² At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives, and circumcise the sons of Israel again, a second time.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives, and he circumcised the sons of Israel at the Hill of the Foreskins.

⁴ This is the reason Joshua had to circumcise the men of Israel again: All the people who came up out of Egypt—all the males, the fighting men—died in the wilderness along the way after they came out of Egypt. ⁵ All the people who came out of Egypt had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey after they had come out from Egypt had not been circumcised. ⁶ Yes, for forty years the Israelites walked through the wilderness until the whole nation was gone—all the fighting men who had gone out from Egypt, who had not listened to the voice of the Lord. The Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ So it was their sons, whom the Lord had raised up in their place, whom Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised, since the people had not circumcised them during the journey.

⁸ When the whole nation had been circumcised, they stayed at their places in the camp until they recuperated.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is Gilgal^[a] to this day.