Joshua 3
1 Joshua got up early in the morning; and they moved from Shittim and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel. They camped there before they crossed over.
And so, Joshua arose in the night, and he moved the camp. And they departed from Shittim, and they went to the Jordan: he, and all the sons of Israel, and they remained there for three days.
2 After three days, the officers went through the middle of the camp;
After these things unfolded, announcers passed through the midst of the camp,
3 and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of Yahweh your God’s covenant, and the Levitical priests bearing it, then leave your place and follow it.
and they began to proclaim: “When you will see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests of the stock of Levi carrying it, you also shall rise up and follow those who are going before you.
4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it of about two thousand cubits by measure—don’t come closer to it—that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before.”
And let there be, between you and the ark, the space of two thousand cubits, so that you may be able to see it from far away, and to know along which way you should advance. For you have not walked this way before. And be careful that you do not approach the ark.”
5 Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders among you.”
And Joshua said to the people: “Be sanctified. For tomorrow the Lord will accomplish miracles among you.”
6 Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and cross over before the people.” They took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.
And he said to the priests: “Take up the ark of the covenant, and go before the people.” And they fulfilled the orders, and they took it and walked before them.
7 Yahweh said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
And the Lord said to Joshua: “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that, just as I was with Moses, so also am I with you.
8 You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’”
Now instruct the priests, who are carrying the ark of the covenant, and say to them, ‘When you will have entered into a part of the water of the Jordan, stand still in it.’”
9 Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of Yahweh your God.”
And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Approach to here, and listen to the word of the Lord your God.”
10 Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite out from before you.
And again, he said: “By this shall you know that the Lord, the living God, is in your midst, and that he shall scatter in your sight, the Canaanite and the Hittite, the Hivite and the Perizzite, likewise the Girgashite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite.
11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth shall go before you through the Jordan.
12 Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man.
Prepare twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.
13 It shall be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in one heap.”
And when the priests who are carrying the ark of the Lord, the God of the entire earth, will have placed the steps of their feet in the waters of the Jordan, the waters that are lower will run down and pass away, and those that are approaching above will stand together in a mass.”
14 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,
And the people departed from their tents, so that they might cross the Jordan. And the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant were advancing before them.
15 and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest),
And as soon as they entered into the Jordan, and their feet were dipped in a portion of the water, (now the Jordan, since it was the time of the harvest, had filled the banks of its channel, )
16 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. Then the people passed over near Jericho.
the descending waters stood still in one place, and, swelling up like a mountain, they were seen from far away, from the city that is called Adam, even as far as the place of Zarethan. But those that were lower ran down into the Sea of the Wilderness, (which is now called the Dead Sea, ) until they entirely passed away.
17 The priests who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.
Then the people advanced opposite Jericho. And the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord were standing, fully-dressed, upon dry soil in the midst of the Jordan, and all the people passed over, through the channel that was dried up.
