Joshua 3:1–5:15

Israel Crosses the Jordan

3 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out afrom 1Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. 2 So it was, bafter three days, that the officers went through the camp; 3 and they commanded the people, saying, c“When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, dand the priests, the Levites, 2bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4 eYet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”

5 And Joshua said to the people, f“Sanctify 3yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” 6 Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, g“Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.”

So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to hexalt 4you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, ias I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 You shall command jthe priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, kyou shall stand in the Jordan.’ ”

9 So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that lthe living God is among you, and that He will without fail mdrive out from before you the nCanaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of othe Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore, ptake for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. 13 And it shall come to pass, qas soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, rthe Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they sshall stand as a heap.”

14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the tark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and uthe feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the vJordan overflows all its banks wduring the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away 5at Adam, the city that is beside xZaretan. So the waters that went down yinto the Sea of the Arabah, zthe Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; aand all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

The Memorial Stones

4 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed aover the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: 2 b“Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where cthe priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in dthe lodging place where you lodge tonight.’ ”

4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 that this may be ea sign among you fwhen your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them that gthe waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for ha memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

8 And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. 9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

10 So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over. 11 Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the iark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. 12 And jthe men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. 13 About forty thousand 1prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. 14 On that day the Lord kexalted 2Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

15 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 16 “Command the priests who bear lthe ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.” 17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” 18 And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place mand overflowed all its banks as before.

19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped nin Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. 20 And othose twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. 21 Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: p“When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, saying, q‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on rdry land’; 23 for the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, swhich He dried up before us until we had crossed over, 24 tthat all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is umighty, that you may vfear the Lord your God 3forever.”

The Second Generation Circumcised

5 So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites awho were by the sea, bheard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until 1we had crossed over, that 2their heart melted; cand there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.

2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make dflint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at 3the hill of the foreskins. 4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: eAll the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt. 5 For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised. 6 For the children of Israel walked fforty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were 4consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord—to whom the Lord swore that gHe would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, h“a land flowing with milk and honey.” 7 Then Joshua circumcised itheir sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

8 So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp jtill they were healed. 9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away kthe reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called lGilgal 5to this day.

10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover mon the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. 11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and 6parched grain, on the very same day. 12 Then nthe manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

The Commander of the Army of the Lord

13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, oa Man stood opposite him pwith His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”

14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”

And Joshua qfell on his face to the earth and rworshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”

15 Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, s“Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.