Joshua 3

Modern

Literal

Crossing the Jordan

¹Early the next morning Joshua got up and left Shittim^a with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.

¹And Joshua rose early in the morning, and they set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, he and all the sons of Israel, and they lodged there before they passed over.

²After three days the officers went through the camp

²And it came to pass after three days that the officers passed over in the midst of the camp,

³and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it.

³and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of YHWH your God, and the priests, the Levites, lifting it, you shall set out from your place and go after it.

⁴But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits^a between yourselves and the ark. Do not go near it, so that you can see the way to go, since you have never traveled this way before.”

⁴Yet there shall be a space between you and between it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near to it, so that you may know the way that you must go, for you have not passed by this way from yesterday and the day before yesterday.”

⁵Then Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”

⁵And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow YHWH will do wonders among you.”

⁶And he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

⁶And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the faces of the people.” And they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the faces of the people.

⁷Now the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.

⁷And YHWH said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so that they may know that as I was with Moses, I will be with you.

⁸Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the waters, stand in the Jordan.’”

⁸And You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’”

⁹So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.”

⁹And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Draw near here and listen to the words of YHWH your God.”

¹⁰He continued, “This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that He will surely drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.

¹⁰And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, that He will surely dispossess from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite.

¹¹Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you into the Jordan.

¹¹Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan.

¹²Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.

¹²And now take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel—one man—one man for a tribe.

¹³When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will stand up in a heap.”

¹³And it shall come to pass at the resting of the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of YHWH, the Lord of all the earth, in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off—the waters that come down from above—and they shall stand as one heap.”

¹⁴So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.

¹⁴And it came to pass, in the journeying of the people from their camp to pass over the Jordan, and of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,

¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,

¹⁵and at those bearing the ark coming in to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark being dipped into the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows on all its banks all of the days of the harvest),

¹⁶the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea)^a was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

¹⁶that the waters stood still—those coming down from above—and rose in one heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) failed, having been cut off, and the people passed over opposite Jericho.

¹⁷The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan.

¹⁷And the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of YHWH stood on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, firm, and all Israel passed over on dry ground until that all the people had finished passing over the Jordan.