Joshua 5; Joshua 6; Joshua 7; Joshua 8

Joshua 5

1 Now when all the kings of the Amorrhites, who dwelt beyond the Jordan, westward, and all the kings of Chanaan, who possessed the places near the great sea, had heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the children of Israel, till they passed over, their heart failed them, and there remained no spirit in them, fearing the coming in of the children of Israel.\par

2 At that time the Lord said to Josue: Make thee knives of stone, and circumcise the second time the children of Israel.

3 He did what the Lord had commanded, and he circumcised the children of Israel in the hill of the foreskins.

4 Now this is the cause of the second circumcision: All the people that came out of Egypt that were males, all the men fit for war, died in the desert, during the time of the long going about in the way:

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6 Now these were all circumcised. But the people that were born in the desert, During the forty years of the journey in the wide wilderness, were uncircumcised: till all they were consumed that had not heard the voice of the Lord, and to whom he had sworn before, that he would not shew them the land flowing with milk and honey.

7 The children of these succeeded in the place of their fathers, and were circumcised by Josue: for they were uncircumcised even as they were born, and no one had circumcised them in the way.

8 Now after they were all circumcised, they remained in the same place of the camp, until they were healed.

9 And the Lord said to Josue: This day have I taken away from you the reproach of Egypt. And the name of that place was called Galgal, until this present day.

10 And the children of Israel abode in Galgal, and they kept the phase, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, in the plains of Jericho:

11 And they ate on the next day unleavened bread of the corn of the land, and frumenty of the same year.

12 And the manna ceased after they ate of the corn of the land, neither did the children of Israel use that food any more, but they ate of the corn of the present year of the land of Chanaan.

13 And when Josue was in the field of the city of Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and saw a man standing over against him, holding a drawn sword, and he went to him, and said: Art thou one of ours, or of our adversaries?

14 And he answered: No: but I am prince of the host of the Lord, and now I am come.

15 Josue fell on his face to the ground. And worshipping, said: What saith my lord to his servant? (5-16) Loose, saith he, thy shoes from off thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Josue did as was commanded him.

Joshua 6

1 Now Jericho was close shut up and fenced, for fear of the children of Israel, and no man durst go out or come in.

2 And the Lord said to Josue: Behold I have given into thy hands Jericho, and the king thereof, and all the valiant men.

3 Go round about the city all ye fighting men once a day: so shall ye do for six days.

4 And on the seventh day the priests shall take the seven trumpets, which are used in the jubilee, and shall go before the ark of the covenant: and you shall go about the city seven times, and the priests shall sound the trumpets.

5 And when the voice of the trumpet shall give a longer and broken tune, and shall sound in your ears, all the people shall shout together with a very great shout, and the walls of the city shall fall to the ground, and they shall enter in every one at the place against which they shall stand.

6 Then Josue, the son of Nun, called the priests, and said to them: Take the ark of the covenant: and let seven other priests take the seven trumpets of the jubilee, and march before the ark of the Lord.

7 And he said to the people: Go, and compass the city, armed, marching before the ark of the Lord.

8 And when Josue had ended his words, and the seven priests blew the seven trumpets before the ark of the covenant of the Lord,

9 And all the armed men went before, the rest of the common people followed the ark, and the sound of the trumpets was heard on all sides.

10 But Josue had commanded the people, saying: You shall not shout, nor shall your voice be heard, nor any word go out of your mouth: until the day come wherein I shall say to you: Cry, and shout.

11 So the ark of the Lord went about the city once a day, and returning into the camp, abode there.

12 And Josue rising before day, the priests took the ark of the Lord,

13 And seven of them seven trumpets, which are used in the jubilee: and they went before the ark of the Lord, walking and sounding the trumpets: and the armed men went before them, and the rest of the common people followed the ark, and they blew the trumpets.

14 And they went round about the city the second day once, and returned into the camp. So they did six days.

15 But the seventh day, rising up early, they went about the city, as it was ordered, seven times.

16 And when in the seventh going about the priests sounded with the trumpets, Josue said to all Israel: Shout: for the Lord hath delivered the city to you:

17 And let this city be an anathema, and all things that are in it, to the Lord. Let only Rahab, the harlot, live, with all that are with her in the house: for she hid the messengers whom we sent.

18 But beware ye lest you touch ought of those things that are forbidden, and you be guilty of transgression, and all the camp of Israel be under sin, and be troubled.

19 But whatsoever gold or silver there shall be, or vessels of brass and iron, let it be consecrated to the Lord, laid up in his treasures.

20 So all the people making a shout, and the trumpets sounding, when the voice and the sound thundered in the ears of the multitude, the walls forthwith fell down: and every man went up by the place that was over against him: and they took the city,

21 And killed all that were in it, man and woman, young and old. The oxen also, and the sheep, and the asses, they slew with the edge of the sword.

22 But Josue said to the two men that had been sent for spies: Go into the harlot’s house, and bring her out, and all things that are hers, as you assured her by oath.

23 And the young men went in, and brought out Rahab, and her parents, her brethren also, and all her goods, and her kindred, and made them to stay without the camp.

24 But they burned the city, and all things that were therein; except the gold and silver, and vessels of brass and iron, which they consecrated unto the treasury of the Lord.

25 But Josue saved Rahab the harlot, and her father’s house, and all she had, and they dwelt in the midst of Israel until this present day: because she hid the messengers whom he had sent to spy out Jericho. At that time, Josue made an imprecation, saying:

26 Cursed be the man before the Lord, that shall raise up and build the city of Jericho. In his firstborn may he lay the foundation thereof, and in the last of his children set up its gates.

27 And the Lord was with Josue, and his name was noised throughout all the land

Joshua 7

1 But the children of Israel transgressed the commandment, and took to their own use of that which was accursed. For Achan, the son of Charmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zare, of the tribe of Juda, took something of the anathema: and the Lord was angry against the children of Israel.

2 And when Josue sent men from Jericho against Hai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of the town of Bethel, he said to them: Go up, and view the country: and they fulfilled his command, and viewed Hai.

3 And returning, they said to him: Let not all the people go up, but let two or three thousand men go, and destroy the city: why should all the people be troubled in vain, against enemies that are very few?

4 There went up therefore three thousand fighting men: who immediately turned their backs,

5 And were defeated by the men of the city of Hai, and there fell of them six and thirty men: and the enemies pursued them from the gate as far as Sabarim, and they slew them as they fled by the descent: and the heart of the people was struck with fear, and melted like water.

6 But Josue rent his garments, and fell flat on the ground, before the ark of the Lord, until the evening, both he and all the ancients of Israel: and they put dust upon their heads.

7 And Josue said: Alas, O Lord God, why wouldst thou bring this people over the river Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorrhite, and to destroy us? would God we had stayed beyond the Jordan, as we began.

8 My Lord God, what shall I say, seeing Israel turning their backs to their enemies?

9 The Chanaanites, and all the inhabitants of the land, will hear of it, and being gathered together will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do to thy great name?

10 And the Lord said to Josue: Arise, why liest thou flat on the ground?

11 Israel hath sinned, and transgressed my covenant: and they have taken of the anathema, and have stolen and lied, and have hid it among their goods.

12 Neither can Israel stand before his enemies, but he shall flee from them: because he is defiled with the anathema. I will be no more with you, till you destroy him that is guilty of this wickedness.

13 Arise, sanctify the people, and say to them: Be ye sanctified against tomorrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel: The curse is in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thy enemies, till he be destroyed out of thee, that is defiled with this wickedness.

14 And you shall come in the morning, every one by your tribes: and what tribe soever the lot shall find, it shall come by its kindreds, and the kindred by its houses and tho house by the men.

15 And whosoever he be that shall be found guilty of this fact, he shall be burnt with fire, with all his substance, because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and hath done wickedness in Israel.

16 Josue, therefore, when he rose in the morning, made Israel to come by their tribes, and the tribe of Juda was found.

17 Which being brought by in families, it was found to be the family of Zare. Bringing that also by the houses, he found it to be Zabdi:

18 And bringing his house man by man, he found Achan, the son of Charmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zare, of the tribe of Juda.

19 And Josue said to Achan: My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel, and confess, and tell me what thou hast done, hide it not.

20 And Achan answered Josue, and said to him: Indeed I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done.

21 For I saw among the spoils a scarlet garment, exceeding good, and two hundred sicles of silver, and a golden rule of fifty sicles: and I coveted them, and I took them away, and hid them in the ground in the midst of my tent, and the silver I covered with the earth that I dug up.

22 Josue therefore sent ministers: who running to his tent, found all hid in the same place, together with the silver.

23 And taking them away out of the tent, they brought them to Josue, and to all the children of Israel, and threw them down before the Lord.

24 Then Josue, and all Israel with him, took Achan, the son of Zare, and the silver, and the garment, and the golden rule, his sons also, and his daughters, his oxen, and asses, and sheep, the tent also, and all the goods: and brought them to the valley of Achor:

25 Where Josue said: Because thou hast troubled us, the Lord trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him: and all things that were his, were consumed with fire.

26 And they gathered together upon him a great heap of stones, which remaineth until this present day And the wrath of the Lord was turned away from them. And the name of that place was called the Valley of Achor, until this day.

Joshua 8

1 And the Lord said to Josue: Fear not, nor be thou dismayed: take with thee all the multitude of fighting men, arise, and go up to the town of Hai: Behold I have delivered into thy hand the king thereof, and the people, and the city, and the land.

2 And thou shalt do to the city of Hai, and to the king thereof, as thou hast done to Jericho, and to the king thereof: but the spoils, and all the cattle, you shall take for a prey to yourselves: lay an ambush for the city behind it.

3 And Josue arose, and all the army of the fighting men with him, to go up against Hai: and he sent thirty thousand chosen valiant men in the night,

4 And commanded them, saying: Lay an ambush behind the city: and go not very far from it: and be ye all ready.

5 But I, and the rest of the multitude which is with me, will approach on the contrary side against the city. And when they shall come out against us, we will flee, and turn our backs, as we did before:

6 Till they pursuing us be drawn farther from the city: for they will think that we flee as before.

7 And whilst we are fleeing, and they pursuing, you shall rise out of the ambush, and shall destroy the city: and the Lord your God will deliver it into your hands.

8 And when you shall have taken it, set it on fire, and you shall do all things so as I have commanded.

9 And he sent them away, and they went on to the place of the ambush, and abode between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the city of Hai. But Josue staid that night in the midst of the people,

10 And rising early in the morning, he mustered his soldiers, and went up with the ancients in the front of the army, environed with the aid of the fighting men.

11 And when they were come, and were gone up over against the city, they stood on the north side of the city, between which and them there was a valley in the midst.

12 And he had chosen five thousand men, and set them to lie in ambush between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the same city:

13 But all the rest of the army went in battle array on the north side, so that the last of that multitude reached to the west side of the city. So Josue went that night, and stood in the midst of the valley.

14 And when the king of Hai saw this, he made haste in the morning, and went out with all the army of the city, and set it in battle array, toward the desert, not knowing that there lay an ambush behind his back.

15 But Josue, and all Israel gave back, making as if they were afraid, and fleeing by the way of the wilderness.

16 But they shouting together, and encouraging one another, pursued them. And when they were come from the city,

17 And not one remained in the city of Hai and of Bethel, that did not pursue after Israel, leaving the towns open as they had rushed out,

18 The Lord said to Josue: Lift up the shield that is in thy hand, towards the city of Hai, for I will deliver it to thee.

19 And when he had lifted up his shield towards the city, the ambush, that lay hid, rose up immediately: and going to the city, took it, and set it on fire.

20 And the men of the city, that pursued after Josue, looking back, and seeing the smoke of the city rise up to heaven, had no more power to flee this way or that way: especially as they that had counterfeited flight, and were going toward the wilderness, turned back most valiantly against them that pursued.

21 So Josue, and all Israel, seeing that the city was taken, and that the smoke of the city rose up, returned, and slew the men of Hai.

22 And they also that had taken and set the city on fire, issuing out of the city to meet their own men, began to cut off the enemies who were surrounded by them. So that the enemies being cut off on both sides, not one of so great a multitude was saved.

23 And they took the king of the city of Hai alive and brought him to Josue.

24 So all being slain that had pursued after Israel, in his flight to the wilderness, and falling by the sword in the same place, the children of Israel returned and laid waste the city.

25 And the number of them that fell that day, both of men and women, was twelve thousand persons, all of the city of Hai.

26 But Josue drew not back his hand, which he had stretched out on high, holding the shield, till all the inhabitants of Hai were slain.

27 And the children of Israel divided among them, the cattle and the prey of the city, as the Lord had commanded Josue.

28 And he burnt the city, and made it a heap forever:

29 And he hung the king thereof on a gibbet, until the evening and the going down of the sun. Then Josue commanded, and they took down his carcass from the gibbet: and threw it in the very entrance of the city, heaping upon it a great heap of stones, which remaineth until this present day.

30 Then Josue built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Mount Hebal,

31 As Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the children of Israel, and it is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of unhewn stones, which iron had not touched: and he offered upon it holocausts to the Lord, and immolated victims of peace offerings.

32 And he wrote upon stones, the Deuteronomy of the law of Moses, which he had ordered before the children of Israel.

33 And all the people, and the ancients, and the princes, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark, before the priests that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, both the stranger and he that was born among them, half of them by Mount Garizim, and half by Mount Hebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord, had commanded. And first he blessed the people of Israel.

34 After this, he read all the words of the blessing and the cursing, and all things that were written in the book of the law.

35 He left out nothing of those things which Moses had commanded, but he repeated all before all the people of Israel, with the women and children, and strangers, that dwelt among them.