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
The Jordan
1-4Joshua was up early and on his way from Shittim with all the People of Israel with him. He arrived at the Jordan and camped before crossing over. After three days, leaders went through the camp and gave out orders to the people: “When you see the Covenant-Chest of God, your God, carried by the Levitical priests, start moving. Follow it. Make sure you keep a proper distance between you and it, about half a mile—be sure now to keep your distance!—and you’ll see clearly the route to take. You’ve never been on this road before.”
5Then Joshua addressed the people: “Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you.”
6Joshua instructed the priests, “Take up the Chest of the Covenant and step out before the people.” So they took it up and processed before the people.
7-8 God said to Joshua, “This very day I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel. They’ll see for themselves that I’m with you in the same way that I was with Moses. You will command the priests who are carrying the Chest of the Covenant: ‘When you come to the edge of the Jordan’s waters, stand there on the river bank.’”
9-13Then Joshua addressed the People of Israel: “Attention! Listen to what God, your God, has to say. This is how you’ll know that God is alive among you—he will completely dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. Look at what’s before you: the Chest of the Covenant. Think of it—the Master of the entire earth is crossing the Jordan as you watch. Now take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the Chest of God, Master of all the earth, touch the Jordan’s water, the flow of water will be stopped—the water coming from upstream will pile up in a heap.”
14-16And that’s what happened. The people left their tents to cross the Jordan, led by the priests carrying the Chest of the Covenant. When the priests got to the Jordan and their feet touched the water at the edge (the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest), the flow of water stopped. It piled up in a heap—a long way off—at Adam, which is near Zarethan. The river went dry all the way down to the Arabah Sea (the Salt Sea). And the people crossed, facing Jericho.
17And there they stood; those priests carrying the Chest of the Covenant stood firmly planted on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground. Finally the whole nation was across the Jordan, and not one wet foot.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.