Joshua 3–4

Crossing the Jordan

3Joshua started early the next morning and left the Acacia Grove ^zwith all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan and stayed there before crossing. ²After three days the officers went through the camp ^a3and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God carried by the Levitical priests, ^byou must break camp and follow it. ⁴But keep a distance of about 1,000 yards ^cbetween yourselves and the ark. Don’t go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven’t traveled this way before.” ^d

⁵Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, ^ebecause the Lord will do wonders ^famong you tomorrow.” ⁶Then he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

⁷The Lord spoke to Joshua: “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, ^gso they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses. ^h8Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the waters, ⁱstand in the Jordan.”

⁹Then Joshua told the Israelites, “Come closer and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰He said: “You will know that the living God is among you ^jand that He will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ^k11when the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth ^lgoes ahead of you into the Jordan. ¹²Now choose 12 men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. ^m13When the feet ⁿof the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the Jordan’s waters, its waters will be cut off. The water flowing downstream will stand up in a mass.” ^o

¹⁴When the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ^pahead of the people. ¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. ^qBut as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge ¹⁶and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up in a mass that extended as far as ^rAdam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah ^s(the Dead Sea) was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho. ¹⁷The priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, ^twhile all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

The Memorial Stones

4After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, ^uthe Lord spoke to Joshua: ²“Choose 12 men from the people, one man for each tribe, ^v3and command them: Take 12 stones ^wfrom this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests ^xare standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.”

⁴So Joshua summoned the 12 men he had selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, ⁵and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each ^yof the Israelite tribes, ⁶so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ^z7you should tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.” ^a

⁸The Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them. The 12 men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each ^bof the Israelite tribes, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there. ⁹Joshua also set up 12 stones in the middle ^cof the Jordan where the priests ^dwho carried the ark of the covenant were standing. The stones are there to this day. ^e

¹⁰The priests carrying the ark continued standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people, in keeping with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried across, ¹¹and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the Lord crossed in the sight of the people. ¹²The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh went in battle formation in front of the Israelites, ^fas Moses had instructed them. ¹³About 40,000 equipped for war crossed to the plains of Jericho in the Lord’s presence.

¹⁴On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him throughout his life, as they had revered Moses. ^g15The Lord told Joshua, ¹⁶“Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony ^hito come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁷So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁸When the priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant came up from the middle of the Jordan, and their feet ^jstepped out on solid ground, the waters of the Jordan resumed their course, flowing over all the banks as before.

¹⁹The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, ^kland camped at Gilgal on the eastern limits of Jericho. ^m20Then Joshua set up in Gilgal the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan, ²¹and he said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ ²²you should tell your children, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ ⁿ²³For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, ^ojust as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over. ²⁴This is so that all the people of the earth may know ^pthat the Lord’s hand is mighty, ^qand so that you may always fear the Lord your God.” ^r