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.
Joshua [and all the other Israelis] got up early [the next] morning. They left [their camp at] Acacia and went [down] to the Jordan [River]. They camped there for two nights.
2 And it came to pass, after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp,
Then the leaders went throughout 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.
telling the people, “You will see some of the priests, who are descendants of Levi, carrying the chest that contains the Ten Commandments that Yahweh our God gave us. When you see them, leave the places where you are camped and follow them.
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.
You have not been (here/along this road) before, [so you must follow the priests]. But do not walk close to the chest. Stay (1,000 yards/900 meters) from the chest. [The chest is sacred, so (God will punish you/you will be punished) if you come close to it].”
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, “Perform the ceremonies needed to make yourselves acceptable to Yahweh, because tomorrow he is going to do things for you that will amaze 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.
Then Joshua said to the priests, “Carry the chest and go in front of the [rest of the] people.” So they lifted up the chest and went ahead.
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.
Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “This is the day that I will begin to show all the Israeli people that you are a great leader. Then they will honor you, and know that I am with/helping you as I (was with/helped) 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.
Tell the priests who are carrying the chest that contains the Ten Commandments, ‘When you come to the edge of the Jordan [River], stand in the water.’”
9 Then said Joshua, unto the sons of Israel, —Draw near hither, and hear ye the words of Yahweh your God.
Then Joshua said to the Israeli people, “Come close to me in order that you can listen to what Yahweh, your God, is saying.”
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.
[When they came near], he said to them, “This is how you will know that God, who is all-powerful, is among you, and that he will expel for you the descendants of Canaan, Heth, Hiv, Periz, Girgash, Amor, and Jebus [who are now living in that land].
11 Lo! the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth, is about to pass before you into the Jordan.
Keep in mind that Yahweh is the one who rules over all the earth. The chest belongs to him, and it will be carried into the Jordan River ahead of you.
12 Now, therefore, take you twelve men, out of the tribes of Israel, —one man severally for each tribe;
So choose twelve men, [one from each] of the tribes of Israel, [and I will tell you later what I want them to do].
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.
As for the priests who are carrying the chest, as soon as they put their feet into the Jordan [River], the water will stop flowing. It will pile up because I will cause it to be blocked upstream.”
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 [Israeli] people packed up their tents in order to cross the river, the priests who were carrying the chest containing the Ten Commandments went in front 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,
[It was springtime], when people harvest their crops, [and] at that time the river floods over its banks. But as soon as the priests reached the edge of the river and stepped into the water,
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 water stopped flowing. The water piled up far [upstream], at a town named Adam, near Zarethan. The water stopped flowing down to the Dead Sea. So the people were able to cross the river near 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 who were carrying the chest containing the Ten Commandments that Yahweh [had given them] stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan [riverbed], while the rest of the Israeli people crossed the river [as though they were crossing] dry ground.
