Joshua 3
3
Miracle at the Jordan River
1Early the next morning, Joshua and all the Israelites got up and left Acacia. They traveled to the Jordan River and camped there before they crossed it. 2After three days the leaders went through the camp. 3They gave orders to the people: “When you see the Levite priests carrying the Box of the Agreement of the Lord your God, follow them. 4But do not follow too closely. Stay about 1000 yards#3:4 1000 yards Literally, “2000 cubits” (888 m). behind them. You have not been here before, but if you follow them, you will know where to go.”
5Then Joshua told the people, “Make yourselves pure. Tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among us.”
6Then Joshua said to the priests, “Take the Box of the Agreement and go across the river in front of the people.” So the priests lifted the Box and carried it in front of the people.
7Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to make you a great man for all the Israelites to see. Then the people will know that I am with you just as I was with Moses. 8The priests will carry the Box of the Agreement. Tell them this, ‘Walk to the shore of the Jordan River and stop just before you step into the water.’”
9Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10Here is proof that the living God is really with you and that he will surely defeat your enemies. He will defeat the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites; he will force them to leave their land. 11The Box of the Agreement of the Lord of the whole world will go before you as you cross the Jordan River. 12Now choose twelve men, one from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13The priests will carry the Holy Box of the Lord. He is the Lord of the whole world. They will carry that Box in front of you into the Jordan River. When they enter the water, the water of the Jordan River will stop flowing and fill behind that place like at a dam.”
14The priests carried the Box of the Agreement, and the people left the place they had camped. The people started going across the Jordan River. 15(During harvest time the Jordan River overflows its banks, so the river was at its fullest.) The priests who were carrying the Box came to the shore of the river. When they stepped into the water, 16immediately the water stopped flowing and piled up like a wall. The water piled up high a long way up the river—all the way to Adam (a town near Zarethan). And the water flowing down to the sea of Arabah (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. The people crossed the river near Jericho. 17The ground at that place became dry, and the priests carried the Box of the Agreement of the Lord to the middle of the river and stopped. They waited there while all the Israelites walked across the Jordan River on dry land.
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Joshua 3: ERV
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
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.