Joshua 3–5

The Israelites Cross the Jordan

3Joshua rose early in the morning, and they set out from Acacia Grove.^a And they came up to the Jordan, he and all the Israelites,^b and they spent the night there before they crossed over. ²At the end of the three days the officers passed through the midst of the camp, ³and they commanded the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God you must set out from your place and go after it. ⁴But there will be a distance between you and it of about two thousand cubits in measurement.^c Do not come near it, so that you may know the way that you must go, for you have not passed on this way before.”^{d 5}And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, because tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders in your midst.” ⁶And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.”^e And they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.^f

⁷Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “This day I will begin exalting you in the sight^g of all Israel, that they may know that I was with Moses, and I will be with you. ⁸You will command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘At the moment that you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you will stand still in the Jordan.’ ” ⁹And Joshua said to the Israelites,^h “Come here, and hear the words of Yahweh your God.” ¹⁰Joshua said, “By this you will know that the living God is in your midst, and he will certainly drive out the Canaanites from before you,ⁱ and the Hittites, Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. ¹¹Look! The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth^j is about to cross over ahead of you into the Jordan. ¹²So then, take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.^{k 13}When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of Yahweh, Lord of all the earth,^l rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off upstream,^m and they will stand still in one heap.

¹⁴And it happened, when the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant were ahead of the people.^{n 15}When those carrying the ark came up to the Jordan, and the priests carrying the ark dipped their feet in the edge of the water (the Jordan was flowing over its banks during all the days of harvest), ¹⁶the waters flowing down from above stood still; they stood up in one heap very far from Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while the waters flowing down to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea,^o were completely cut off;^p and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷And the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firmly on the dry land in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation finished crossing the Jordan.

The Israelites Make a Memorial

4After all the nation finished crossing the Jordan, Yahweh said to Joshua, ²“Take twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe,^{a 3}and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you, and set them up in the place where you will camp tonight.’ ”^{b 4}So Joshua summoned the twelve men whom he had appointed from the Israelites,^c one from each tribe. ⁵And Joshua said to them, “Cross over before^d the ark of Yahweh your God to the middle of the Jordan, and each one of you lift up a stone on your^e shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,^{f 6}so that this may be a reminder^g among you. When your children ask in the future, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’^{h 7}you will say to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off from beforeⁱ the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones will be as a memorial for the Israelites^j for eternity.”

⁸Thus the Israelites^k did as Joshua commanded. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan as Yahweh told Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,^l and they carried them over with them to the camp,^m and they put them there. ⁹Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the covenant stood, and they are there to this day. ¹⁰The priests carrying the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything that Yahweh commanded Joshua to tell the people was finished, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua. And the people hastily crossed over.

¹¹And it happened, when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of Yahweh and the priests crossed over in front ofⁿ the people. ¹²The children of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the Israelites,^o as Moses told them. ¹³About forty thousand armed for fighting crossed over before the presence of Yahweh to the plains of Jericho for battle. ¹⁴On that day Yahweh exalted Joshua in the sight^p of all Israel, and they respected him^q as they respected^r Moses all the days of his life.

¹⁵Then Yahweh said to Joshua, saying, ¹⁶“Command the priests carrying the ark of the testimony^s to come up^t from the Jordan.” ¹⁷So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁸And it happened that when the priests carrying the ark came up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet touched dry land,^u the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and flowed over all its banks as before.

¹⁹And the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the eastern edge^v of Jericho. ²⁰And those twelve stones that they took from the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. ²¹And he said to the Israelites,^w “When your children ask in the future their parents,^x ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’^{y 22}you will let your children know by saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ ²³For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you, until you had crossed, just as Yahweh your God did to the Red Sea,^z which he dried up before us until we had crossed over, ²⁴so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of Yahweh is strong, so that you may fear Yahweh your God forever.”^a

The Israelites Are Circumcised

5And it happened, when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites^a who were by the sea heard that Yahweh dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of the Israelites^b until they crossed over, their hearts melted, and there was no courage left in them^c because of the presence of the Israelites. ^d

²At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, “Make for yourself knives of flint, and circumcise the Israelites^e a second time.” ³So Joshua made knives of flint, and he circumcised the Israelites^f at the hill of the foreskins.^{g 4}This is the reason why Joshua circumcised all the people: all the males who went out from Egypt, all the warriors, died in the wilderness as they went out from Egypt on the journey.^{h 5}For all the people who left were circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness on the journeyⁱ after they left from Egypt were not circumcised. ⁶For forty years the Israelites^j traveled in the wilderness until all the nation, the warriors that left Egypt, perished, because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh. To them Yahweh swore that they would not see the land that he^k swore to their ancestors^l to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷And it was their children whom he raised in their place that Joshua circumcised, for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the journey.^m

The Israelites Celebrate Passover in Canaan

⁸And it happened, when all the nation had finished circumcising, they remained where they were in the camp until they recovered. ⁹And Yahweh said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the disgrace of Egypt from you.” Therefore, the name of that place is called Gilgalⁿ to this day. ¹⁰And the Israelites^o camped at Gilgal, and they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, on the plains of Jericho. ¹¹On the next day after the Passover, on that^p very day, they ate from the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted corn. ¹²And the manna ceased the day after, when they started eating the produce of the land, and there was no longer manna for the Israelites.^q They ate from the crop of the land of Canaan in that year.

The Commander of Yahweh’s Army Appears Before Joshua

¹³And it happened, when Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up,^r and he saw a man standing opposite him^s with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said, “Are you with us, or with our adversaries?” ¹⁴And he said, “Neither. I have come now as the commander of Yahweh’s army.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and he bowed down^t and said to him, “What is my lord commanding his servant?” ¹⁵The commander of Yahweh’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals^u from your feet,^v for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.