Joshua 3–4

Chapter 3

¹And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. ²And it came to pass at the end of three days, that the officers went through the camp; ³and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then remove from your place, and go after it; ⁴yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Ye shall not come near it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore. ⁵And Joshua said to the people, Hallow yourselves; for to-morrow Jehovah will do wonders in your midst. ⁶And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and go over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

⁷And Jehovah said to Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee. ⁸And thou shalt command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, stand still in the Jordan. ⁹And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of Jehovah your God. ¹⁰And Joshua said, Hereby shall ye know that the living •God is in your midst, and that he will without fail dispossess from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. ¹¹Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going over before you into the Jordan. ¹²And now take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. ¹³And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan, the waters flowing down from above, shall be cut off, and shall stand up in a heap.

¹⁴And it came to pass when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, that the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were before the people; ¹⁵and when they that bore the ark were come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (and the Jordan is full over all its banks throughout the days of harvest), ¹⁶the waters which flowed down from above stood and rose up in a heap, very far, by Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan; and those that flowed down towards the sea of the plain, the salt sea, were completely cut off. And the people went over opposite to Jericho. ¹⁷And the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan. And all Israel went over on dry ground, until all the nation had completely gone over the Jordan.

Chapter 4

¹And it came to pass when the whole nation had completely gone over the Jordan, that Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying, ²Take you twelve men out of the people, one man out of every tribe, ³and command them, saying, Take up hence out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging-place where ye shall lodge this night. ⁴And Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had appointed of the children of Israel, a man out of every tribe; ⁵and Joshua said to them, Pass before the ark of Jehovah your God into the midst of the Jordan, and lift up each of you a stone and put it upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, ⁶that this may be a sign in your midst. When your children ask hereafter, saying, What mean ye by these stones? ⁷then ye shall say to them, That the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; when it went through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. ⁸And the children of Israel did so, as Joshua had commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as Jehovah had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging-place, and laid them down there. ⁹And twelve stones did Joshua set up in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant had stood firm; and they are there to this day.

¹⁰And the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was finished that Jehovah had commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hasted and passed over. ¹¹And it came to pass, when all the people had completely gone over, that the ark of Jehovah went over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. ¹²And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, went over in array before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. ¹³About forty thousand armed for military service passed over before Jehovah to the war, unto the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴On that day Jehovah magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life. ¹⁵And Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying, ¹⁶Command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Jordan. ¹⁷And Joshua commanded the priests, saying, Come up out of the Jordan. ¹⁸And it came to pass when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah had come up out of the midst of the Jordan, when the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up on to the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and they flowed as previously, over all its banks. ¹⁹And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the eastern extremity of Jericho.

²⁰And those twelve stones which they had taken out of the Jordan did Joshua set up in Gilgal. ²¹And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children hereafter ask their fathers, saying, What mean these stones? ²²then ye shall let your children know, saying, On dry land did Israel come over this Jordan; ²³because Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until ye had passed over, as Jehovah your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we had passed over; ²⁴that all peoples of the earth might know the hand of Jehovah, that it is mighty; that ye might fear Jehovah your God continually.