< Joshua 3 >

1 Then Ioshua rose very earely, and they remoued from Shittim, and came to Iorden, he, and all the children of Israel, and lodged there, before they went ouer.
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.
2 And after three dayes the officers went throughout the hoste,
And it came to pass after three days, [that] the scribes went through the camp;
3 And commanded the people, saying, When ye see the Arke of the couenat of the Lord your God, and the Priestes of the Leuites bearing it, ye shall depart from your place, and goe after it.
and they charged the people, saying, When ye shall see the ark of the covenant of the Lord our God, and our priests and the Levites bearing it, ye shall depart from your places, and ye shall go after it.
4 Yet there shalbe a space betweene you and it, about two thousande cubites by measure: ye shall not come neere vnto it, that ye may knowe the way, by the which ye shall goe: for ye haue not gone this way in times past.
But let there be a distance between you and it; ye shall stand as much as two thousand cubits [from it]. Do not draw nigh to it, that ye may know the way which ye are to go; for ye have not gone the way before.
5 (Nowe Ioshua had saide vnto the people, Sanctifie your selues: for to morowe the Lord will doe wonders among you)
And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.
6 Also Ioshua spake vnto the Priestes, saying, Take vp the Arke of the couenant, and goe ouer before the people: so they tooke vp the Arke of the couenant, and went before the people.
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.
7 Then the Lord saide vnto Ioshua, This day will I begin to magnifie thee in the sight of all Israel, which shall knowe, that as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee.
And the Lord said to Joshua, This day do I begin to exalt thee before all the children of Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so will I also be with thee.
8 Thou shalt therefore command the Priests that beare the Arke of the Couenant, saying, When ye are come to the brinke of the waters of Iorden, ye shall stande still in Iorden.
And now charge the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, As soon as ye shall enter on a part of the water of Jordan, then ye shall stand in Jordan.
9 Then Ioshua said vnto the children of Israel, Come hither, and heare the wordes of the Lord your God.
And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and hearken to the word of the Lord our God.
10 And Ioshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the liuing God is among you, and that he will certainely cast out before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hiuites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Iebusites.
Hereby ye shall know that the living God [is] among 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.
11 Beholde, the Arke of the couenant of the Lord of all the worlde passeth before you into Iorden.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over Jordan.
12 Nowe therefore take from among you twelue men out of the tribes of Israel, out of euery tribe a man.
Choose for yourselves twelve men of the sons of Israel, one of each tribe.
13 And assoone as the soles of the feete of the Priestes (that beare the Arke of the Lord God the Lord of all the worlde) shall stay in the waters of Iorden, the waters of Iorden shall be cut off: for the waters that come from aboue, shall stande still vpon an heape.
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.
14 Then when the people were departed from their tentes to goe ouer Iorden, the Priestes bearing the Arke of the Couenant, went before people.
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.
15 And as they that bare the Arke came vnto Iorden, and the feete of the Priestes that bare the Arke were dipped in the brinke of the water, (for Iorden vseth to fill all his bankes all the time of haruest)
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: )
16 Then the waters that came downe from aboue, stayed and rose vpon an heape and departed farre from the citie of Adam, that was beside Zaretan: but the waters that came downe towarde the Sea of the wildernes, euen the salt Sea, failed, and were cut off: so the people went right ouer against Iericho.
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.
17 But the Priestes that bare the Arke of the couenant of the Lord, stoode drie within Iorden readie prepared, and all the Israelites went ouer dry, vntill all the people were gone cleane ouer through Iorden.
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.

< Joshua 3 >