came to the river. Their feet touched the water’s edge. ¹⁶ Right away the water coming down the river stopped flowing. It piled up far away at a town called Adam near Zarethan. The water flowing down to the Dead Sea was completely cut off. So the people went across the Jordan River opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ The priests carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. They stopped in the middle of the river and stood on dry ground. They stayed there until the whole nation of Israel had gone across on dry ground.

5 All the Amorite and Canaanite kings heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan River. 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

² At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make knives out of flint. Use them to circumcise the men of Israel.” ³ So Joshua made knives out of flint. Then he used them to circumcise the men of Israel at Gibeath Haaraloth.

⁴ Here 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. ⁵ All 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. ⁶ The 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. ⁷ Because 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. ⁸ So Joshua circumcised all those men. The whole nation remained in the camp until the men were healed.

⁹ Then 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.

¹⁰ The 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. ¹¹ The day after the Passover, they ate some of the food grown in the land. On that same day they ate grain that had been cooked. They also ate bread made without yeast. ¹² The 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

¹³ When 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?”

¹⁵ The 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.

6 The gates of Jericho were shut tight and guarded closely because of the Israelites. No one went out. No one came in.

² Then the Lord said to Joshua, “I have handed Jericho over to you. I have also handed over to you its king and its fighting men. ³ March around the city once with all your fighting men. In fact, do it for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests get trumpets made out of rams’ horns. They must carry them in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times. Tell the priests to blow the trumpets as you march. ⁵ You will hear them blow a long blast on the trumpets. When you do, tell the whole army to give a loud shout. The wall of the city will fall down. Then the whole army will march up to the city. Everyone will go straight in.”

⁶ So Joshua, the son of Nun, called for the priests. He said to them, “Go and get the ark of the covenant of the Lord. I want seven of you to carry trumpets in front of it.” ⁷ He gave an order to the army. He said, “Move out! March around the city. Some of the fighting men must march in front of the ark of the Lord.”

⁸ When Joshua had spoken to the men, the seven priests went forward. They were carrying the seven trumpets as they marched in front of the ark of the Lord. They were blowing the trumpets. The ark of the Lord’s covenant was carried behind the priests. ⁹ Some of the fighting men marched ahead of the priests who were blowing the trumpets. The others followed behind the ark and guarded all the priests. That whole time the priests were blowing the trumpets. ¹⁰ But Joshua had given an order to the army. He had said, “Don’t give a war cry. Don’t raise your voices. Don’t say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” ¹¹ So he had the ark of the Lord carried around the city once. Then the army returned to camp. They spent the night there.

¹² Joshua got up early the next morning. The priests went and got the ark of the Lord. ¹³ The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets started out. They marched in front of the ark of the Lord. They blew the trumpets. Some of the fighting men marched ahead of them. The others followed behind the ark and guarded all of them. The priests kept blowing the trumpets. ¹⁴ On the second day they marched around the city once. Then the army returned to camp. They did all those things for six days.

¹⁵ On the seventh day, they got up at sunrise. They marched around the city, just as they had done before. But on that day they went around it seven times. ¹⁶ On the seventh time around, the priests blew a long blast on the trumpets. Then Joshua gave a command to the army. He said, “Shout! The Lord has given you the city! ¹⁷ The city and everything in it must be set apart to the Lord to be destroyed. But the prostitute Rahab and all those with her in her house must be spared. That’s because she hid the spies we sent. ¹⁸ But keep away from the things that have been set apart to the Lord. If you take any of them, you will be destroyed. And you will bring trouble on the camp of Israel. You will cause it to be destroyed. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold is holy. It is set apart to the Lord. So are all the things made out of bronze and iron. All those things must be added to the treasures kept in the Lord’s house.”

²⁰ The priests blew the trumpets. As soon as the army heard the sound, they gave a loud shout. Then the wall fell down. Everyone charged straight in. So they took the city. ²¹ They set it apart to the Lord to be destroyed. They destroyed every living thing in it with their swords. They killed men and women. They wiped out young people and old people. They destroyed cattle, sheep and donkeys.

²² Then Joshua spoke to the two men who had gone in to check out the land. He said, “Go into the prostitute’s house. Bring her out. Also bring out everyone with her. That’s what you promised her you would do.” ²³ So the young men who had checked out the land went into Rahab’s house. They brought her out along with her parents and brothers and sisters. They brought out everyone else there with her. They put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

²⁴ Then they burned the whole city and everything in it. But they added the silver and gold to the treasures kept in the Lord’s house. They also put there the things made out of bronze and iron. ²⁵ But Joshua spared the prostitute Rahab. He spared her family. He also spared everyone else in the house with her. He did it because she hid the spies he had sent to Jericho. Rahab lives among the Israelites to this day.

²⁶ At that time Joshua made a promise and called down a curse. He said, “May the person who tries to rebuild this city of Jericho be under the Lord’s curse.

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua. And Joshua became famous everywhere in the land.