Chapter 4 – Chapter 6

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

1 And it was after the whole people made an end of passing the Jordan; because Jehovah had spoken to Joshua, saying,

2 Take for you from the people twelve men, one man from each tribe;

3 And command them, saying, Take for you hence out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the feet of the unencumbered priests stand, twelve stones which you shall carry with you, and deposit in the place where you shall remain this night.

4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed out of the children of Israel, one from each tribe.

5 And Joshua said to them, Pass before the ark of Jehovah your God through the midst of the Jordan, and let every one of you take up one stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel.

6 That it may be among you, (Hebrew, in the midst of you,) when your children shall to-morrow ask their fathers, What are those stones beside you?

7 Then you may answer them, When the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, when, I say, it was crossing the Jordan, and the waters of the Jordan were cut off, then were those stones made to be a memorial to the children of Israel for ever.

8 The children of Israel accordingly did as Joshua had commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, as Jehovah had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and they brought them with them to the place where they passed the night, and laid them down there.

9 Joshua also erected twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan under the station of the feet of the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant, and they have remained there even to this day.

10 And the priests, bearing the ark, kept standing in the midst of the Jordan, till all the speech which Jehovah had commanded Joshua to speak to the people was finished; exactly as Moses had commanded Joshua himself: but the people made haste in passing.

11 And when the whole people had made an end of passing, the ark of Jehovah passed, and the priests in presence of the people.

12 The children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh also passed over armed before the children of Israel; in like manner as Moses had spoken to them.

13 Forty thousand armed men passed over in presence of Jehovah to battle to the plains of Jericho.

14 On that day Jehovah magnified Joshua in the eyes of all Israel, and they feared him just as they had feared Moses all the days of his life.

15 And Jehovah spoke unto Joshua, saying,

16 Command the priests bearing the ark of the testimony to ascend from the Jordan.

17 And Joshua commanded the priests, saying, Ascend from the Jordan.

18 Moreover, when the priests, bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, had ascended from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the feet of the priests were transferred to the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and they flowed as yesterday and the day before yesterday above all its banks.

19 Now the people ascended from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal in the east district of Jericho.

20 And the twelve stones which they had brought out of the Jordan, Joshua placed in Gilgal.

21 And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your sons shall to-morrow ask their sons, saying, What mean those stones?

22 You shall explain to your sons, saying, Israel passed through the dry land across that Jordan:

23 Since Jehovah your God dried the waters of Jordan from before your face until you passed over; in like manner as Jehovah your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before our face till we passed over;

24 That all the nations of the earth may recognize the hand of Jehovah, how mighty he is; that you may, during all days, fear Jehovah your God.

Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

1 And it was when all the Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan, on the west, and all the Canaanitish kings who were near the sea, had heard that Jehovah had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel till they passed over, their heart was melted, and there was no longer any spirit in them before the children of Israel.

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

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

4 Now this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them. The whole people who had come out from Egypt, all the males, men of war, had died in the desert on the way after they had come out from Egypt.

5 For the whole people who came out had been circumcised, but the whole people who had been born in the desert on the way, after they had come out from Egypt, they had not circumcised.

6 For the children of Israel walked through the desert till the extinction of the whole race of the men of war, who had come out from Egypt, who had not listened to the voice of Jehovah, to whom Jehovah had sworn that he would not show the land of which he had sworn to their fathers that he would give them — a land flowing with milk and honey.

7 Their sons accordingly whom he substituted in their place, Joshua circumcised, because they were uncircumcised; for they had not circumcised them by the way.

8 And when the whole people were circumcised, they remained in their place in the camp till they were healed.

9 Jehovah said to Joshua, This day have I rolled off the reproach of Egypt from you. And he called the name of that place Gilgal even to this day.

10 The children of Israel therefore encamped in Gilgal, and they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho.

11 And they ate unfermented bread of the produce of the land, the day after the Passover, and cake on the very same day.

12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the corn of the country, nor had the children of Israel manna any longer, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

13 And it happened when Joshua was at Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold a man stood over against him, in whose hand was a drawn sword, and Joshua went to him, and said to him, Art thou on our side? or art thou on our enemies’ side?

14 And he said, Nay, but I am prince of the army of Jehovah: I have now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the ground, and worshipped, and said to him, What says my Lord to his servant?

15 And the prince of the army of the Lord said to Joshua, Loose thy shoe from thy feet: for the place on which thou stands is holiness. And Joshua did so.

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

1 And Jericho was closed, and was shut up because of the children of Israel, nor could any one go out or come in.

2 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Behold, I have delivered into thy hand Jericho, and its king, and its men of valor.

3 You shall therefore compass the city, all the men of war, going round it once: thus shall thou do six days.

4 Moreover, seven priests shall bear seven rams’ horns before the ark: But on the seventh day you shall compass the city seven times, and let the priests themselves sound with the trumpets.

5 And when they shall have prolonged the sound with the ram’s horn, as soon as you shall have heard the sound of the trumpet, the whole people will shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall to pieces (under itself): and the people will go up every one from his own place.

6 Accordingly Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests take seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of Jehovah.

7 He said also to the people, Pass over, and go round the city, and let every man armed go before the ark of the Lord.

8 And it was after Joshua spoke to the people, seven priests bore seven trumpets of rams’ horns, and passing over before the ark of Jehovah sounded with the trumpets. And the ark of the covenant of Jehovah followed them.

9 And every man armed went before the priests sounding with the trumpets; and he who brought up the rear followed the ark while going and sounding with the trumpets.

10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, You shall not shout, neither will you let your voice be heard, neither will a word proceed from your mouth, until the day when I shall have said to you, Shout: then shall you shout.

11 The ark of Jehovah therefore compassed the city, going round once, and they returned to the camp; and they remained there.

12 Joshua rose again in the morning, and the priests bore the ark of Jehovah.

13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of ram’s horn preceded the ark of Jehovah in going; and they sounded with the trumpets. But he that was armed preceded them, and he who brought up the rear followed the ark of Jehovah in going, and in sounding with the trumpets.

14 They accordingly compassed the city on the second day another time, and returned to the camp; thus did they six days.

15 But when the seventh day arrived, they rose up as soon as it was dawn, and they went round the city after the same manner seven times; only on that day they went round the city seven times.

16 And on the seventh time when the priests sounded with the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, Shout, Jehovah has delivered you the city.

17 And the city will be anathema (set apart) to Jehovah, it and whatever things are in it; only Rahab, the harlot, shall live, she and all who shall be at home with her; because she concealed the messengers whom we sent.

18 Nevertheless, beware you of the anathema, lest perhaps you touch something of the anathema, and take away of the anathema, and make the camp of Israel anathema, and trouble it.

19 But all the silver and gold, and the iron and brazen vessels, will be holiness to Jehovah; they will go into Jehovah’s treasury.

20 The people accordingly shouted after they sounded with the trumpets. For when the people had heard the noise of the trumpets, they shouted with a very great shout, and the wall fell down, and the people went up, every one from his place, and they took it.

21 And they destroyed all things which were in the city, from the man even to the woman, from the boy even to the old man, to the ox, and the sheep, and the ass, by the edge of the sword.

22 But to the two men who had explored the land Joshua said, Go into the house of the woman, the harlot, and thence lead out her and whatever she has, as you have sworn to her.

23 The spies, therefore, having gone in, led out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brothers, and whatever she had, and led out her whole kindred, and placed them without the camp of Israel.

24 But they consumed the city with fire, and every thing therein; only the gold and silver, the brazen and iron vessels, they placed in the treasury of the house of Jehovah.

25 Therefore Rahab the harlot, and the house of her father, and whatever she had, Joshua caused to live; and she dwelt in the midst of Israel even to this day, because she had concealed the messengers whom Joshua had sent to spy out Jericho.

26 And Joshua made an adjuration at that time, saying, Cursed before Jehovah be the man who shall rise to build that city Jericho. In his first-born shall he found it, and in his younger son shall he set up its gates.

27 And Jehovah was with Joshua, and his fame was in the whole land.