< Joshua 3 >

1 And Josue rose before daylight, and removed the camp: and they departed from Setim, and came to the Jordan, he, and all the children of Israel, and they abode there for three days.
And Joshua rose up early in the morning. And they moved from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the sons of Israel, and they lodged there before they passed over.
2 After which, the heralds went through the midst of the camp,
And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp,
3 And began to proclaim: When you shall see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests of the race of Levi carrying it, rise you up also, and follow them as they go before:
and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall move from your place, and go after it.
4 And let there be between you and the ark the space of two thousand cubits: that you may see it afar off, and know which way you must go: for you have not gone this way before: and take care you come not near the ark.
Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near to it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go, for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
5 And Josue said to the people: Be ye sanctified: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.
And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow Jehovah will do wonders among you.
6 And he said to the priests: Take up the ark of the covenant, and go before the people. And they obeyed his commands, and took it up and walked before them.
And Joshua spoke to 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.
7 And the Lord said to Josue: This day will I begin to exalt thee before Israel: that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I am with thee also.
And Jehovah said to Joshua, This day I will 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.
8 And do thou command the priests that carry the ark of the covenant, and say to them: When you shall have entered into part of the water of the Jordan, stand in it.
And thou shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye have come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, ye shall stand still in the Jordan.
9 And Josue said to the children of Israel: Come hither and hear the word of the Lord your God.
And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, Come here, and hear the words of Jehovah your God.
10 And again he said: By this you shall know that the Lord the living God is in the midst of you, and that he shall destroy before your sight the Chanaanite and the Hethite, the Hevite and the Pherezite, the Gergesite also and the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite.
And 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 Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite.
11 Behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth shall go before you into the Jordan.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan.
12 Prepare ye twelve men of the tribes of Israel, one of every tribe.
Now therefore take for you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man.
13 And when the priests, that carry the ark of the Lord the God of the whole earth, shall set the soles of their feet in the waters of the Jordan, the waters that are beneath shall run down and go off: and those that come from above, shall stand together upon a heap.
And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand in one heap.
14 So the people went out of their tents, to pass over the Jordan: and the priests that carried the ark of the covenant. went on before them.
And it came to pass, 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-
15 And as soon as they came into the Jordan, and their feet were dipped in part of the water, (now the Jordan, it being harvest time, had filled the banks of its channel, )
and when those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest),
16 The waters that came down from above stood in one place, and swelling up like a mountain, were seen afar off from the city that is called Adom, to the place of Sarthan: but those that were beneath, ran down into the sea of the wilderness (which now is called the Dead Sea) until they wholly failed.
that 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. And the people passed over right against Jericho.
17 And the people marched over against Jericho: and the priests that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, stood girded upon the dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the people passed over through the channel that was dried up.
And the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel passed over on dry ground until all the nation were passed clean over the Jordan.

< Joshua 3 >