Joshua 3
1 So then Joshua rose early in the morning, and they brake up from The Acacias and came as far as the Jordan, he and all the sons of Israel, —and they lodged there before they passed 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 officers went through the midst of the camp,
After three days the officers went through the camp
3 and commanded the people saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and, the priests the Levites, bearing it, ye also, shall break up out of your place, and come 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 Yet shall there be, a distance, between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure, —do not come near unto it that ye may get to know the way by which ye must go, for ye have not passed this way, heretofore.
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 Then said Joshua unto the people, Hallow yourselves, —for, to-morrow, will Yahweh do in your midst, wonderful things.
Then Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”
6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take ye up the ark of the covenant, and pass on before the people. So they took up the ark of the covenant, and went on 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 Then said Yahweh unto Joshua: This day, will I begin to magnify thee in the eyes of all Israel, —who shall know, that, as I was with Moses, I will be with thee.
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 Thou, therefore, shalt command the priests who am bearing the ark of the covenant, saying, —When ye are come as far as the edge of the waters of the Jordan, in the Jordan, shall ye stand.
Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.’”
9 Then said Joshua, unto the sons of Israel, —Draw near hither, and hear ye the words of Yahweh your God.
So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.”
10 And Joshua said, Hereby, shall ye know, that a Living GOD is in your midst, —and that he will, certainly dispossess, from before you, the Canaanite and the Hittite, and the Hivite and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, 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 Lo! the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth, is about to pass before you into the Jordan.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you into the Jordan.
12 Now, therefore, take you twelve men, out of the tribes of Israel, —one man severally for each tribe;
Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.
13 and it shall be, when the soles of the feet of the priests who are bearing the ark of Yahweh, Lord of all the earth, do rest, in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan, shall be cut off, the waters that are coming down from above, —and shall stand in one mound.
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 it came to pass, when the people set out from their tents, to cross the Jordan, —with the priests, bearing the ark of the covenant 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 then, as the bearers of the ark came as far as the Jordan, and, the feet of the priests who were bearing the ark, were dipped in the edge of the waters, —the Jordan being full over all his banks, all the days of 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 that the waters which were coming down from above, stood—rose up in one mound, a great way off, by the city Adam, which is beside Zarethan, and, they which were going down to the sea of the waste plain, the salt sea, failed—were cut off, —and, the people, passed over, right against 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 who were bearing the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, stood on dry ground, in the midst of the Jordan, with firm footing, —while all Israel were passing over on dry ground, until all the nation had made an end of passing over the 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.
