Joshua 5

1So the Lord dried up the Jordan River until the Israelites had crossed it. Now all the kings of the Amorites west of the Jordan heard about it. And the Canaanite kings living by the Mediterranean Sea heard about it. They were very scared. After that they were too afraid to face the Israelites.

The Israelites Are Circumcised

2At that time the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, “Make knives from flint stones. Circumcise the Israelites again.” 3So Joshua made knives from flint stones. Then he circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.

4This is why Joshua circumcised the men: After the Israelites left Egypt, all the men old enough to serve in the army died. They died in the desert on the way out of Egypt. 5The men who had come out of Egypt had been circumcised. But many were born in the desert on the trip from Egypt. They had not been circumcised. 6The Israelites had moved about in the desert for 40 years. During that time all the fighting men who had left Egypt had died. This was because they had not obeyed the Lord. So the Lord swore they would not see the land. This was the land he had promised their ancestors to give them. It was a land where much food grows. 7So their sons took their places. But none of the sons born on the trip from Egypt had been circumcised. So Joshua circumcised them. 8After all the Israelites had been circumcised, they stayed in camp until they were healed.

9Then the Lord said to Joshua, “As slaves in Egypt you were ashamed. But today I have removed that shame.” So Joshua named that place Gilgal. And it is still named Gilgal today.

10The people of Israel were still camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho. It was there, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, they celebrated the Passover Feast. 11The next day after the Passover, the people ate some of the food grown on that land: bread made without yeast and roasted grain. 12The day they ate this food, the manna stopped coming. The Israelites no longer got the manna from heaven. They ate the food grown in the land of Canaan that year.

13Joshua was near Jericho. He looked up and saw a man standing in front of him. The man had a sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and asked, “Are you a friend or an enemy?”

14The man answered, “I am neither one. I have come as the commander of the Lord’s army.”

Then Joshua bowed facedown on the ground. He asked, “Does my master have a command for me, his servant?”

15The commander of the Lord’s army answered, “Take off your sandals. The place where you are standing is holy.” So Joshua did.

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Joshua 5: ICB

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Joshua 5

1When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast#5:1 Hebrew along the sea. heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart and were paralyzed with fear because of them.

Israel Reestablishes Covenant Ceremonies

2At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise this second generation of Israelites.#5:2 Or circumcise the Israelites a second time.” 3So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the entire male population of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.#5:3 Gibeath-haaraloth means “hill of foreskins.”

4Joshua had to circumcise them because all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died in the wilderness. 5Those who left Egypt had all been circumcised, but none of those born after the Exodus, during the years in the wilderness, had been circumcised. 6The Israelites had traveled in the wilderness for forty years until all the men who were old enough to fight in battle when they left Egypt had died. For they had disobeyed the Lord, and the Lord vowed he would not let them enter the land he had sworn to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey. 7So Joshua circumcised their sons—those who had grown up to take their fathers’ places—for they had not been circumcised on the way to the Promised Land. 8After all the males had been circumcised, they rested in the camp until they were healed.

9Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt.” So that place has been called Gilgal#5:9 Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew word galal, meaning “to roll.” to this day.

10While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month.#5:10 This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in late March, April, or early May. 11The very next day they began to eat unleavened bread and roasted grain harvested from the land. 12No manna appeared on the day they first ate from the crops of the land, and it was never seen again. So from that time on the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan.

The Lord’s Commander Confronts Joshua

13When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”

14“Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army.”

At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?”

15The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.

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