1All the Amorite kings west of the Jordan River and all the Canaanite kings along the Mediterranean Sea heard that the LORD had dried up the Jordan River so that the Israelites could cross. So they lost heart and had no courage left to face the people of Israel.

2At that time the LORD spoke to Joshua, "Make flint knives, and circumcise the men of Israel." 3So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the men of Israel at the Hill of Circumcision. 4This is the reason Joshua circumcised them: All the soldiers had died on the way through the desert after they left Egypt. 5The men who left Egypt had been circumcised. However, the men born later, on the way through the desert, were not circumcised. 6For 40 years the Israelites wandered through the desert until all their soldiers who left Egypt died. They died because they disobeyed the LORD. The LORD swore that he would not let them see this land flowing with milk and honey which he had sworn to give our ancestors. 7The sons who took their place had not been circumcised on the way. So Joshua circumcised them.

8When all the men had been circumcised, they remained in the camp until they recovered. 9The LORD said to Joshua, "Today I have removed the disgrace of Egypt from you." So Joshua named the place Gilgal, the name it still has today.

10The people of Israel camped at Gilgal in the Jericho plain. There they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month. 11On the day after the Passover, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12The day after that, the manna stopped. The people of Israel never had manna again. That year they began to eat the crops that grew in Canaan.

13When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you one of us or one of our enemies?" 14He answered, "Neither one! I am here as the commander of the LORD's army." Immediately, Joshua bowed with his face touching the ground and worshiped. He asked, "Sir, what do you want to tell me?" 15The commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals because this place where you are standing is holy." So Joshua did as he was told.