This is why Joshua had to circumcise them: All the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt died on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt. ¹ 

Joshua told the two men who had spied on the land, “Enter the prostitute’s house ¹  and bring out the woman and all who belong to her as you promised her.” ² 

They returned and reported to Joshua, ¹  “Don’t send the whole army. ²  About two or three thousand men are adequate to defeat Ai. ³  Don’t tire out the whole army, for Ai is small.” ⁴ 

When he held out his hand, the men waiting in ambush rose up quickly from their place and attacked. ¹  They entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.

When Israel had finished killing all the men ¹  of Ai who had chased them toward the desert ²  (they all fell by the sword), ³  all Israel returned to Ai and put the sword to it.

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

The men of Gibeon sent this message to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, “Do not abandon ¹  your subjects! ²  Rescue us! Help us! For all the Amorite kings living in the hill country are attacking us.” ³ 

At sunset Joshua ordered his men to take them down from the trees. ¹  They threw them into the cave where they had hidden and piled large stones over the mouth of the cave. (They remain to this very day.) ² 

The men of Judah approached Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said about you and me to Moses, the man of God, at Kadesh Barnea. ¹ 

When the men started out, Joshua told those going to map out the land, “Go, walk through the land, map it out, and return to me. Then I will draw lots for you before the Lord here in Shiloh.”

The men journeyed ¹  through the land and mapped it and its cities out into seven regions on a scroll. Then they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.

The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conquered ¹  the hill country, but they could not ²  conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels. ³ 

The men of Manasseh did not conquer Beth Shan, Taanach, or their surrounding towns. Nor did they conquer the people living in Dor, Ibleam, Megiddo ¹  or their surrounding towns. ²  The Canaanites managed ³  to remain in those areas. ⁴ 

Deborah said to Barak, “Spring into action, ¹  for this is the day the Lord is handing Sisera over to you! ²  Has the Lord not taken the lead?” ³  Barak quickly went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.

Issachar’s leaders were with Deborah, the men of Issachar ¹  supported ²  Barak; into the valley they were sent under Barak’s command. ³  Among the clans of Reuben there was intense ⁴  heart searching. ⁵ 

When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw ¹  the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar.

The men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so we can execute him! ¹  He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.”

Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and his men ¹  got up the next morning and camped near the spring of Harod. ²  The Midianites ³  were camped north of them near the hill of Moreh in the valley.

So he brought the men ¹  down to the water. Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Separate those who lap the water as a dog laps from those who kneel to drink.” ² 

Gideon took a hundred men to the edge of the camp ¹  at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars they were carrying. ²