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.