Joshua 6:4-12

6:4 Have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns ¹  in front of the ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the horns. 6:5 When you hear the signal from the ram’s horn, ²  have the whole army give a loud battle cry. ³  Then the city wall will collapse ⁴  and the warriors should charge straight ahead.” ⁵ 

6:6 So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and instructed them, “Pick up the ark of the covenant, and seven priests must carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.” 6:7 And he told ⁶  the army, ⁷  “Move ahead ⁸  and march around the city, with armed troops going ahead of the ark of the Lord.”

6:8 When Joshua gave the army its orders, ⁹  the seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns before the Lord moved ahead and blew the horns as the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed behind. 6:9 Armed troops marched ahead of the priests blowing the horns, while the rear guard followed along behind the ark blowing rams’ horns. 6:10 Now Joshua had instructed the army, ¹⁰  “Do not give a battle cry ¹¹  or raise your voices; say nothing ¹²  until the day I tell you, ‘Give the battle cry.’ ¹³  Then give the battle cry!” ¹⁴  6:11 So Joshua made sure they marched the ark of the Lord around the city one time. ¹⁵  Then they went back to the camp and spent the night there. ¹⁶ 

6:12 Bright and early the next morning Joshua had the priests pick up the ark of the Lord. ¹⁷ 

[6:4]  ¹ tn Heb “rams’ horns, trumpets.”

[6:5]  ² tn Heb “and it will be at the sounding of the horn, the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the ram’s horn.” The text of Josh 6:5 seems to be unduly repetitive, so for the sake of English style and readability, it is best to streamline the text here. The reading in the Hebrew looks like a conflation of variant readings, with the second (“when you hear the sound of the ram’s horn”) being an interpolation that assimilates the text to verse 20 (“when the army heard the sound of the horn”). Note that the words “when you hear the sound of the ram's horn” do not appear in the LXX of verse 5.

[6:5]  ³ tn Heb “all the people will shout with a loud shout.”

[6:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “fall in its place.”

[6:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the people will go up, each man straight ahead.”

[6:7]  ⁶ tn An alternative reading is “and they said.” In this case the subject is indefinite and the verb should be translated as passive, “[the army] was told.”

[6:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “the people.”

[6:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “pass by.”

[6:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “when Joshua spoke to the people.”

[6:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the people.”

[6:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “the shout.”

[6:10]  ¹² tn Heb “do not let a word come out of your mouths.”

[6:10]  ¹³ tn Or “the shout.”

[6:10]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the shout.”

[6:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he made the ark of the Lord go around the city, encircling one time.”

[6:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and they entered the camp and spent the night in the camp.”

[6:12]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Joshua rose early in the morning and the priests picked up the ark of the Lord.”