Joshua 5

1 And it came to pass when the kings of the Amorites who were beyond Jordan heard, and the kings of Phoenicia by the sea, that the Lord God had dried up the river Jordan from before the children of Israel when they passed over, that their hearts failed, and they were terror-stricken, and there was no sense in them because of the children of Israel.

Therefore, after all the kings of the Amorites, who were living across the Jordan toward the western region, and all the kings of Canaan, who possessed the places beside the great sea, had heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel, until they crossed over it, their heart was broken, and there remained in them no spirit, out of fear at the entrance of the sons of Israel.

2 And about this time the Lord said to Joshua, Make thee stone knives of sharp stone, and sit down and circumcise the children of Israel the second time.

So at that time, the Lord said to Joshua: “Make for yourself knives of stone, and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.”

3 And Joshua made sharp knives of stone, and circumcised the children of Israel at the place called the “Hill of Foreskins.”

He did what the Lord had commanded, and he circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.

4 And [this is] the way in which Joshua purified the children of Israel; as many as were born in the way, and as many as were uncircumcised of them that came out of Egypt,

Now this is the reason for the second circumcision: All the people who departed from Egypt of the male gender, all the men fit for war, died in the desert during the very long wandering way;

5 all these Joshua circumcised; for forty and two years Israel wondered in the wilderness of Mabdaris—

all these had been circumcised. But the people who were born in the desert,

6 Wherefore most of the fighting men that came out of the land of Egypt, were uncircumcised, who disobeyed the commands of God; concerning whom also he determined that they should not see the land, which the Lord sware to give to their fathers, [even] a land flowing with milk and honey.

throughout the forty years of the journey in the very broad wilderness, were uncircumcised, until the ones who had not listened to the voice of the Lord were consumed. For he had sworn to them before, that he would not reveal to them the land flowing with milk and honey.

7 And in their place he raised up their sons, whom Joshua circumcised, because they were uncircumcised, having been born by the way.

The sons of these ones succeeded to the place of their fathers, and they were circumcised by Joshua. For they were uncircumcised, just as they had been born, and no one had circumcised them along the way.

8 And when they had been circumcised they rested continuing there in the camp till they were healed.

Then, after they were all circumcised, they remained in the same place of the camp until they were healed.

9 And the Lord said to Joshua the son of Naue, On this day have I removed the reproach of Egypt from you: and he called the name of that place Galgala.

And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have taken away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And the name of that place was called Gilgal, even to the present day.

10 And the children of Israel kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, to the westward of Jericho on the opposite side of the Jordan in the plain.

And the sons of Israel stayed at Gilgal, and they kept the Passover, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, in the plains of Jericho.

11 And they ate of the grain of the earth unleavened and new [corn].

And on the following day, they ate unleavened bread from the grain of the land, and cooked grain, of the same year.

12 In this day the manna failed, after they had eaten of the corn of the land, and the children of Israel no longer had manna: and they took the fruits of the land of the Phoenicians in that year.

And the manna ceased after they ate from the grain of the land. And the sons of Israel no longer made use of that food. Instead, they ate from the grain of the present year, from the land of Canaan.

13 And it came to pass when Joshua was in Jericho, that he looked up with his eyes and saw a man standing before him, and [there was] a drawn sword in his hand; and Joshua drew near and said to him, Art thou for us or on the side of our enemies?

And when Joshua was in the field of the city of Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and he saw a man standing opposite him, holding a drawn sword. And he went to him and said, “Are you one of ours, or one of our adversaries?”

14 And he said to him, I am now come, the chief captain of the host of the Lord. And Joshua fell on his face upon the earth, and said to him, Lord, what commandest thou thy servant?

And he responded: “Not at all. Instead, I am a prince of the host of the Lord, and now I have arrived.” Joshua fell prone on the ground. And reverencing, he said, “What does my lord say to his servant?”

15 And the captain of the Lord's host said to Joshua, Loose thy shoe off thy feet, for the place whereon thou now standest is holy.

He said: “Remove your shoes from your feet. For the place on which you stand is holy.” And Joshua did just as he had been commanded.