Joshua 5

And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.

1All the Amorite kings west of the Jordan River heard the news. So did the Canaanite kings near the sea. They heard that the LORD had dried up the Jordan River. Israel had walked across it. When the kings heard this, their courage melted away. They were too afraid of Israel to fight.

2At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.

2At that time the LORD said to Joshua, "Make knives out of sharp stone. Circumcise the men of Israel again." Circumcision was a small cut on the body. It was the sign that a boy belonged to God's people.

3And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.

3So Joshua made knives of sharp stone. He circumcised the men of Israel at a hill. The hill was named for what happened there.

4And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.

4This is why Joshua did it. Every man who left Egypt, every man old enough to fight, had died. They died in the desert along the way.

5Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.

5The men who came out of Egypt had all been circumcised. But the boys born in the desert on the way had not.

6For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

6Israel walked in the desert for forty years. They walked until all the fighting men who left Egypt had died. That happened because those men did not obey the LORD. So the LORD said they would never see the land. It was the land he had promised to give to our fathers. It is a rich land, full of milk and honey.

7And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.

7God gave those men sons to take their place. Joshua circumcised these sons. No one had circumcised them during the journey.

8And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.

8When all the men had been circumcised, they stayed in the camp. They rested there until they were healed.

9And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.

9Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled the shame of Egypt away from you." That is why the place is called Gilgal, even today.

NoteThe name Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew word for "roll." The name and the LORD's words about rolling shame away go together.

10And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.

10Israel camped at Gilgal, on the flat land near Jericho. On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, they kept the Passover. Passover was the meal that remembered the night God brought them out of Egypt.

11And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day.

11The next day they ate food grown in that land. They ate flat bread made without yeast, and roasted grain. They ate it that very same day.

NoteThe KJV says "corn." In 1611 that word meant grain of any kind, like wheat or barley. It does not mean corn on the cob.

12And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

12The day after they ate the land's food, the manna stopped. Manna was the bread God sent them each morning in the desert. Israel never had manna again. That year they ate the crops of Canaan.

13And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?

13Joshua was near Jericho. He looked up and saw a man standing in front of him. The man held a sword in his hand, ready to use. Joshua walked up to him and asked, "Are you on our side, or on our enemies' side?"

14And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?

14The man said, "Neither. I have come as the commander of the LORD's army." Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground and worshipped. He said, "What does my lord say to his servant?"

NoteThe KJV answer "Nay" means "neither one." The man is not saying no to only one side. He is not joining either side. He comes as the leader of the LORD's own army.

15And the captain of the LORD’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

15The commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals. The place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did it.