Study Desk

About forty thousand armed for fighting crossed over before the presence of Yahweh to the plains of Jericho for battle.

For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you, until you had crossed, just as Yahweh your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until we had crossed over,

At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, "Make for yourself knives of flint, and circumcise the Israelites a second time."

For all the people who left were circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness on the journey after they left from Egypt were not circumcised.

For forty years the Israelites traveled in the wilderness until all the nation, the warriors that left Egypt, perished, because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh. To them Yahweh swore that they would not see the land that he swore to their ancestors to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

And it was their children whom he raised in their place that Joshua circumcised, for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the journey.

And the manna ceased the day after, when they started eating the produce of the land, and there was no longer manna for the Israelites. They ate from the crop of the land of Canaan in that year.

The commander of Yahweh's army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

You will march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once; you will do so for six days.

And they marched around the city once on the second day, and they returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

And at the seventh time the priests blew on the trumpets, and Joshua said to the people, "Shout! For Yahweh has given you the city.

As for you, keep away from the things devoted to destruction so that you do not take them and bring about your own destruction, making the camp of Israel an object for destruction, bringing trouble upon it.

The Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of this, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the land. What will you do, for your great name?"

The Israelites were unable to stand before their enemies; they fled from their enemies because they have become a thing devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.

Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: "There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You will be unable to stand before you enemies until you remove the devoted things from your midst."

You will do to Ai and its king that which you did to Jericho and its king; you may take only its spoils and livestock as booty for yourself. Set for yourself an ambush against the city from behind it."

Then you will rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city, for Yahweh your God will give it into your hand.

When the king of Ai saw this, the men of the city hurried and rose early and went out to meet Israel for battle—he and all his army—to the meeting place before the Arabah. He did not know that there was an ambush for him behind the city.

For Joshua did not draw back his hand that was stretched out with the sword until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai.

Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of Yahweh that Joshua commanded.