Joshua 3

¹Then Joshua got up early in the morning, and, moving on from Shittim, he and all the children of Israel came to Jordan and were there for the night before going over.

²And at the end of three days, the men in authority over the people went through the tents,

³Giving the people their orders, and saying, When you see the ark of the agreement of the Lord your God lifted up by the priests, the Levites, then get up from your places and go after it;

⁴But let there be a space between you and it of about two thousand cubits: come no nearer to it, so that you may see the way you have to go, for you have not been over this way before.

⁵And Joshua said to the people, Make yourselves holy, for tomorrow the Lord will do works of wonder among you.

⁶Then Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark of the agreement and go over in front of the people. So they took up the ark of the agreement and went in front of the people.

⁷And the Lord said to Joshua, From now on I will give you glory in the eyes of all Israel, so that they may see that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

⁸And you are to give orders to the priests who take up the ark of the agreement, and say, When you come to the edge of the waters of Jordan, go no further.

⁹And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come to me here: and give ear to the words of the Lord your God.

¹⁰And Joshua said, By this you will see that the living God is among you, and that he will certainly send out from before you the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Hivite and the Perizzite and the Girgashite and the Amorite and the Jebusite.

¹¹See, the ark of the agreement of the Lord of all the earth is going over before you into Jordan.

¹²So take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, a man from every tribe.

¹³And when the feet of the priests who take up the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the waters of Jordan, the waters of Jordan will be cut off, all the waters flowing down from higher up, and will come together in a mass.

¹⁴So when the people went out from their tents to go over Jordan, the priests who took up the ark of the agreement were in front of the people;

¹⁵And when those who took up the ark came to Jordan, and the feet of the priests who took up the ark were touching the edge of the water (for the waters of Jordan are overflowing all through the time of the grain-cutting),

¹⁶Then the waters flowing down from higher up were stopped and came together in a mass a long way back at Adam, a town near Zarethan; and the waters flowing down to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were cut off: and the people went across opposite Jericho.

¹⁷And the priests who took up the ark of the agreement of the Lord kept their places, with their feet on dry land in the middle of Jordan, while all Israel went over on dry land, till all the nation had gone over Jordan.

Joshua 3

¹Joshua rose up early in the morning; and they moved from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel. They lodged there before they passed over.

²It happened after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp;

³and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then you shall move from your place, and follow it.

⁴Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near to it, that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before."

⁵Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."

⁶Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people." They took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

⁷The Lord said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

⁸You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'"

⁹Joshua said to the children of Israel, "Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God."

¹⁰Joshua said, "Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite out from before you.

¹¹Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan.

¹²Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man.

¹³It shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap."

¹⁴It happened, when the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people,

¹⁵and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest),

¹⁶that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over right against Jericho.

¹⁷The priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.