Joshua Chapter 5

Circumcision at Gilgal

            ¹ The Amorite kings west of the Jordan and the Canaanite kings by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the Jordan for the Israelites to cross. Their hearts melted; there was no spirit in them.

            ² At that time, the LORD told Joshua to make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites this second time. ³ He did that at Gibeath-haaraloth. ⁴ The fighting men who came out of Egypt ⁵ had been circumcised, but the ones born in the desert hadn’t. ⁶ The Israelites lived there 40 years till those fighting men died. The LORD swore they wouldn’t see the land flowing with milk and honey that he’d promised their ancestors. ⁷ So Joshua circumcised the offspring the LORD raised up to replace them.

            ⁸ After the circumcising, they stayed in the camp till they healed up. ⁹ The LORD told Joshua, “I’ve ‘rolled away’ from you the disgrace of Egypt today”; so the place has been called Gilgal ever since.

¹⁰ While the people camped in Gilgal, they kept Passover on the fourteenth of the month in the evening in the plains by Jericho. ¹¹ The next day, they began eating the produce in the land—parched grain and cakes without yeast in them. ¹² The manna stopped permanently the next day; they ate the produce in Canaan that year.                                                                          

Josh 5:1-12

            ¹³ When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man with his sword drawn. He went to him and asked, “Are you for us or our enemies?”

¹⁴ “I’ve come to command the LORD’s army.”

 Joshua fell on his face in homage, “What do you want me to do?”

¹⁵ “Take your shoes off. Where you’re standing is holy.” Joshua obeyed.         

Josh 5:13-15