< Joshua 3 >

1 So then Joshua rose early in the morning, and they brake up from The Acacias and came as far as the Jordan, he and all the sons of Israel, —and they lodged there before they passed over.
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 And it came to pass, after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp,
And it came to pass after three days, [that] the scribes went through the camp;
3 and commanded the people saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and, the priests the Levites, bearing it, ye also, shall break up out of your place, and come after it.
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 Yet shall there be, a distance, between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure, —do not come near unto it that ye may get to know the way by which ye must go, for ye have not passed this way, heretofore.
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 Then said Joshua unto the people, Hallow yourselves, —for, to-morrow, will Yahweh do in your midst, wonderful things.
And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, for to-morrow the Lord will do wonders amongst you.
6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take ye up the ark of the covenant, and pass on before the people. So they took up the ark of the covenant, and went on before the people.
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 Then said Yahweh unto Joshua: This day, will I begin to magnify thee in the eyes of all Israel, —who shall know, that, as I was with Moses, I will be with thee.
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 Thou, therefore, shalt command the priests who am bearing the ark of the covenant, saying, —When ye are come as far as the edge of the waters of the Jordan, in the Jordan, shall ye stand.
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 Then said Joshua, unto the sons of Israel, —Draw near hither, and hear ye the words of Yahweh your God.
And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and listen to the word of the Lord our God.
10 And Joshua said, Hereby, shall ye know, that a Living GOD is in your midst, —and that he will, 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.
Hereby you shall know that the living God [is] amongst 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 Lo! the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth, is about to pass before you into the Jordan.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over Jordan.
12 Now, therefore, take you twelve men, out of the tribes of Israel, —one man severally for each tribe;
Choose for yourselves twelve men of the sons of Israel, one of each tribe.
13 and it shall be, when the soles of the feet of the priests who are bearing the ark of Yahweh, Lord of all the earth, do rest, in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan, shall be cut off, the waters that are coming down from above, —and shall stand in one mound.
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 it came to pass, when the people set out from their tents, to cross the Jordan, —with the priests, bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,
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 then, as the bearers of the ark came as far as the Jordan, and, the feet of the priests who were bearing the ark, were dipped in the edge of the waters, —the Jordan being full over all his banks, all the days of harvest,
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 that the waters which were coming down from above, stood—rose up in one mound, a great way off, by the city Adam, which is beside Zarethan, and, they which were going down to the sea of the waste plain, the salt sea, failed—were cut off, —and, the people, passed over, right against Jericho.
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 And the priests who were bearing the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, stood on dry ground, in the midst of the Jordan, with firm footing, —while all Israel were passing over on dry ground, until all the nation had made an end of passing over the Jordan.
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.

< Joshua 3 >