Joshua 3

¹Therfor Josue roos bi nyyt, and mouede tentis; and thei yeden out of Sechym, and camen to Jordan, he and alle the sones of Israel, and dwelliden there thre daies.

²And whanne tho daies weren passid, crieris yeden thorouy the myddis of tentis,

³and bigunnen to crie, Whanne ye seen the arke of boond of pees of youre Lord God, and the preestis of the generacioun of Leuy berynge it, also rise ye, and sue the biforgoeris;

⁴and a space of twey thousynde cubitis be bitwixe you and the arke, that ye moun se fer, and knowe bi what weie ye schulen entre, for ye `yeden not bifore bi it; and be ye war, that ye neiye not to the arke.

⁵And Josue seide to the puple, Be ye halewid, for to morew the Lord schal make merueilis among you.

⁶And Josue seide to the preestis, Take ye the arke of the boond of pees `of the Lord, and go ye bifor the puple. Whiche filliden the heestis, and tooken the arke, and yeden bifor hem.

⁷And the Lord seide to Josue, To dai Y schal bigynne to enhaunse thee bifor al Israel, that thei wite, that as Y was with Moises, so Y am also with thee.

⁸Forsothe comaunde thou to preestis, that beren the arke of bond of pees, and seie thou to hem, Whanne ye han entrid in to a part of the watir of Jordan, stonde ye therynne.

⁹And Josue seide to the sones of Israel, Neiye ye hidur, and here ye the word of youre Lord God.

¹⁰And eft he seide, In this ye schulen wite that the Lord God lyuynge is in the myddis of you; and he schal distrye in youre siyt Cananey, Ethei, Euey, and Feresei, and Gergesei, and Jebusei, and Amorrei.

¹¹Lo! the arke of boond of pees of the Lord of al erthe schal go bifor you thorouy Jordan.

¹²Make ye redi twelue men of the twelue lynagis of Israel, bi ech lynage o man.

¹³And whanne the preestis, that beren the arke of boond of pees of the Lord God of al erthe, han set the steppis of her feet in the watris of Jordan, the watris that ben lowere schulen renne doun, and schulen faile; forsothe the watris that comen fro aboue schulen stonde togidere in o gobet.

¹⁴Therfor the puple yede out of her tabernaclis to passe Jordan; and the preestis that baren the arke of boond of pees yeden bifor the puple.

¹⁵And whanne the preestis entriden in to Jordan, and her feet weren dippid in the part of watir; forsothe Jordan `hadde fillid the brynkis of his trow in the tyme of `ripe corn;

¹⁶the watris yeden doun, and stoden in o place, and wexiden grete at the licnesse of an hil, and apperiden fer fro the citee that was clepid Edom, `til to the place of Sarthan; sotheli the watris that weren lowere yeden doun in to the see of wildirnesse, which is now clepid the deed see, `til the watris failiden outirli.

¹⁷Forsothe the puple yede thorouy Jordan; and the preestis, that baren the arke of the boond of pees of the Lord, stoden gird on the drie erthe in the myddis of Jordan, and al the puple passide thorouy the drie trow.

Joshua 3

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

²And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;

³And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.

⁴Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

⁵And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

⁶And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

⁷And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

⁸And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.

⁹And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.

¹⁰And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

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

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

¹³And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

¹⁴And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;

¹⁵And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

¹⁶That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.

¹⁷And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.