Joshua 3–4

¹And Joshua riseth early in the morning, and they journey from Shittim, and come in unto the Jordan, he and all the sons of Israel, and they lodge there before they pass over. ²And it cometh to pass, at the end of three days, that the authorities pass over into the midst of the camp, ³and command the people, saying, ‘When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then ye journey from your place, and have gone after it; ⁴only, a distance is between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure; ye do not come near unto it, so that ye know the way in which ye go, for ye have not passed over in the way heretofore.’ ⁵And Joshua saith unto the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves, for to-morrow doth Jehovah do in your midst wonders.’ ⁶And Joshua speaketh unto the priests, saying, ‘Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people;’ and they take up the ark of the covenant, and go before the people.

⁷And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, ‘This day I begin to make thee great in the eyes of all Israel, so that they know that as I was with Moses I am with thee; ⁸and thou, thou dost command the priests bearing the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye come unto the extremity of the waters of the Jordan—in the Jordan ye stand.’ ⁹And Joshua saith unto the sons of Israel, ‘Come nigh hither, and hear the words of Jehovah your God; ¹⁰and Joshua saith, ‘By this ye know that the living God is in your midst, and He doth certainly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite: ¹¹lo, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into Jordan; ¹²and now, take for you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, one man—one man for a tribe; ¹³and it hath been, at the resting of the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of Jehovah, Lord of all the earth, in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan are cut off—the waters which are coming down from above—and they stand—one heap.’

¹⁴And it cometh to pass, in the journeying of the people from their tents to pass over the Jordan, and of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵and at those bearing the ark coming in unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark have been dipped in the extremity of the waters (and the Jordan is full over all its banks all the days of harvest)— ¹⁶that the waters stand; those coming down from above have risen—one heap, very far above Adam the city, which is at the side of Zaretan; and those going down by the sea of the plain, the Salt Sea, have been completely cut off; and the people have passed through over-against Jericho; ¹⁷and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah stand on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan—established, and all Israel are passing over on dry ground till that all the nation hath completed to pass over the Jordan.

Chapter 4

¹And it cometh to pass, when all the nation hath completed to pass over the Jordan, that Jehovah speaketh unto Joshua, saying, ²‘Take for you out of the people twelve men, one man—one man out of a tribe; ³and command ye them, saying, Take up for you from this place, from the midst of the Jordan, from the established standing-place of the feet of the priests, twelve stones, and ye have removed them over with you, and placed them in the lodging-place in which ye lodge to-night.’ ⁴And Joshua calleth unto the twelve men whom he prepared out of the sons of Israel, one man—one man out of a tribe; ⁵and Joshua saith to them, ‘Pass over before the ark of Jehovah your God unto the midst of the Jordan and lift up for you each, one stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, ⁶so that this is a sign in your midst, when your children ask hereafter, saying, What are these stones to you? ⁷that ye have said to them, Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off, at the presence of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; in its passing over into the Jordan were the waters of the Jordan cut off; and these stones have been for a memorial to the sons of Israel—to the age.’ ⁸And the sons of Israel do so as Joshua commanded, and take up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as Jehovah hath spoken unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, and remove them over with them unto the lodging-place, and place them there, ⁹even the twelve stones hath Joshua raised up out of the midst of the Jordan, the place of the standing of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant, and they are there unto this day.

¹⁰And the priests bearing the ark are standing in the midst of the Jordan till the completion of the whole thing which Jehovah commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua, and the people haste and pass over. ¹¹And it cometh to pass when all the people have completed to pass over, that the ark of Jehovah passeth over, and the priests, in the presence of the people; ¹²and the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, pass over, by fifties, before the sons of Israel, as Moses had spoken unto them; ¹³about forty thousand, armed ones of the host, passed over before Jehovah for battle, unto the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴On that day hath Jehovah made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel, and they reverence him, as they reverenced Moses, all days of his life. ¹⁵And Jehovah speaketh unto Joshua, saying, ¹⁶‘Command the priests bearing the ark of the testimony, and they come up out of the Jordan.’ ¹⁷And Joshua commandeth the priests, saying, ‘Come ye up out of the Jordan.’ ¹⁸And it cometh to pass, in the coming up of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the midst of the Jordan—the soles of the feet of the priests have been drawn up into the dry ground—and the waters of the Jordan turn back to their place, and go as heretofore over all its banks. ¹⁹And the people have come up out of the Jordan on the tenth of the first month, and encamp in Gilgal, in the extremity east of Jericho.

²⁰And these twelve stones, which they have taken out of the Jordan, hath Joshua raised up in Gilgal. ²¹And he speaketh unto the sons of Israel, saying, ‘When your sons ask their fathers hereafter, saying, What are these stones? ²²then ye have caused your sons to know, saying, On dry land Israel passed over this Jordan; ²³because Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan at your presence, till your passing over, as Jehovah your God did to the Red Sea which He dried up at our presence till our passing over; ²⁴so that all the people of the land do know the hand of Jehovah that it is strong, so that ye have reverenced Jehovah your God all the days.’

Chapter 5