Joshua 5

The Message

5 When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and the Canaanite kings along the seacoast heard how God had stopped the Jordan River before the People of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts sank; the courage drained out of them just thinking about the People of Israel.

^2-3At that time God said to Joshua, “Make stone knives and circumcise the People of Israel a second time.” So Joshua made stone knives and circumcised the People of Israel at Foreskins Hill.

^4-7This is why Joshua conducted the circumcision. All the males who had left Egypt, the soldiers, had died in the wilderness on the journey out of Egypt. All the people who had come out of Egypt, of course, had been circumcised, but all those born in the wilderness along the way since leaving Egypt had not been. The fact is that the People of Israel had walked through that wilderness for forty years until the entire nation died out, all the men of military age who had come out of Egypt but had disobeyed the call of God. God vowed that these would never lay eyes on the land God had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. But their children had replaced them. These are the ones Joshua circumcised. They had never been circumcised; no one had circumcised them along the way.

⁸When they had completed the circumcising of the whole nation, they stayed where they were in camp until they were healed.

⁹God said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt.” That’s why the place is called The Gilgal. It’s still called that.

* * *

¹⁰The People of Israel continued to camp at The Gilgal. They celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the plains of Jericho.

^11-12Right away, the day after the Passover, they started eating the produce of that country, unraised bread and roasted grain. And then no more manna; the manna stopped. As soon as they started eating food grown in the land, there was no more manna for the People of Israel. That year they ate from the crops of Canaan.

* * *

¹³And then this, while Joshua was there near Jericho: He looked up and saw right in front of him a man standing, holding his drawn sword. Joshua stepped up to him and said, “Whose side are you on—ours or our enemies’?”

¹⁴He said, “Neither. I’m commander of God’s army. I’ve just arrived.” Joshua fell, face to the ground, and worshiped. He asked, “What orders does my Master have for his servant?”

¹⁵God’s army commander ordered Joshua, “Take your sandals off your feet. The place you are standing is holy.”

Joshua did it.

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.

²At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make ^(E)flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” ³So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.^[a] ⁴And 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. 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 ^(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. ⁷So 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.

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 ^(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

¹⁰While 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. ¹¹And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹²And ^(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

¹³When 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?” ¹⁴And 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?” ¹⁵And 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

Joshua 5

New King James Version

The Second Generation Circumcised

5 So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, 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 from before the children of Israel until ^[a]we had crossed over, that ^[b]their heart melted; ^(C)and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.

²At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make ^(D)flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.” ³So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at ^[c]the hill of the foreskins. ⁴And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: ^(E)All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt. ⁵For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised. ⁶For the children of Israel walked ^(F)forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were ^[d]consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord—to whom the Lord swore that ^(G)He would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, ^(H)“a land flowing with milk and honey.” ⁷Then Joshua circumcised ^(I)their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

⁸So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp ^(J)till they were healed. ⁹Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away ^(K)the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called ^(L)Gilgal^[e] to this day.

¹⁰Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover ^(M)on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. ¹¹And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and ^[f]parched grain, on the very same day. ¹²Then ^(N)the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

The Commander of the Army of the Lord

¹³And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(O)a Man stood opposite him ^(P)with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

¹⁴So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

And Joshua ^(Q)fell on his face to the earth and ^(R)worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

¹⁵Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, ^(S)“Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Footnotes

Joshua 5:1 So with Kt.; Qr., some Heb. mss. and editions, LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. they
Joshua 5:1 their courage failed
Joshua 5:3 Heb. Gibeath Haaraloth
Joshua 5:6 destroyed
Joshua 5:9 Lit. Rolling
Joshua 5:11 roasted

Joshua 5

New International Version

5 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast^(A) heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until they^[a] had crossed over, their hearts melted in fear^(B) and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.

Circumcision and Passover at Gilgal

²At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives^(C) and circumcise^(D) the Israelites again.” ³So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.^[b]

⁴Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of military age^(E)—died in the wilderness on the way after leaving Egypt.^(F) ⁵All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt had not. ⁶The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness^(G) forty years^(H) until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord. For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us,^(I) a land flowing with milk and honey.^(J) ⁷So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. ⁸And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.^(K)

⁹Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal^[c]^(L) to this day.

¹⁰On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month,^(M) while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover.^(N) ¹¹The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land:^(O) unleavened bread^(P) and roasted grain.^(Q) ¹²The manna stopped the day after^[d] they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.^(R)

The Fall of Jericho

¹³Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man^(S) standing in front of him with a drawn sword^(T) in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

¹⁴“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown^(U) to the ground^(V) in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord^[e] have for his servant?”

¹⁵The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.”^(W) And Joshua did so.

Footnotes

Joshua 5:1 Another textual tradition we
Joshua 5:3 Gibeath Haaraloth means the hill of foreskins.
Joshua 5:9 Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew for roll.
Joshua 5:12 Or the day
Joshua 5:14 Or lord

The Message (MSG)

English Standard Version (ESV)

New King James Version (NKJV)

New International Version (NIV)

Joshua 5

The Message