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
Lexham English Bible
The Israelites Are Circumcised
5 And it happened, when 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 heard that Yahweh dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of the Israelites[b] until they crossed over, their hearts melted, and there was no courage left in them[c] because of the presence of the Israelites. [d]
2 At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, “Make for yourself knives of flint, and circumcise the Israelites[e] a second time.” 3 So Joshua made knives of flint, and he circumcised the Israelites[f] at the hill of the foreskins.[g] 4 This is the reason why Joshua circumcised all the people: all the males who went out from Egypt, all the warriors, died in the wilderness as they went out from Egypt on the journey.[h] 5 For all the people who left were circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness on the journey[i] after they left from Egypt were not circumcised. 6 For forty years the Israelites[j] traveled in the wilderness until all the nation, the warriors that left Egypt, perished, because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh. To them Yahweh swore that they would not see the land that he[k] swore to their ancestors[l] to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 And it was their children whom he raised in their place that Joshua circumcised, for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the journey.[m]
The Israelites Celebrate Passover in Canaan
8 And it happened, when all the nation had finished circumcising, they remained where they were in the camp until they recovered. 9 And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” Therefore, the name of that place is called Gilgal[n] to this day. 10 And the Israelites[o] camped at Gilgal, and they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, on the plains of Jericho. 11 On the next day after the Passover, on that[p] very day, they ate from the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted corn. 12 And the manna ceased the day after, when they started eating the produce of the land, and there was no longer manna for the Israelites.[q] They ate from the crop of the land of Canaan in that year.
The Commander of Yahweh’s Army Appears Before Joshua
13 And it happened, when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up,[r] and he saw a man standing opposite him[s] with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said, “Are you with us, or with our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “Neither. I have come now as the commander of Yahweh’s army.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and he bowed down[t] and said to him, “What is my lord commanding his servant?” 15 The commander of Yahweh’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals[u] from your feet,[v] for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Footnotes
- Joshua 5:1 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Joshua 5:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 5:1 Literally “a spirit was no longer in them”
- Joshua 5:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 5:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 5:3 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 5:3 Hebrew “Gibeath-haaraloth”
- Joshua 5:4 Literally “on the road”
- Joshua 5:5 Literally “on the road”
- Joshua 5:6 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 5:6 Hebrew “Yahweh”
- Joshua 5:6 Or “fathers”
- Joshua 5:7 Literally “on the road”
- Joshua 5:9 Hebrew “rolling”
- Joshua 5:10 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 5:11 Literally “this”
- Joshua 5:12 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 5:13 Literally “he lifted up his eyes”
- Joshua 5:13 Literally “against him”
- Joshua 5:14 Or “he worshiped”
- Joshua 5:15 Hebrew “sandal”
- Joshua 5:15 Hebrew “foot”
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