Joshua 5
International Children’s Bible
5 So the Lord dried up the Jordan River until the Israelites had crossed it. Now all the kings of the Amorites west of the Jordan heard about it. And the Canaanite kings living by the Mediterranean Sea heard about it. They were very scared. After that they were too afraid to face the Israelites.
The Israelites Are Circumcised
2 At that time the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, “Make knives from flint stones. Circumcise the Israelites again.” 3 So Joshua made knives from flint stones. Then he circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.
4 This is why Joshua circumcised the men: After the Israelites left Egypt, all the men old enough to serve in the army died. They died in the desert on the way out of Egypt. 5 The men who had come out of Egypt had been circumcised. But many were born in the desert on the trip from Egypt. They had not been circumcised. 6 The Israelites had moved about in the desert for 40 years. During that time all the fighting men who had left Egypt had died. This was because they had not obeyed the Lord. So the Lord swore they would not see the land. This was the land he had promised their ancestors to give them. It was a land where much food grows. 7 So their sons took their places. But none of the sons born on the trip from Egypt had been circumcised. So Joshua circumcised them. 8 After all the Israelites had been circumcised, they stayed in camp until they were healed.
9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “As slaves in Egypt you were ashamed. But today I have removed that shame.” So Joshua named that place Gilgal. And it is still named Gilgal today.
10 The people of Israel were still camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho. It was there, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, they celebrated the Passover Feast. 11 The next day after the Passover, the people ate some of the food grown on that land: bread made without yeast and roasted grain. 12 The day they ate this food, the manna stopped coming. The Israelites no longer got the manna from heaven. They ate the food grown in the land of Canaan that year.
13 Joshua was near Jericho. He looked up and saw a man standing in front of him. The man had a sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and asked, “Are you a friend or an enemy?”
14 The man answered, “I am neither one. I have come as the commander of the Lord’s army.”
Then Joshua bowed facedown on the ground. He asked, “Does my master have a command for me, his servant?”
15 The commander of the Lord’s army answered, “Take off your sandals. The place where you are standing is holy.” So Joshua did.
Joshua 5
English Standard Version
The New Generation Circumcised
5 As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites (A)who were by the sea, (B)heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts (C)melted and (D)there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.
2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make (E)flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.[a] 4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: (F)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. 5 Though 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. 6 For the people of Israel walked (G)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 (H)swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, (I)a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So it was (J)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.
8 When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. 9 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the (K)reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called (L)Gilgal[b] to this day.
First Passover in Canaan
10 While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover (M)on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 And (N)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.
The Commander of the Lord's Army
13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, (O)a man was standing before him (P)with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua (Q)fell on his face to the earth and worshiped[c] and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, (R)“Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Footnotes
- Joshua 5:3 Gibeath-haaraloth means the hill of the foreskins
- Joshua 5:9 Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew for to roll
- Joshua 5:14 Or and paid homage
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
