1. So the Lord dried up the Jordan River until the Israelites had crossed it. Now all the kings of the Amorites west of the Jordan heard about it. And the Canaanite kings living by the Mediterranean Sea heard about it. They were very scared. After that they were too afraid to face the Israelites.
2. At that time the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, “Make knives from flint stones. Circumcise the Israelites again.”
3. So Joshua made knives from flint stones. Then he circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.
4. This is why Joshua circumcised the men: After the Israelites left Egypt, all the men old enough to serve in the army died. They died in the desert on the way out of Egypt.
5. The men who had come out of Egypt had been circumcised. But many were born in the desert on the trip from Egypt. They had not been circumcised.
6. The Israelites had moved about in the desert for 40 years. During that time all the fighting men who had left Egypt had died. This was because they had not obeyed the Lord. So the Lord swore they would not see the land. This was the land he had promised their ancestors to give them. It was a land where much food grows.
7. So their sons took their places. But none of the sons born on the trip from Egypt had been circumcised. So Joshua circumcised them.
8. After all the Israelites had been circumcised, they stayed in camp until they were healed.