Joshua 3
1 Joshua got up early in the morning, and they set out from Shittim. They came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and they camped there before they crossed over.
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 After three days, the officers went through the middle of the camp;
And it came to pass after three days, [that] the scribes went through the camp;
3 they commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and the priests from the Levites carrying it, you must leave this place and follow it.
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.
4 There must be a distance between you and it of about two thousand cubits. Do not come close to it, so that you can see which way to go, since you have not gone this way before.”
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.
5 Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves tomorrow, for Yahweh will do 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 Then Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass in front of the people.” So they picked up the ark of the covenant and went in front of 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 Yahweh said to Joshua, “This day I will make you a great man in the eyes of all Israel. They will know that as I was with Moses, I will be with you.
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.
8 You will command the priests who carry the ark of the covenant, 'When you have come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you must stand still in the Jordan River.'”
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.
9 Then Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here, and listen to the words of Yahweh your God.
And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and listen to the word of the Lord our God.
10 By this you will know that the living God is among you and will drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
Hereby you 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 Look! The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth crosses over ahead of you into the Jordan.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over Jordan.
12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each.
Choose for yourselves twelve men of the sons of Israel, one of each tribe.
13 When the soles of the feet of the priests that carry the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, touch the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and even the waters that flow down from upstream will stop flowing and they will stand in one heap.”
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 So when the people set out to cross over the Jordan, the priests that carried the ark of the covenant went ahead of the 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 As soon as those who were carrying the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of those who carried the chest were dipped in the edge of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of the harvest),
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 the waters that flowed down from upstream stood up in one heap. The water stopped flowing from a great distance. The waters stopped flowing from Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, all the way down to the sea of the Negev, the Salt Sea. The people crossed over near Jericho.
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 The priests that carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan until all the people of Israel crossed over on dry ground.
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.
