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Rocks to Remind the People

After all the people had crossed the Jordan River, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men, one from each tribe. Tell them to look in the river where the priests were standing and get twelve rocks from that place. Carry these rocks with you and put them where you stay tonight.”

So Joshua chose one man from each tribe. Then he called the twelve men together. He said to them, “Go out into the river where the Holy Box of the Lord your God is. Each of you must find one rock. There will be one rock for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Carry that rock on your shoulder. These rocks will be a sign for you. In the future, your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?’ You will tell them that the Lord stopped the water from flowing in the Jordan River. When the Holy Box of the Lord’s Agreement crossed the river, the water stopped flowing. These rocks will help the Israelites remember this forever.”

So the Israelites obeyed Joshua. They carried twelve rocks from the middle of the Jordan River. There was one rock for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. They did this as the Lord had commanded Joshua. The men carried the rocks with them. Then they put the rocks at the place where they made their camp. Joshua also put twelve rocks in the middle of the Jordan River. He put them at the place where the priests had stood while carrying the Holy Box. These rocks are still there today.

10 The Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people what to do. This is what Moses had said Joshua must do. So the priests carrying the Holy Box stood in the middle of the river until everything was done. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the river. 11 After the people finished crossing the river, the priests carried the Lord’s Holy Box to the front of the people.

12 The men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh obeyed Moses. These men crossed the river in front of the other people. These men were prepared for war. They were going to help the rest of the Israelites take the land God had promised to give them. 13 About 40,000 soldiers, prepared for war, passed before the Lord. They were marching toward the plains of Jericho.

14 That day the Lord made Joshua a great man to all the Israelites. From that time on, they respected Joshua just as they had Moses.

15 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests carrying the Box that holds the Agreement[a] to come out of the river.”

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come out of the Jordan River.”

18 The priests obeyed Joshua. They carried the Box of the Lord’s Agreement with them and came out of the river. When their feet touched the land on the other side of the river, the water in the river began flowing again. The water again overflowed its banks just as it had before the people crossed.

19 The people crossed the Jordan River on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, east of Jericho. 20 They carried with them the twelve rocks that they had taken from the Jordan River, and Joshua set them up at Gilgal. 21 Then Joshua told the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?’ 22 Tell them, ‘These rocks help us remember the way the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry land.’ 23 The Lord your God caused the water in the Jordan River to stop flowing so that you could cross it on dry land—just as the Lord had stopped the water at the Red Sea so that we could cross it on dry land. 24 The Lord did this so that all the people in this country would know that he is very powerful. Then they will always be afraid of the Lord your God.”

So the Lord dried up the Jordan River until the Israelites finished crossing it. The kings of the Amorites living west of the Jordan River and the Canaanites living by the Mediterranean Sea heard about this and became very frightened. After that they were not brave enough to stand and fight against the Israelites.

The Israelites Are Circumcised

At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make knives from flint rocks and circumcise the men of Israel.”

So Joshua made knives from flint rocks and circumcised the men of Israel at Gibeath Haaraloth.[b]

4-7 This is why Joshua circumcised the men: After the Israelites left Egypt, all the men who were able to serve in the army were circumcised. While in the desert, many of the fighting men did not listen to the Lord. So the Lord promised that they would not see the “land where much food grows.” He promised our ancestors to give us that land, but because of those men, he forced the people to wander in the desert for 40 years. That way all those fighting men would die. So all the fighting men died, and their sons took their place. But none of the boys who were born in the desert on the trip from Egypt had been circumcised. So Joshua circumcised them.

Joshua finished circumcising all the men. The people camped at that place until all the men were healed.

First Passover in Canaan

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “You were slaves in Egypt, and this made you ashamed. But today I have taken away that shame.” So Joshua named that place Gilgal.[c] And that place is still named Gilgal today.

10 The Israelites celebrated Passover while they were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho. This was on the evening of the 14th day of the month. 11 The day after Passover, the people ate food that grew in that land. They ate bread made without yeast and roasted grain. 12 The next morning, the manna from heaven stopped coming. This happened the first day after the people ate the food that grew in the land of Canaan. From that time on, the Israelites did not get the manna from heaven.

The Commander of the Lord’s Army

13 When Joshua 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 the man and asked, “Are you a friend to our people or are you one of our enemies?”

14 The man answered, “I am not an enemy. I am the commander of the Lord’s army. I have just now come to you.”

Then Joshua bowed his face to the ground to show respect and said, “I am your servant. Does my master have a command for me?”

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

The gates of the city of Jericho were closed. The people in the city were afraid because the Israelites were near. No one went into the city, and no one came out.

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Look, I will let you defeat the city of Jericho. You will defeat the king and all the fighting men in the city. March around the city with your army once every day for six days. Tell seven of the priests to carry trumpets made from the horns of male sheep and to march in front of the priests who are carrying the Holy Box. On the seventh day march around the city seven times and tell the priests to blow the trumpets while they march. They will make one loud noise from the trumpets. When you hear that noise, tell all the people to begin shouting. When you do this, the walls of the city will fall down and your people will be able to go straight into the city.”

The Battle Against Jericho

So Joshua son of Nun called the priests together and said to them, “Carry the Holy Box of the Lord. Tell seven priests to carry the trumpets and march in front of it.”

Then Joshua ordered the people, “Now go! March around the city. The soldiers with weapons will march in front of the Holy Box of the Lord.”

After Joshua finished speaking to the people, the seven priests with the trumpets began marching before the Lord, blowing the trumpets as they marched. The priests carrying the Lord’s Holy Box followed them. The soldiers with weapons marched in front of the priests who were blowing the horns. And the rest of the men walked behind the Holy Box, marching and blowing their trumpets. 10 Joshua had told the people not to give a war cry. He said, “Don’t shout. Don’t say a word until the day I tell you. Then you will shout.”

11 So Joshua made the priests carry the Holy Box of the Lord around the city one time. Then they went back to the camp and spent the night there.

12 Early the next morning Joshua got up, and the priests carried the Lord’s Holy Box again. 13 The seven priests with the trumpets marched in front of the Lord’s Holy Box, blowing their trumpets. The soldiers with weapons marched in front of them. The rest of the people marched behind the Lord’s Holy Box. During the whole time they marched, the priests were blowing the trumpets. 14 On the second day, they all marched around the city one time. And then they went back to the camp. They continued to do this every day for six days.

15 On the seventh day, they got up at dawn and marched around the city seven times. They marched in the same way they had marched on the days before, but on that day they marched around the city seven times. 16 The seventh time they marched around the city, the priests blew their trumpets. Then Joshua gave the command: “Now, shout! The Lord is giving you this city! 17 The city and everything is to be destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone in her house will be left alive. These people must not be killed because she helped the two spies. 18 Remember, we must destroy everything else. Don’t take anything. If you take anything and bring it into our camp, you yourselves will be destroyed, and you will cause trouble for the rest of our people. 19 All the things made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron belong to the Lord. They must be put in the Lord’s treasury.”

20 So then the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the trumpets, they began shouting. The walls fell down, and the people ran up into the city. So the Israelites defeated that city. 21 The people destroyed everything in the city. They destroyed everything that was living there. They killed the young and old men, the young and old women, and the cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

22 Joshua talked to the two spies. He said, “You made a promise to the prostitute. So go to her house and bring her out and all those who are with her.”

23 So the two men went into the house and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, all her family, and all those who were with her. They put all the people in a safe place outside the camp of Israel.

24 Then the Israelites burned the whole city and everything in it except for the things made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron. They put these things in the Lord’s treasury. 25 Joshua saved Rahab the prostitute, her family, and all those who were with her. Joshua let them live because Rahab helped the spies Joshua had sent out to Jericho. Rahab still lives among the Israelites today.

26 At that time Joshua made this important promise. He said,

“Whoever rebuilds Jericho
    will be in danger from the Lord.
When he lays the foundation,
    he will lose his oldest son.
When he sets up the gates,
    he will lose his youngest son.”[d]

27 So the Lord was with Joshua, and Joshua became famous throughout the whole country.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 4:16 Box that holds the Agreement Literally, “Testimony.” See “Agreement” in the Word List.
  2. Joshua 5:3 Gibeath Haaraloth This name means “Circumcision Hill.”
  3. Joshua 5:9 Gilgal This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “to roll away.”
  4. Joshua 6:26 When he … son See 1 Kings 16:34.

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