[1] Early in the morning Joshua rose and set out from Shittim, with all the
people of Israel; and they came to the Jordan, and lodged there before they
passed over. [2] At the end of three days the officers went through the
camp [3] and commanded the people, "When 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, [4] that you may know the way you
shall go, for you have not passed this way before. Yet there shall be a
space between you and it, a distance of about two thousand cubits; do not
come near it." [5] And Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves; for
tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." [6] And Joshua said to the
priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass on before the people."
And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. [7]
And the LORD said to Joshua, "This day 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. [8] And you shall 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.'" [9] And Joshua said to the people of
Israel, "Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God." [10] And
Joshua said, "Hereby 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 Per'izzites, the Gir'gashites, the Amorites, and
the Jeb'usites. [11] Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the
earth is to pass over before you into the Jordan. [12] Now therefore take
twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. [13] And when
the soles of the feet of the priests who bear 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 stopped from flowing, and the waters coming down from above
shall stand in one heap." [14] 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, [15] and when those who bore the ark had come
to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in
the brink of the water (the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the
time of harvest), [16] the waters coming down from above stood and rose up
in a heap far off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zar'ethan, and those
flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were wholly cut
off; and the people passed over opposite Jericho. [17] And while all Israel
were passing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the
covenant of the LORD stood on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, until
all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.
