Joshua 3
1 And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and departed from Sattin; and they came as far as Jordan, and lodged there before they crossed over.
Early the next morning Joshua got up and left Shittim with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.
2 And it came to pass after three days, [that] the scribes went through the camp;
After three days the officers went through the camp
3 and they charged the people, saying, When you shall see the ark of the covenant of the Lord our God, and our priests and the Levites bearing it, you shall depart from your places, and you shall go after it.
and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it.
4 But let there be a distance between you and it; you shall stand as much as two thousand cubits [from it]. Do not draw near to it, that you may know the way which you are to go; for you have not gone the way before.
But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between yourselves and the ark. Do not go near it, so that you can see the way to go, since you have never traveled this way before.”
5 And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders amongst you.
Then Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”
6 And Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and go before the people: and the priests took up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and went before the people.
And he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.
7 And the Lord said to Joshua, This day do I begin to exalt you before all the children of Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so will I also be with you.
Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.
8 And now charge the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, As soon as you shall enter on a part of the water of Jordan, then you shall stand in Jordan.
Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.’”
9 And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and listen to the word of the Lord our God.
So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.”
10 Hereby you shall know that the living God [is] amongst you, and will utterly destroy from before our face the Chananite, and the Chettite and Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Amorite, and the Gergesite, and the Jebusite.
He continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.
11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over Jordan.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you into the Jordan.
12 Choose for yourselves twelve men of the sons of Israel, one of each tribe.
Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.
13 And it shall come to pass, when the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth rest in the water of Jordan, the water of Jordan [below] shall fail, and the water coming down from above shall stop.
When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will stand up in a heap.”
14 And the people removed from their tents to cross over Jordan, and the priests bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord before the people.
So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.
15 And when the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered upon Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord were dipped in part of the water of Jordan; (now Jordan overflowed all its banks about the time of wheat harvest: )
Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,
16 then the waters that came down from above stopped; there stood one solid heap very far off, as far as the region of Kariathiarim, and the lower part came down to the sea of Araba, the salt sea, till it completely failed; and the people stood opposite Jericho.
the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea ) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
17 And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry land in the midst of Jordan; and all the children of Israel went through on dry land, until all the people had completely gone over Jordan.
The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan.
