3Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim^u and went to the Jordan,^v where they camped before crossing over. ²After three days^w the officers^x went throughout the camp,^y ³giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant^z of the Lord your God, and the Levitical^a priests^b carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. ⁴Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits^a^c between you and the ark; do not go near it.”

⁵Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves,^d for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things^e among you.”

⁶Joshua 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.

⁷And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you^f in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.^g ⁸Tell the priests^h who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’ ”

⁹Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. ¹⁰This is how you will know that the living Godⁱ is among you^j and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites,^k Hivites, Perizzites,^l Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.^m ¹¹See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earthⁿ will go into the Jordan ahead of you.^o ¹²Now then, choose twelve men^p from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. ¹³And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth^q—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream^r will be cut off^s and stand up in a heap.^t”

¹⁴So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant^u went ahead^v of them. ¹⁵Now the Jordan^w is at flood stage^x all during harvest.^y Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶the water from upstream stopped flowing.^z It piled up in a heap^a a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan,^b while the water flowing down^c to the Sea of the Arabah^d (that is, the Dead Sea^e) was completely cut off.^f So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.^g ¹⁷The priests^h who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground,ⁱ while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.^j

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Footnotes

aThat is, about 3,000 feet or about 900 meters

Cross references

uSee Jos 2:1
vSee Ge 13:10; Job 40:23
wSee Ge 40:13; Jos 2:16
xSee Dt 1:15
y Jos 1:11
zSee Nu 10:33
a 1 Sa 6:15
bver 8, 17; Nu 4:15; Dt 31:9; 1 Ki 8:3
c Nu 35:5
dSee Ex 29:1; See Lev 11:44
e Jdg 6:13; 1 Ch 16:9, 24; Ps 26:7; 75:1
f Jos 4:14; 1 Ch 29:25
g Jos 1:5
hSee ver 3
i Dt 5:26; 1 Sa 17:26, 36; 2 Ki 19:4, 16; Ps 18:46; 42:2; 84:2; Isa 37:4, 17; Jer 10:10; 23:36; Da 6:26; Hos 1:10; See Mt 16:16
jSee Dt 7:21
kSee Ge 26:34
l Jos 17:15; 24:11; Jdg 1:4; 3:5
mSee Ex 3:8; See 23:23; See Dt 7:1; Jos 9:1; 11:3; 12:8; Jdg 19:11; 1 Ch 11:4
nver 13; Ex 19:5; Dt 10:14; Job 9:10; 28:24; 41:11; Ps 50:12; 97:5; Zec 6:5
oSee Dt 9:3
p Jos 4:2, 4
qSee ver 11
rver 16
s Jos 4:7
tSee Ex 14:22; See Isa 11:15
u Ps 132:8
v Ac 7:44–45
w 2 Ki 2:6
x Jos 4:18; 1 Ch 12:15; Isa 8:7
ySee Ge 8:22
z Ps 66:6; 74:15; 114:3
a Job 38:37; Ps 33:7
b 1 Ki 4:12; 7:46
cver 13
dSee Dt 1:1
eSee Ge 14:3
fSee Ge 8:1; See Ex 14:22
g 2 Ki 2:4
hSee ver 3
i Jos 4:3, 5, 8, 9, 10
jSee Ex 14:22; See Jos 2:10