Israel Crosses the Jordan
1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out Josh. 2:1from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. 2 So it was, Josh. 1:10, 11after three days, that the officers went through the camp; 3 and they commanded the people, saying, Num. 10:33"When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, Deut. 31:9, 25and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4 Ex. 19:12Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before."
5 And Joshua said to the people, Ex. 19:10, 14, 15; Lev. 20:7; Num. 11:18; Josh. 7:13; 1 Sam. 16:5; Job 1:5; Joel 2:16"Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." 6 Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, Num. 4:15"Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people."
So 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 Josh. 4:14; 1 Chr. 29:25; 2 Chr. 1:1exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, Josh. 1:5, 9as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 You shall command Josh. 3:3the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, Josh. 3:17you shall stand in the Jordan.’ "
9 So Joshua said to the children of Israel, "Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God." 10 And Joshua said, "By this you shall know that Deut. 5:26; Josh. 11:23; 1 Sam. 17:26; 2 Kin. 19:4; Hos. 1:10; Matt. 16:16; 1 Thess. 1:9the living God is among you, and that He will without fail Ex. 33:2; Deut. 7:1; 18:12; Ps. 44:2drive out from before you the Acts 13:19Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of Josh. 3:13; Job 41:11; Ps. 24:1; Mic. 4:13; Zech. 4:14; 6:5the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore, Josh. 4:2, 4take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. 13 And it shall come to pass, Josh. 3:15, 16as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, Josh. 3:11the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they Ps. 78:13; 114:3shall stand as a heap."
14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the Ps. 132:8; Acts 7:44, 45ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and Josh. 3:13the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the 1 Chr. 12:15; Jer. 12:5; 49:19Jordan overflows all its banks Josh. 4:18; 5:10, 12during the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside 1 Kin. 4:12; 7:46Zaretan. So the waters that went down Deut. 3:17into the Sea of the Arabah, Gen. 14:3; Num. 34:3the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; Gen. 50:24; Ex. 3:8; 6:1–8; 14:21, 22, 29; 33:1; Deut. 6:10; Heb. 11:29and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.