Lexicon :: Strong's H3091 - yᵊhôšûaʿ

This is the reason Joshua circumcised them: All the people who came out of Egypt who were males ​— ​all the men of war ​— ​had died in the wilderness along the way after they had come out of Egypt.

He raised up their sons in their place; it was these Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised, since they had not been circumcised along the way.

The LORD then said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” Therefore, that place is still called Gilgal[fn] today.

When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua approached him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies? ”

“Neither,” he replied. “I have now come as commander of the LORD’s army.”

Then Joshua bowed with his face to the ground in homage and asked him, “What does my lord want to say to his servant? ”

The commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did that.

So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the LORD.”

After Joshua had spoken to the troops, seven priests carrying seven rams’ horns before the LORD moved forward and blew the rams’ horns; the ark of the LORD’s covenant followed them.

But Joshua had commanded the troops, “Do not shout or let your voice be heard. Don’t let one word come out of your mouth until the time I say, ‘Shout! ’ Then you are to shout.”

Joshua got up early the next morning. The priests took the ark of the LORD,

After the seventh time, the priests blew the rams’ horns, and Joshua said to the troops, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city.

Joshua said to the two men who had scouted the land, “Go to the prostitute’s house and bring the woman out of there, and all who are with her, just as you swore to her.”

However, Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family, and all who belonged to her, because she hid the messengers Joshua had sent to spy on Jericho, and she still lives in Israel today.

At that time Joshua imposed this curse:

The man who undertakes

the rebuilding of this city, Jericho,

is cursed before the LORD.

He will lay its foundation

at the cost of his firstborn;

he will finish its gates

at the cost of his youngest.

And the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

After returning to Joshua they reported to him, “Don’t send all the people, but send about two thousand or three thousand[fn] men to attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, don’t wear out all our people there.”

Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown to the ground before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; they all put dust on their heads.

“Oh, Lord GOD,” Joshua said, “why did you ever bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites for our destruction? If only we had been content to remain on the other side of the Jordan!

The LORD then said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why have you fallen facedown?

Joshua got up early the next morning. He had Israel come forward tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was selected.

So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to him.[fn] I urge you, tell me what you have done. Don’t hide anything from me.”

Achan replied to Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the LORD, the God of Israel. This is what I did:

So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there was the cloak, concealed in his tent, with the silver underneath.

They took the things from inside the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites, and spread them out in the LORD’s presence.

Then Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, and the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his ox, donkey, and sheep, his tent, and all that he had, and brought them up to the Valley of Achor.

Joshua said, “Why have you brought us trouble? Today the LORD will bring you trouble! ” So all Israel stoned them[fn] to death. They burned their bodies, threw stones on them,

So Joshua and all the troops set out to attack Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand of his best soldiers and sent them out at night.

So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But he spent that night with the troops.

Joshua started early the next morning and mobilized them. Then he and the elders of Israel led the people up to Ai.

The troops were stationed in this way: the main[fn] camp to the north of the city and its rear guard to the west of the city. And that night Joshua went into the valley.

Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten back by them and fled toward the wilderness.

Then all the troops of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out the javelin in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the city over to you.” So Joshua held out his javelin toward it.

When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.

but they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

Joshua did not draw back his hand that was holding the javelin until all the inhabitants of Ai were completely destroyed.

Israel plundered only the cattle and spoil of that city for themselves, according to the LORD’s command that he had given Joshua.

Joshua burned Ai and left it a permanent ruin, still desolate today.

He hung[fn] the body of the king of Ai on a tree[fn] until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree. They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and put a large pile of rocks over it, which still remains today.

At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,

There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, the dependents, and the resident aliens who lived among them.

When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,

They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Please make a treaty with us.”

They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”

Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where do you come from? ”

So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.