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 following morning Joshua and the Israelites set out from Shittim and arrived at the banks of the Jordan. There they all spent the night before crossing over.
2 And it came to pass after three days, [that] the scribes went through the camp;
Three days later those in charge of the people 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.
telling the people, “When you see the Ark of the Agreement of the Lord your God carried by the priests, the Levites, you must leave the place where you are 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.
That way you'll know which way to go, since you haven't been here before. Leave about 3,000 feet between you and the Ark. Don't go near it!”
5 And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders amongst you.
Then Joshua said to the people, “Make sure you are pure, because tomorrow the Lord is going to do amazing things 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.
Joshua spoke to the priests, “Pick up the Ark of the Agreement and go before the people.” So they picked up the Ark of the Agreement and went ahead of the people.
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.
The Lord said to Joshua, “What I do today will confirm you as great leader in the sight of all the Israelites, so that they'll realize that just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
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.
Tell the priests carrying the Ark of the Agreement, ‘When you get to the edge of the Jordan, take a few steps into the water and then stop.’”
9 And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and listen to the word of the Lord our God.
So Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to what the Lord your God has to say to you.
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.
This is how you will know that the living God is right here with you,” he told them. “You can be sure that he will 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.
Just watch—the Ark of the Agreement of the Lord of all the earth will cross in front of you through the Jordan.
12 Choose for yourselves twelve men of the sons of Israel, one of each tribe.
Choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one per 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.
The moment the priests carrying the Ark step into the water the river will stop flowing and the water will pile up.”
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 the people broke camp and set out to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the Ark 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: )
As it was harvest season, the Jordan was full of water, overflowing its banks. But at the very moment the priests carrying the Ark stepped into the water, the river stopped flowing.
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 water piled up a long way upstream, at the town of Adam, near Zarethan, while downstream no more water flowed into the Dead Sea. 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 stood on the dried-up riverbed of the Jordan as all the people went by, staying there until everyone had crossed over on dry ground.
