Beginning

5 Now when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the children of Israel until they had gone over, their hearts fainted. And there was no courage in them anymore, because of the children of Israel.

² At the same time, the LORD said to Joshua, “Make yourself sharp knives, return, and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.”

³ Then Joshua made himself sharp knives and circumcised the sons of Israel on the Hill of the Foreskins.

⁴ And this is why Joshua circumcised all the people (the males) who came out of Egypt: because all the men of war were dead in the wilderness along the way, after they came out of Egypt.

⁵ For all the people who came out were circumcised. But all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way, after they came out of Egypt, were not circumcised.

⁶ For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the people of the men of war who came out of Egypt were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD (and to whom the LORD swore that He would not show the land which the LORD had sworn to their fathers, that He would give us, a land that flows with milk and honey).

⁷ So their sons, whom He raised up in their stead, Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised because they did not circumcise them along the way.

⁸ And when they had ended circumcising all the people, they stayed in the places in the camp until they were whole.

⁹ Afterward, the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I have taken away the shame of Egypt from you.” Therefore, He called the name of that place, Gilgal, to this day.

¹⁰ So the children of Israel stayed in Gilgal and kept the Feast of the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, on the plain of Jericho.

¹¹ And on the day after the Passover — on the same day — they ate from the old grain of the land, unleavened bread and parched corn.

¹² And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten from the old grain of the land. Nor did the children of Israel have manna anymore, but ate from the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

¹³ And when Joshua was near Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, there stood a man opposite him, having a sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him, and said to him, “Are you on our side, or on our adversaries’?”

¹⁴ And he said, “No, but as a captain of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshipped, and said to him, “What does the LORD say to his servant?”

¹⁵ And the captain of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Loosen your shoe from your foot. For the place upon which you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.

6 Now Jericho was shut up and closed because of the children of Israel. No one could go out or come in.

² And the LORD said to Joshua, “Behold, I have given Jericho and its king, the strong men of war, into your hand.

³ “Therefore, all of your men of war shall march around the city, encircling it once. You shall do this for six days.

⁴ “And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Ark. And the seventh day, you shall circle the city seven times. And the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

⁵ “And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout. Then the wall of the city shall fall down flat. And the people shall ascend, every man straight ahead.”

⁶ Then Joshua, the son of Nun, called the priests and said to them, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant; and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Ark of the LORD.”

⁷ But he said to the people, “Go and circle the city. And let he who is armed go forth before the Ark of the LORD.”

⁸ And when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bore the seven trumpets of rams’ horns and went forth before the Ark of the LORD and blew the trumpets. And the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD followed them.

⁹ And the men of arms went before the priests and blew the trumpets. Then, the gathering army came after the Ark; and they went and blew the trumpets.

¹⁰ Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “You shall neither shout nor make any noise with your voice. Nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth until the day that I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.”

¹¹ So the Ark of the LORD circled the city and went around it once. Then they returned into the camp and lodged in the camp.

¹² And Joshua rose early in the morning; and the priests bore the Ark of the LORD.

¹³ Also, seven priests bore seven trumpets of rams’ horns and went before the Ark of the LORD, blowing the trumpets; and the men of arms went before them. But the gathering army, came after the Ark of the LORD as they blew the trumpets.

¹⁴ And the second day, they circled the city once and returned into the camp. They did this for six days.

¹⁵ And when the seventh day came, they rose early with the dawning of the day and circled the city in the same way, seven times; only on that day did they circle the city seven times.

¹⁶ And when the priests had blown the trumpets the seventh time, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!

¹⁷ “And the city shall be an accursed thing to the LORD, both it and all who are therein! Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house; for she hid the messengers whom we sent!

¹⁸ “Nevertheless, be aware of the accursed thing, lest you make yourselves accursed; and in taking of the accursed thing, you also make the army of Israel accursed and trouble it!

¹⁹ “But all silver and gold and vessels of bronze and iron shall be consecrated to the LORD and shall come into the LORD’s treasury!”

²⁰ So the people shouted, after they had blown trumpets. For when the people had heard the sound of the trumpets, they shouted with a great shout. And the wall fell down flat. So the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead; and they took the city.

²¹ And they utterly destroyed all that was in the cities—man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey—with the edge of the sword.

²² But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied on the country, “Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman out, and all that she has, as you swore to her.”

²³ So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all that she had. They also brought out all her family and put them outside the camp of Israel.

²⁴ Afterward, they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein. But the silver and the gold and the vessels of bronze and iron they put into the treasury of the House of the LORD.

²⁵ So Joshua saved Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all that she had; and she dwelt in Israel (even to this day) because she had hidden the messengers which Joshua sent to spy on Jericho.

²⁶ And Joshua swore at that time, saying, “Cursed is the man before the LORD who rises up and builds the city Jericho. He shall pay for its foundation with his eldest son. And his youngest son shall be the price for setting up its gates.”

²⁷ So the LORD was with Joshua; and he was famous through all the world.

7 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took from the accursed thing. Therefore, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.

² And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai (which is beside Beth Aven), on the East side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and view the country.” And the men went up and viewed Ai,

³ and returned to Joshua, and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up. Let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai; and do not make all the people labor there, for they are few.”

⁴ So, about three thousand men of the people went up there. And they fled before the men of Ai.

⁵ And the men of Ai struck thirty six of their men; for they chased them from before the gate to Shebarim and struck them as they went down. Therefore the hearts of the people melted away like water.

⁶ Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the Ark of the LORD until sunset—he and the elders of Israel—and put dust upon their heads.

⁷ And Joshua said, “Alas, O LORD God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan? To deliver us into the hand of the Amorites and to destroy us? If only we had been content to dwell on the other side of the Jordan!

⁸ “Oh LORD, what shall I say when Israel turns their backs before their enemies?

⁹ “For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it and shall surround us and destroy our name out of the Earth. And what will You do for Your mighty Name?”

¹⁰ And the LORD said to Joshua, “Get up. Why do you lie upon your face like that?”

¹¹ “Israel has sinned. For they have transgressed My Covenant which I Commanded them. And they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen and deceived and have even put it with their own stuff.

¹² “Therefore, the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies—have turned their backs before their enemies—because they are doomed. Nor will I be with you anymore unless you destroy the accursed from among you.

¹³ “Up! Sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow. For thus says the LORD God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you have destroyed the accursed thing from among you.

¹⁴ “In the morning, therefore, you shall come, according to your tribes. And the tribe which the LORD takes shall come, according to the families. And the family which the LORD shall take, shall come by the households. And the household which the LORD shall take, shall come man by man.

¹⁵ “And he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the Covenant of the LORD; and because he has wrought folly in Israel.”’”

¹⁶ So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel by their tribes. And the tribe of Judah was taken.

¹⁷ And he brought the families of Judah, and took the family of the Zarhites. And he brought the family of the Zarhites, man by man. And Zabdi was taken.

¹⁸ And he brought his household, man by man. And Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.

¹⁹ Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I beg you, give glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to Him, and show me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.”

²⁰ And Achan answered Joshua, and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel. And thus and so have I done.

²¹ “I saw, among the plunder, a beautiful Babylonian garment and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels in weight. And I covered them, and took them. And behold, they lie hidden in the earth, in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.”

²² Then Joshua sent messengers, who ran to the tent. And behold, it was hidden in his tent, and the silver under it.

²³ Therefore, they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua, and to all the children of Israel, and laid them before the LORD.

²⁴ Then Joshua took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his donkeys, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had. And he and all Israel with him brought them to the valley of Achor.

²⁵ And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The LORD shall trouble you this day.” And all Israel threw stones at him, and burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones.

²⁶ And they erected a great heap of stones upon him, which stands to this day. And the LORD turned from His fierce wrath. Therefore, He called the name of that place, The Valley of Achor, which stands to this day.

8 After, the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the men of war with you and arise. Go up to Ai. Behold, I have given the king of Ai into your hand, and his people, and his city, and his land.

² “And you shall do to Ai and to its king as you did to Jericho and to its king. Only, you shall take its spoils and its cattle to you as plunder. You shall lie in wait against the city, on its back side.”

³ Then Joshua and all the men of war arose to go up against Ai. And Joshua chose out thirty thousand strong and valiant men and sent them away by night.

⁴ And he commanded them, saying, “Behold, you shall lie in wait against the city, on the back side of the city. Do not go very far from the city, but everyone be ready.

⁵ “And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they shall come out against us, as they did the first time, then will we flee before them.

⁶ “For they will come out after us, till we have brought them out of the city. For they will say, ‘They flee before us, as the first time.’ So we will flee before them.

⁷ “Then you shall rise up from lying in wait and destroy the city. For the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.

⁸ “And when you have taken the city, you shall set it on fire. According to the Commandment of the LORD you shall do so. Behold, I have charged you.”

⁹ Joshua then sent them forth. And they went to lie in wait, and stayed between Bethel and Ai, on the West side of Ai. But Joshua lodged that night among the people.

¹⁰ And Joshua rose up early in the morning and numbered the people. And he and the elders of Israel went up before the people against Ai.

¹¹ Also all the men of war who were with him went up and drew near and came against the city, and pitched on the North side of Ai. And there was a valley between them and Ai.

¹² And he took about five thousand men and set them to lie in wait between Bethel and Ai, on the West side of the city.

¹³ And the people set all the army that was on the north side against the city, and those who lay in wait on the west, opposite the city. Joshua went the same night into the midst of the valley.

¹⁴ And when the king of Ai saw it, then the men of the city hurried and rose up early and went out against Israel to battle, he and all his people, at the time appointed, in front of the plain. For he did not know that anyone lay in wait against him on the back side of the city.

¹⁵ Then Joshua and all Israel, as if beaten before them, fled by the way of the wilderness.

¹⁶ And all the people of the city were called together to pursue after them. And they pursued after Joshua, and were drawn away out of the city,

¹⁷ so that there was not a man left in Ai or in Bethel who did not go out after Israel. And they left the city open and pursued after Israel.

¹⁸ Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai. For I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city.

¹⁹ And those who lay in wait arose quickly out of their place and ran, as soon as he had stretched out his hand. And they entered into the city and took it and hurried and set the city on fire.

²⁰ And the men of Ai looked behind them and saw it. For lo, the smoke of the city ascended up to Heaven. And they had no power to flee this way or that way. For the people who fled to the wilderness turned back upon the pursuers.

²¹ When Joshua and all Israel saw that those who lay in wait had taken the city, and that the smoke of the city mounted up, then they turned back and killed the men of Ai.

²² Also, the others came out of the city against them. So, they were in the midst of Israel, some on one side and the rest on the other side. And they killed them, so that they let none of them remain or escape.

²³ And they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴ And when Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the field (in the wilderness where they chased them), and when they had all fallen on the edge of the sword until they were consumed, all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.

²⁵ And all who fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, including all the men of Ai.

²⁶ For Joshua did not draw his hand which he had stretched out with the spear back again until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

²⁷ Only the cattle and the spoils of this city did Israel take as plunder for themselves, according to the Word of the LORD which He Commanded Joshua.

²⁸ And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it a heap forever, a wilderness to this day.

²⁹ And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree, until the evening. And as soon as the Sun was down, Joshua commanded that they take his carcass down from the tree and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and lay a great heap of stones upon it, which remains to this day.

³⁰ Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel on Mount Ebal—

³¹ as Moses, the servant of the LORD had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an Altar of whole stone, over which no man had lifted an iron. And they offered Burnt Offerings unto the LORD on it and sacrificed Peace Offerings.

³² Also, he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the Law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.

³³ And all Israel (and their elders and officers and their judges) stood on this side of the Ark and on that side, before the Priests of the Levites (who bore the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD), the stranger as well as he who is born in the country, half of them opposite Mount Gerizim and half of them opposite Mount Ebal, as Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded before, so that they should bless the children of Israel.

³⁴ Then, afterward, he read all the Words of the Law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.

³⁵ There was not a Word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the Congregation of Israel, the women as well as the children, and the stranger who was conversant among them.