Joshua 5
Open in the reader1Now when all the Mountaineer kings west of the Descender and all the Humbled-One kings along the coast heard how He-Who-Is had dried up the waters of the Descender before the Strives-with-Godites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and their spirits failed for fear of the Israelites.
2At that time He-Who-Is said to He-Who-Is-Saves, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Strives-with-God once again.”
3So He-Who-Is-Saves made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Strives-with-God at Hill-haaraloth.
4Now this is why He-Who-Is-Saves circumcised them: All those who came out of Two-Straits—all the men of war—had died on the journey in the wilderness after they had left Two-Straits.
5Though all who had come out were circumcised, none of those born in the wilderness on the journey from Two-Straits had been circumcised.
6For the children of Strives-with-God had wandered in the wilderness forty years, until all the nation’s men of war who had come out of Two-Straits had died, since they did not obey He-Who-Is. So He-Who-Is vowed never to let them see the land He had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
7And He raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones He-Who-Is-Saves circumcised. Until this time they were still uncircumcised, since they had not been circumcised along the way.
8And after all the nation had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they were healed.
9Then He-Who-Is said to He-Who-Is-Saves, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Two-Straits from you.” So that place has been called The-Rolling to this day.
10On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while the children of Strives-with-God were camped at The-Rolling on the plains of Moon, they kept the Passover.
11The day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate unleavened bread and roasted grain from the produce of the land.
12And the day after they had eaten from the produce of the land, the manna ceased. There was no more manna for the children of Strives-with-God, so that year they began to eat the crops of the land of Humbled.
13Now when He-Who-Is-Saves was near Moon, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. He-Who-Is-Saves approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?”
14“Neither,” He replied. “I have now come as Commander of He-Who-Is’s army.” Then He-Who-Is-Saves fell facedown in reverence and asked Him, “What does my Lord have to say to His servant?”
15The Commander of He-Who-Is’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is devoted.” And He-Who-Is-Saves did so.