5 So the Lord dried up the Jordan River until the people of Israel 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 scared. After that they were not brave enough to stand and fight against the people of Israel.

The Israelites Are Circumcised

²At that time, the Lord said to Joshua, “Make knives from flint rocks and circumcise* the men of Israel.” ³So Joshua made knives from flint rocks. Then he circumcised* the people of Israel at Gibeath Haaraloth.* ^4–7This is why Joshua circumcised* the men: After the people of Israel left Egypt, all the men that were able to be 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 those men would not see the “land where much food grows.” The Lord promised our ancestors* to give us that land, but, because of those men, God forced the people to wander in the desert for 40 years—that way all those fighting men would die. All those fighting men died, and their sons took their place. But none of the boys that were born in the desert on the trip from Egypt had been circumcised. So Joshua circumcised them. ⁸Joshua finished circumcising all the men. The people camped at that place until all the men were healed.

First Passover in Canaan

⁹At that time, 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.* And that place is still named Gilgal today. ¹⁰The people of Israel 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. ¹¹The day after Passover, the people ate food that grew in that land. They ate bread made without yeast and roasted grain. ¹²The next morning, the special food from heaven stopped coming. This happened the day after the people ate the food that grew in the land of Canaan. From that time on, the people of Israel did not get the special food from heaven. ¹³When 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?” ¹⁴The 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. {He did this to show respect.} He asked, “I am your servant. Does my master have a command for me?” ¹⁵The commander of the Lord’s army answered, “Take off your shoes. The place where you are standing now is holy.” So Joshua obeyed him.

circumcise(d) To cut off the foreskin. This was done to every Jewish male to show he shared in the Agreement God made with Israel. See Gen. 17:9–14. Gibeath Haaraloth This name means “Circumcision Hill.” ancestors Literally, “fathers,” meaning a person’s parents, grandparents, and all the people they are descended from. Gilgal This name is like the Hebrew word meaning, “to roll away.” Holy Box The Box of the Agreement—the box containing the flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them and other things that proved God was with the people of Israel during their time in the Sinai desert.

Jericho Captured

6 The city of Jericho was closed. The people in the city were afraid because the people of Israel were near. No one went in the city and no one came out of the city. ²Then 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. ³March around the city with your army one time every day. Do this for six days. ⁴{Tell the priests to carry the Holy Box.*} Tell seven of the priests to carry trumpets made from the horns of male sheep and march in front of the Holy Box. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times. On the seventh day, tell the priests to blow the trumpets when they march. ⁵The priests 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.” ⁶So Joshua son of Nun called the priests together. Joshua said to them, “Carry the Holy Box* of the Lord. And tell seven priests to carry the trumpets and march in front of the Box.” ⁷Then 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.” ⁸After Joshua finished speaking to the people, the seven priests began marching before the Lord. They carried the seven trumpets and blew them while they marched. The priests carrying the Lord’s Holy Box* followed them. ⁹The 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. {So they went around the city,} marching and blowing the trumpets. ¹⁰Joshua 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 can shout!” ¹¹So 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. ¹²Early the next morning, Joshua got up. The priests carried the Lord’s Holy Box* again. ¹³And the seven priests carried the seven trumpets. They walked in front of the Lord’s Holy Box, marching and blowing their trumpets. The soldiers with weapons marched in front of them. The rest of the people marched behind the Lord’s Holy Box. {They went around the city,} marching and blowing the trumpets. ¹⁴So 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. ¹⁵On the seventh day they got up at dawn. And they 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. ¹⁶The seventh time they marched around the city, the priests blew their trumpets. At that time, Joshua gave the command: “Now, shout! The Lord is giving you this city! ¹⁷The city and everything in it belongs to the Lord.* Only Rahab the prostitute and all the people in her house will remain alive. These people must not be killed because Rahab helped the two spies. ¹⁸Also remember that we must destroy everything else. Don’t take those things. If you take those things and bring them into our camp then you yourselves will be destroyed. And you will also bring trouble to all the people of Israel. ¹⁹All the silver and gold and the things made from bronze and iron belong to the Lord. Those things must be put in the Lord’s treasury.” ²⁰The priests blew the trumpets. The people heard trumpets and began shouting. The walls fell down and the people ran straight into the city. So the people of Israel defeated that city. ²¹The people destroyed everything in the city. They destroyed everything that was living there. They killed the young men and old men, young women and old women, cattle, sheep, and donkeys. ²²Joshua talked to the two spies. Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house. Bring her out. And bring all the people who are with her. Do this because of the promise you made to her.” ²³So the two men went into the house and brought out Rahab. They also brought out her father, mother, brothers, all her family, and all the other people that were with her. They put all the people in a safe place outside the camp of Israel. ²⁴Then the people of Israel burned the whole city. They burned everything in the city except the things made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron. They put those things in the Lord’s treasury. ²⁵Joshua saved Rahab the prostitute, her family, and all the other people that were with her. Joshua let them live because Rahab helped the spies that Joshua had sent out to Jericho. Rahab still lives among the people of Israel today. ²⁶At that time, Joshua made this important promise. He said: “Whoever builds Jericho again will be in danger from the Lord. Whoever lays the foundation of this city, will lose his oldest son. The man who sets up the gates will lose his youngest son.”* ²⁷So the Lord was with Joshua. And Joshua became famous all throughout the whole country.

Holy Box The Box of the Agreement—the box containing the flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them and other things that proved God was with the people of Israel during their time in the Sinai desert. belongs to the Lord This usually meant that these things were saved in the temple treasury or they were destroyed so that other people would not use them. The man ... son See 1 Kings 16:34.

Achan’s Sin

7 But the people of Israel did not obey God. There was a man from the family group of Judah named Achan son of Carmi, grandson of Zimri. Achan kept some of the things that should have been destroyed. So the Lord became very angry at the people of Israel. ²After they defeated Jericho, Joshua sent some men to Ai.* Ai was near Beth Aven, east of Bethel. Joshua told them, “Go to Ai and look for weaknesses in that area.” So the men went to spy on that land. ³Later the men came back to Joshua. They said, “Ai is a weak area. We will not need all of our people to defeat that place. Send 2,000 or 3,000 men to fight there. There is no need to use the whole army. There are only a few men there to fight against us.” ^4–5So about 3,000 men went to Ai. But the people of Ai killed about 36 men of Israel. And the people of Israel ran away. The people of Ai chased them from the city gates all the way to the quarries.* The people of Ai beat them badly. When the people from Israel saw this, they became very frightened and lost their courage. ⁶When Joshua heard about this, he tore his clothes {to show his sadness}. He bowed down on the ground before the Holy Box.* Joshua stayed there until evening. The leaders of Israel did the same thing. They also threw dirt on their heads {to show their sadness}. ⁷Joshua said, “Lord my Master! You brought our people across the Jordan River. Why did you bring us this far and then allow the Amorite people to destroy us? We should have been satisfied and stayed on the other side of the Jordan River! ⁸I promise by my life, Lord! There is nothing I can say now. Israel has surrendered to the enemy. ⁹The Canaanite people and all the other people in this country will hear about what happened. Then they will attack us and kill all of us! Then what will you do to protect your great name?” ¹⁰The Lord said to Joshua, “Why are you down there with your face on the ground? Stand up! ¹¹The people of Israel sinned against me. They broke the Agreement that I commanded them to obey. They took some of the things that I commanded them to destroy. They have stolen from me. They have lied. They have taken those things for themselves. ¹²That is why the army of Israel turned and ran away from the fight. They did that because they have done wrong. They should be destroyed. I will not continue to help you. I will not continue to be with you unless you destroy everything I commanded you to destroy. ¹³“Now go and make the people pure. Tell the people, ‘Make yourselves pure. Prepare for tomorrow. The Lord God of Israel says that some people are keeping things that he commanded to be destroyed. You will never be able to defeat your enemies until you throw away those things. ¹⁴“‘Tomorrow morning you must all stand before the Lord. All of the family groups will stand before the Lord. The Lord will choose one family group. Then only that family group will stand before the Lord. Then the Lord will choose one clan* from that family group. Then only that clan must stand before the Lord. Then the Lord will look at each family in that clan. Then the Lord will choose one family. Then the Lord will look at each man in that family. ¹⁵The man who is keeping those things that we should have destroyed will be caught. Then that man will be destroyed by fire. And everything that he owns will be destroyed with him. That man broke the Agreement with the Lord. He has done a very bad thing to the people of Israel!’” 16Early the next morning, Joshua led all the people of Israel before the Lord. All of the family groups stood before the Lord. The Lord chose the family group of Judah. 17So all the clans* of Judah stood before the Lord. The Lord chose the Zerah clan. Then all the families of the Zerah clan stood before the Lord. The family of Zimri was chosen. 18Then Joshua told all the men in that family to come before the Lord. The Lord chose Achan the son of Carmi. (Carmi was the son of Zimri. And Zimri was the son of Zerah.) 19Then Joshua said to Achan, “Son, {say your prayers}. You should honor the Lord God of Israel and confess your sins to him. Tell me what you did, and don’t try to hide anything from me!” 20Achan answered, “It is true! I sinned against the Lord God of Israel. This is what I did: 21{We captured the city of Jericho and all the things in it.} I saw a beautiful coat from Babylon, about 5 pounds* of silver; and about a pound* of gold. I wanted these things for myself. So I took them. You will find those things buried in the ground under my tent. The silver is under the coat.” 22So Joshua sent some men to the tent. They ran to the tent and found those things hidden there in the tent. The silver was under the coat. 23The men brought the things out of the tent. They took those things to Joshua and all the people of Israel. They threw them on the ground before the Lord. 24Then Joshua and all the people led Achan son of Zerah to the Valley of Achor. They also took the silver, the coat, the gold, Achan’s sons and daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything he owned. They took all these things to the Valley of Achor with Achan. 25Then Joshua said, “You caused much trouble for us! But now the Lord will bring trouble to you!” Then all the people threw stones at Achan and his family until they died. Then the people burned them and everything he owned. 26After they burned Achan, they put many rocks over his body. Those rocks are still there today. {So God brought trouble to Achan.} That is why that place is called the Valley of Achor.* After this the Lord was not angry with the people.

Ai This name means, “the ruins.” quarry A place where people cut stones from the solid rock. Holy Box Also called the Box of the Agreement. clan A group of families. Law Or “Teachings” clan A group of families. 5 pounds Literally, “200 shekels.” a pound Literally, “50 shekels.” Achor This name means “trouble.”