3:1 Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.
3:2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp,
3:3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it.
3:4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark; do not go near it.”
3:5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”
3:6 Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them.
3:7 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.
3:8 Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”
3:9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.
3:10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.
3:11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you.
3:12 Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.
3:13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD–the Lord of all the earth–set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”
3:14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.
3:15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,
3:16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
3:17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
3:1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel; and they stayed there overnight, before they crossed over.
3:2 And at the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp,
3:3 And they commanded the people, saying, When you see the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah your God and the Levitical priests bearing it, you shall set out from your place and go after it.
3:4 But there shall be a space between you and it of about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, so that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before.
3:5 And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow Jehovah will do wondrous things in your midst.
3:6 Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and cross over before the people. And they took up the Ark of the Covenant and went before the people.
3:7 And Jehovah said to Joshua, On this day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, I will be with you.
3:8 And you shall command the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant, saying, When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.
3:9 Then Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come here and hear the words of Jehovah your God.
3:10 And Joshua said, By this you will know that the living God is in your midst, and that He will most certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites.
3:11 The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth is now crossing over before you into the Jordan.
3:12 Therefore now take twelve men for yourselves out of the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.
3:13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the Ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the waters of the Jordan; the waters of the Jordan, the waters that flow down from upstream, will be cut off, and they will stand in a heap.
3:14 And so it happened that when the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were before the people.
3:15 And when those who carried the Ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who carried the Ark dipped into the edge of the water (now the Jordan overflowed all its banks throughout all the days of the harvest),
3:16 The waters that flowed down from upstream stood and rose up in a heap a great distance away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that flowed down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people crossed over from opposite Jericho.
3:17 And the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel was crossing over on dry ground, until all the nation had completely crossed over the Jordan.