Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from
Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of
Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. At the end of
three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the
people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD
your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set
out from your place and follow it. Yet there shall be a distance
between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near
it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have
not passed this way before.” Then Joshua said to the people,
“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among
you.” And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the
covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of
the covenant and went before the people.

 The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the
sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses,
so I will be with you. And as for you, command the priests who bear
the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters
of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” And Joshua
said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of
the LORD your God.” And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know
that the living God is among you and that he will without fail
drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the
Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the
earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore
take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man.
And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of
the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of
the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing,
and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”

 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the
Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the
people, and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the
Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in
the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks
throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above
stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that
is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the
Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people
passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of
the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of
the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all
the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001
by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.