Beginning

Israel’s Enemies Become Discouraged

5 All the Amorite kings who lived across the Jordan River to the west and all the Canaanite kings by the Mediterranean^[a] Sea became discouraged as soon as they heard that the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan River for the people of Israel until they had crossed it. They no longer had a will to fight^[b] because of the people of Israel.

A New Generation is Circumcised

² At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make for yourselves some flint knives and circumcise the Israelis who haven’t been circumcised yet.”^[c]

³ So Joshua made some flint knives and circumcised the Israelis at Gibeath-haaraloth.^{[d] 4} Joshua circumcised them because all of the males among the people who came out of Egypt—that is, all the warriors—had died during their journey through the wilderness following their departure from Egypt. ⁵ Although everyone who had left Egypt had been circumcised, nevertheless all the people born during the journey after their departure from Egypt had not been circumcised. ⁶ The Israelis traveled 40 years in the wilderness until the entire nation—that is, the warriors who had departed from Egypt—had perished because they hadn’t listened to the voice of the Lord. The Lord had promised them that he would not let them see the land that he had sworn to give us, a land that flows with milk and honey. ⁷ As a result, it was their descendants, whom he raised up to take their place, that Joshua circumcised. They had remained uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised during their journey. ⁸ When the circumcision of the entire nation was complete, they remained in their places within the camp until they were healed.

⁹ Then the Lord told Joshua, “Today I have rolled the disgrace of Egypt away from you.” That’s why that place is called “Gilgal”^[e] to this day.

The Manna Ceases

¹⁰ While the Israelis remained encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they observed the Passover during the evening of the fourteenth day of the month. ¹¹ On the day following Passover—on that exact day—they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹² The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land. Since the Israelis no longer received manna, they ate crops from the land of Canaan that year.

Joshua is Visited by the Lord

¹³ Now it happened that while Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and much to his amazement, he saw a man standing in front of him, holding a drawn sword in his hand! Joshua approached him and asked him, “Are you one of us, or are you with our enemies?”

¹⁴ “Neither,” he answered. “I have come as commander of the Lord’s Army.”

Joshua immediately fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, saying to him, “Lord, what do you have for your servant by way of command?”

¹⁵ The commander of the Lord’s Army replied to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you’re standing is holy.” So Joshua did so.

Instructions for Joshua

6 Meanwhile, Jericho was fortified inside and out because of the Israelis. Nobody could leave or enter.

² The Lord told Joshua, “Look! I have given Jericho over to your control,^[f] along with its kings and valiant soldiers. ³ March around the city, all the soldiers circling the city once. Do this for six days, ⁴ with seven priests carrying in front of the ark seven trumpets made from rams’ horns. On the seventh day march around the city seven times while the priests blow their trumpets. ⁵ When they sound a long blast with the ram’s horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then the entire army is to cry out loud, the city wall will collapse, and then all of the soldiers are to charge straight ahead.”

The Destruction of Jericho

⁶ So Nun’s son Joshua called for the priests. “Pick up the Ark of the Covenant,” he told them, “and have seven priests carry seven trumpets made from rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.”

⁷ He told the army, “Go out and encircle the city. Have the armed men march out in front of the ark of the Lord.”

⁸ And so, just as Joshua had commanded, seven of the priests went forward, carrying the seven trumpets made of rams’ horns in the Lord’s presence, blowing the trumpets while the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord followed them. ⁹ Armed men preceded the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and a rear guard followed the ark, while the trumpets continued to blow.

¹⁰ Joshua issued orders to the army: “You are not to shout or even let your voice be heard. Don’t utter a word until I tell you to shout. Then shout!” ¹¹ So the ark of the Lord was taken once around the city, then they went back to camp and spent the night there.^[g]

¹² Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests picked up the ark of the Lord. ¹³ The seven priests who carried the seven trumpets made from rams’ horns preceded the ark of the Lord, blowing their trumpets constantly. The armed men preceded them, and the rear guard followed the ark of the Lord, while the trumpets continued to blow. ¹⁴ On the second day they marched around the city once and then went back to camp. They did this for six days. ¹⁵ They rose early at dawn on the seventh day and marched around the city seven times, just as they had before, except that on that day only they marched around the city seven times.

¹⁶ As they completed the seventh time, after the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua told the army, “Shout, because the Lord has given you the city! ¹⁷ The city—along with everything in it—is to be turned over to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone who is with her in her house may live, because she hid the scouts we sent. ¹⁸ Now as for you, everything has been turned over for destruction. Don’t covet or take any of these things. Otherwise, you’ll make the camp of Israel itself an object worthy of destruction, and bring trouble on it. ¹⁹ But everything made of silver and gold, and vessels made of bronze and iron are set apart to the Lord. They are to go into the treasury of the Lord.”

²⁰ So the army shouted and the trumpets were blown again. As soon as the army heard the sound of the trumpets, they shouted loudly and the wall collapsed. The army charged straight ahead into the city and captured it. ²¹ They turned over everyone in the city for destruction and executed them,^[h] including both men and women, young and old, and oxen, sheep, and donkeys.

²² Joshua told the two men who had scouted the land, “Go into the prostitute’s home and bring her out of it, along with everyone who is with her, just as you promised her.” ²³ So the young men who had been scouts went in and brought Rahab out, along with her father, her mother, her brothers, and everyone else who was with her. They brought her entire family out and set them outside the camp of Israel. ²⁴ Then the army set fire to the city and to everything in it, except that they reserved the silver, gold, and vessels of bronze and iron for the treasury of the Lord. ²⁵ But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, along with her family and everyone who was with her. Her family^[i] has lived in Israel ever since, because she hid the scouts whom Joshua sent to observe Jericho.

Joshua Curses the Rebuilding of Jericho

²⁶ Then Joshua made everyone^[j] take the following oath at that time. He said:

²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua, and as a result, Joshua’s^[m] reputation spread throughout the land.

Israel is Defeated at Ai

7 Later, the Israelis broke their promise regarding the things that had been turned over to destruction. Carmi’s son Achan, grandson of Zabdi and great-grandson of Zerah from the tribe of Judah, appropriated some of the things that had been turned over to destruction. As a result, the Lord became angry with the Israelis.

² Meanwhile, Joshua had sent some soldiers from Jericho to Ai, which was near Beth-aven, east of Bethel. He ordered them, “Go up and scout the land.” So the soldiers went up and scouted Ai and ³ returned to Joshua.

“Not all of the people need to go up,” they reported. “Only about two or three thousand men should attack Ai. Since they are so few, don’t make all of the army work hard up there.”

⁴ So about three thousand went up there, but they ran away from the men of Ai. ⁵ The men of Ai killed about 36 of them, pursuing them outside the city gates as far as Shebarim, killing them as they descended. As a result, the army became terrified and lost their confidence.^{[n] 6} At this, Joshua tore his clothes, fell down to the ground on his face before the ark of the Lord until evening—he and the leaders of Israel—and they covered their heads with dust. ⁷ “Lord God,” Joshua asked, “Why have you brought this people across the Jordan River? To hand us over to the Amorites so we’ll be destroyed? Wouldn’t it have been better for us to be content to settle on the other side of the Jordan? ⁸ Lord, what am I to say, now that Israel has run^[o] away from its enemies? ⁹ The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of this, will surround us, and eliminate us^[p] from the earth! Then what will you do about your great reputation?”^[q]

The Lord Rebukes Joshua

¹⁰ “Get up!” the Lord replied to Joshua. “Why have you fallen on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned. They broke my covenant that I commanded them by taking some of the things that had been turned over to destruction. They have stolen, have been deceitful, and have stored what they stole^[r] among their own belongings. ¹² The Israelis have been unable to stand before their enemies. They’re turning their backs and running from^[s] their enemies because they themselves have been turned over to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy these things that have been turned over to destruction. ¹³ So get up and sanctify the people. Tell them, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, because this is what the Lord God of Israel, says: “There are things turned over to destruction among you, Israel. You won’t be able to defeat your enemies until you remove what has been turned over to destruction. ¹⁴ Tomorrow morning you are to come forward tribe by tribe. The tribe that the Lord selects^[t] is to come forward by tribes, the tribe that the Lord selects is to come forward by households, and the household that the Lord selects is to come forward one by one. ¹⁵ The one selected as having taken what has been turned over to destruction is to be incinerated, along with everything that pertains to him, because he has transgressed against the covenant of the Lord and committed an outrageous thing in Israel.”’”

Achan’s Sin Revealed

¹⁶ So Joshua got up early that morning, brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected. ¹⁷ He brought near the tribes of Judah, and the Zerahite tribe was selected. Then he brought near the Zerahite tribe family by family, and the household of Zabdi was selected. ¹⁸ Next, he brought near his household one by one, and Carmi’s son Achan, grandson of Zabdi and great-grandson of Zerah, was selected from the tribe of Judah.

¹⁹ Joshua then spoke to Achan, “My son, give glory and praise^[u] to the Lord God of Israel.^[v] Tell me right now what you did. Don’t hide anything.”

²⁰ Achan answered Joshua, “It’s true. I’m the one who sinned against the Lord God of Israel. ²¹ I noticed among the war spoils a beautiful mantle from Shinar,^[w] 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels. Because I wanted them, I took them, and they’re buried in the ground inside my tent. The silver is underneath.”

²² So Joshua sent some messengers, who ran to the tent. And there it was, hidden in the tent with the silver underneath. ²³ They took the things from the tent that had been turned over to destruction,^[x] brought them to Joshua and all of the Israelis, and laid them out in the presence of the Lord. ²⁴ Then Joshua, with all Israel accompanying him, took Zerah’s son Achan, along with the silver, the mantle, the gold, his sons, his daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything that belonged to him to the Valley of Achor.

²⁵ Joshua announced, “Why did you bring trouble to us? Today the Lord is bringing trouble to you!” So all Israel stoned him to death, incinerated them, and buried them with stones, ²⁶ piling up a large mound of boulders that remains to this day. After this, the Lord turned his burning anger away, and that is why that place is called “the Valley of Achor”^[y] to this day.

The Destruction of Ai

8 The Lord then told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid or lose heart! Take all the fighting men with you, and go up right now to Ai. Take note that I have handed over the king of Ai into your control, along with his people, his city, and his land. ² Do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, but take its spoil and its livestock as war booty for yourselves. Set an ambush around the city.”

³ So Joshua and all of the fighting men prepared to go out against Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 valiant warriors and sent them out by night, ⁴ telling them, “Pay attention now! You are to set up an ambush around the city. Don’t go very far from the city, and all of you remain on alert. ⁵ I and all of the army with me will advance upon the city. When they come out after us like they did before, we’ll run away from them. ⁶ They’ll come after us until we’ve drawn them away from the city, because they’ll say, ‘They’re running away from us just like they did before.’ While we’re running away from them, ⁷ you get up from the ambush and seize the city, because the Lord your God will give it into your control. ⁸ When you’ve taken the city, set it on fire, just as the Lord ordered. Look! These are your orders!”^{[z] 9} So Joshua sent them out, and they set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai.

Joshua spent that night in the camp^[aa] among the army. ¹⁰ In the morning, Joshua got up early, mustered his army, and set off for Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel in full view of the army. ¹¹ The entire fighting force with him attacked, approaching the city, and camped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. ¹² Taking about 5,000 men, he set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai to the west of the city, ¹³ stationing their forces with its main encampment north of the city and its rear guard to the west. Joshua spent that night in the valley.

¹⁴ When the king of Ai saw what had happened,^[ab] he and his army quickly got up early and went out to meet Israel in battle. He and all his people met at the place adjacent to the desert plain. But he didn’t know about the ambush that had been set for him on the other side of the city. ¹⁵ Because Joshua and the entire fighting force of^[ac] Israel pretended to lose the battle by running away in front of them toward the wilderness, ¹⁶ everyone in the city followed after them. As they pursued Joshua, they were drawn away from the town. ¹⁷ There wasn’t a single man left in Ai or Bethel who didn’t run out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.

¹⁸ Then the Lord told Joshua, “Stretch out the battle lance^[ad] that’s in your hand toward Ai, because I will give it into your control.” So Joshua stretched out the battle lance^[ae] that was in his hand toward the city. ¹⁹ As soon as he stretched out his hand, the troops in ambush quickly got up from their place of hiding^[af] and attacked. They entered the city, seized it, and immediately set it^[ag] on fire.

²⁰ Then the men of Ai looked back behind them—and all of a sudden!—smoke from the city was rising into the sky. They were unable to run in any direction, because the Israelis^[ah] who had fled toward the wilderness had turned around to attack their pursuers. ²¹ When Joshua and the entire fighting force of^[ai] Israel observed that the men who had been in ambush had seized the city and that the smoke from the city was rising, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. ²² Then the others came out from the city against them, so the men of Ai^[aj] were surrounded by the Israelis, some on one side and some on the other. Israel attacked them until no one was left to survive or escape. ²³ But the king of Ai was taken alive and brought to Joshua.

²⁴ When Israel had completed executing all of the residents of Ai in the open wilderness where they had chased them, and after all of them—to the very last of them—had been killed by swords, the entire fighting force of^[ak] Israel returned to Ai and attacked it with swords. ²⁵ The total of all who fell that day, including men and women, was 12,000—the entire population of Ai. ²⁶ Joshua did not cease his attack^[al] until he had completely destroyed every inhabitant of Ai. ²⁷ Israel took only the livestock and the spoil of that city as their war booty, in accordance with what the Lord had commanded to Joshua. ²⁸ Joshua burned Ai, turning it into a permanent mound of ruins, and it remains so to this day. ²⁹ He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until dusk, and at sunset Joshua ordered his body brought down from the tree and laid at the entrance to the gate of the town. There he raised over it a large mound of stones, which stands there to this day.^[am]

Joshua Renews the Covenant

³⁰ Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, ³¹ just the way Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelis in the Book of the Law of Moses: “…an altar of uncut^[an] stones that hasn’t been worked with iron tools…”^[ao] and they offered burnt offerings to the Lord on it, along with peace offerings.

³² There Joshua^[ap] inscribed on stones a copy of the Law of Moses that Moses had presented to^[aq] the Israelis. ³³ All Israel, both foreigners and citizens, together with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on opposite sides of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. Half stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half stood in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses, the Lord’s servant had commanded at the first, so that they could bless the people of Israel.^{[ar] 34} Afterwards, Joshua^[as] read all the words of the Law—both the blessings and the curses—according to everything written in the Book of the Law.^{[at] 35} There wasn’t one word of everything Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read in front of the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, their little ones, and the foreigners who lived among them.