Joshua 3
1 And so, Joshua arose in the night, and he moved the camp. And they departed from Shittim, and they went to the Jordan: he, and all the sons of Israel, and they remained there for three days.
And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and departed from Sattin; and they came as far as Jordan, and lodged there before they crossed over.
2 After these things unfolded, announcers passed through the midst of the camp,
And it came to pass after three days, [that] the scribes went through the camp;
3 and they began to proclaim: “When you will see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests of the stock of Levi carrying it, you also shall rise up and follow those who are going before you.
and they charged the people, saying, When you shall see the ark of the covenant of the Lord our God, and our priests and the Levites bearing it, you shall depart from your places, and you shall go after it.
4 And let there be, between you and the ark, the space of two thousand cubits, so that you may be able to see it from far away, and to know along which way you should advance. For you have not walked this way before. And be careful that you do not approach the ark.”
But let there be a distance between you and it; you shall stand as much as two thousand cubits [from it]. Do not draw near to it, that you may know the way which you are to go; for you have not gone the way before.
5 And Joshua said to the people: “Be sanctified. For tomorrow the Lord will accomplish miracles among you.”
And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.
6 And he said to the priests: “Take up the ark of the covenant, and go before the people.” And they fulfilled the orders, and they took it and walked before them.
And Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and go before the people: and the priests took up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and went before the people.
7 And the Lord said to Joshua: “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that, just as I was with Moses, so also am I with you.
And the Lord said to Joshua, This day do I begin to exalt you before all the children of Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so will I also be with you.
8 Now instruct the priests, who are carrying the ark of the covenant, and say to them, ‘When you will have entered into a part of the water of the Jordan, stand still in it.’”
And now charge the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, As soon as you shall enter on a part of the water of Jordan, then you shall stand in Jordan.
9 And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Approach to here, and listen to the word of the Lord your God.”
And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and listen to the word of the Lord our God.
10 And again, he said: “By this shall you know that the Lord, the living God, is in your midst, and that he shall scatter in your sight, the Canaanite and the Hittite, the Hivite and the Perizzite, likewise the Girgashite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite.
Hereby you shall know that the living God [is] among you, and will utterly destroy from before our face the Chananite, and the Chettite and Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Amorite, and the Gergesite, and the Jebusite.
11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth shall go before you through the Jordan.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over Jordan.
12 Prepare twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.
Choose for yourselves twelve men of the sons of Israel, one of each tribe.
13 And when the priests who are carrying the ark of the Lord, the God of the entire earth, will have placed the steps of their feet in the waters of the Jordan, the waters that are lower will run down and pass away, and those that are approaching above will stand together in a mass.”
And it shall come to pass, when the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth rest in the water of Jordan, the water of Jordan [below] shall fail, and the water coming down from above shall stop.
14 And the people departed from their tents, so that they might cross the Jordan. And the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant were advancing before them.
And the people removed from their tents to cross over Jordan, and the priests bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord before the people.
15 And as soon as they entered into the Jordan, and their feet were dipped in a portion of the water, (now the Jordan, since it was the time of the harvest, had filled the banks of its channel, )
And when the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered upon Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord were dipped in part of the water of Jordan; (now Jordan overflowed all its banks about the time of wheat harvest: )
16 the descending waters stood still in one place, and, swelling up like a mountain, they were seen from far away, from the city that is called Adam, even as far as the place of Zarethan. But those that were lower ran down into the Sea of the Wilderness, (which is now called the Dead Sea, ) until they entirely passed away.
then the waters that came down from above stopped; there stood one solid heap very far off, as far as the region of Kariathiarim, and the lower part came down to the sea of Araba, the salt sea, till it completely failed; and the people stood opposite Jericho.
17 Then the people advanced opposite Jericho. And the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord were standing, fully-dressed, upon dry soil in the midst of the Jordan, and all the people passed over, through the channel that was dried up.
And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry land in the midst of Jordan; and all the children of Israel went through on dry land, until all the people had completely gone over Jordan.
