Joshua, Chapter 5:
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Joshua Verses, Chapter 5 of the Book of Joshua of the Bible.
Circumcision at Gilgal
- 1. All the Amorite kings who lived west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites, allowing them to cross over. Upon hearing this, they became discouraged and lost the courage to face the Israelites.
- 2. At that time, the Lord said to Joshua, “Make stone knives and circumcise the Israelites again.”
- 3. Joshua made stone knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath-Aralote.
- 4. He did this because all the men fit for war who came out of Egypt had died in the desert.
- 5. Everyone who left Egypt had already been circumcised, but those who were born in the desert, during the journey after leaving Egypt, had not been circumcised.
- 6. The Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years, until all the warriors who came out of Egypt died, because they did not obey the Lord. The Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land full of milk and honey that He had promised their ancestors.
- 7. Then Joshua circumcised the sons who replaced those warriors. They were still uncircumcised, as they had not been circumcised during the journey.
- 8. After the circumcision of the entire nation, they remained in the camp until they recovered.
- 9. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have removed from you the humiliation you suffered in Egypt.” Therefore, to this day the place is called Gilgal.
- 10. On the afternoon of the fourteenth day of the month, while they were camped at Gilgal, in the plain of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover.
- 11. The day after the Passover, they ate unleavened bread and parched grain from the land.
- 12. The next day the manna stopped falling. There was no more manna for the Israelites, and that same year they ate produce from the land of Canaan.
The conquest of Jericho
- 13 . When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing holding a sword. Joshua approached him and asked, “Are you on our side or on the side of our enemies?”
- 14 . The man replied: “Neither one way nor the other. I come as commander of the Lord’s army.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground, showing respect, and asked, “What is the message from my Lord to his servant?”
- 15 . The commander of the Lord's army said, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua took off his sandals.
