Joshua 3
3
Crossing the Jordan
1Joshua started early the next morning and left the Acacia Grove#3:1 Or left Shittim with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan and stayed there before crossing. 2After three days the officers went through the camp#Jos 1:11 3and commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God carried by the Levitical priests,#Dt 17:9,18; 18:1; 31:9; Jos 8:33; 2Ch 23:18; Jr 33:18,21 you are to break camp and follow it. 4But keep a distance of about a thousand yards#3:4 Lit 2,000 cubits between yourselves and the ark. Don’t go near it, so that you can see the way to go, for you haven’t traveled this way before.”
5Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves,#Ex 19:10; Nm 11:18; Jos 7:13; 1Sm 16:5; 1Ch 15:12; 2Ch 29:5; 30:3,17; 35:6 because the Lord will do wonders#Ps 72:18; 86:10; 98:1; 106:22; 119:18; Mc 7:15 among you tomorrow.” 6Then he said to the priests, “Carry the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.
7The Lord spoke to Joshua: “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel,#Jos 4:14 so they will know that I will be with you just as I was with Moses.#Dt 31:23; Jos 1:5; Jdg 6:16; 1Kg 11:38; Is 43:2; Jr 1:8; 30:11; 46:28 8Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the water,#3:8 Lit waters of the Jordan stand in the Jordan.”
9Then Joshua told the Israelites, “Come closer and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10He said, “You will know that the living God is among you#Dt 5:26; Jr 10:10; Hs 1:10; 2Co 3:3 and that he will certainly dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hethites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites#Ex 33:2; Dt 7:1 11when the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth#Ps 97:5; Mc 4:13; Zch 6:5 goes ahead of you into the Jordan. 12Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.#Jos 4:2 13When the feet#3:13 Lit soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of the whole earth, come to rest in the Jordan’s water, its water will be cut off. The water flowing downstream will stand up in a mass.”#Ex 15:8
14When the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant#Ac 7:44–45 ahead of the people. 15Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season.#1Ch 12:15; Jr 12:5; 49:19 But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge 16and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up in a mass that extended as far as#3:16 Alt Hb tradition reads mass at Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah#Dt 1:1 — the Dead Sea — was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho. 17The priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan,#Ex 14:29 while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Joshua 3
3
Israel Crosses the Jordan River
1Early the next morning, Joshua and the Israelites packed up and left Acacia. They went to the Jordan River and camped there that night. 2Two days later#3.2 Two days later: The Hebrew text has “At the end of three days,” two days after they had set up camp. their leaders went through the camp, 3-4shouting, “When you see some of the priests#3.3,4 the priests: The Hebrew text has “the priests, the Levites”; priests belonged to the tribe of Levi. carrying the sacred chest, you'll know it is time to cross to the other side. You've never been there before, and you won't know the way, unless you follow the chest. But don't get too close! Stay about a kilometer back.”
5Joshua told the people, “Make yourselves acceptable#3.5 Make yourselves acceptable: People had to do certain things to make themselves acceptable to worship the Lord (see Leviticus 7.20,21; 15.2,33; 22.4-8; Deuteronomy 23.10,11). to worship the Lord, because he is going to do some amazing things for us.”
6Then Joshua turned to the priests and said, “Take the chest and cross the Jordan River ahead of us.” So the priests picked up the chest by its carrying poles and went on ahead.
7The Lord told Joshua, “Beginning today I will show the people that you are their leader, and they will know that I am helping you as I helped Moses. 8Now, tell the priests who are carrying the chest to go a little way into the river and stand there.”
9Joshua spoke to the people:
Come here and listen to what the Lord our God said he will do! 10The Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites control the land on the other side of the river. But the living God will be with you and will force them out of the land when you attack. And now, God is going to prove that he's powerful enough to force them out. 11-13Just watch the sacred chest that belongs to the Lord, the ruler of the whole earth. As soon as the priests carrying the chest step into the Jordan, the water will stop flowing and pile up as if someone had built a dam across the river.
The Lord has also said that each of the twelve tribes should choose one man to represent it.
14The Israelites packed up and left camp. The priests carrying the chest walked in front, 15until they came to the Jordan River. The water in the river had risen over its banks, as it often does in springtime.#3.15 springtime: Or “harvest time”; the grain harvest was in late spring. But as soon as the feet of the priests touched the water, 16-17the river stopped flowing, and the water started piling up at the town of Adam near Zarethan. No water flowed toward the Dead Sea, and the priests stood in the middle of the dry riverbed near Jericho while everyone else crossed over.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.