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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Joshua 3: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Joshua 3
3
1And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2And it came to pass at the end of three days, that the officers went through the camp; 3and they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God#GodHebrew: Elohim and the priests the Levites bearing it, then remove from your place, and go after it; 4yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Ye shall not come near it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore. 5And Joshua said to the people, Hallow yourselves; for to-morrow Jehovah will do wonders in your midst. 6And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and go over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.
7And Jehovah said to Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee. 8And thou shalt command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, stand still in the Jordan. 9And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of Jehovah your God#GodHebrew: Elohim 10And Joshua said, Hereby shall ye know that the living ·God#GodHebrew: El is in your midst, and that he will without fail dispossess from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going over before you into the Jordan. 12And now take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. 13And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan, the waters flowing down from above, shall be cut off, and shall stand up in a heap.
14And it came to pass when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, that the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were before the people; 15and when they that bore the ark were come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (and the Jordan is full over all its banks throughout the days of harvest), 16the waters which flowed down from above stood and rose up in a heap, very far, by Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan; and those that flowed down towards the sea of the plain, the salt sea, were completely cut off. And the people went over opposite to Jericho. 17And the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan. And all Israel went over on dry ground, until all the nation had completely gone over the Jordan.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.