Joshua 3

1. And 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.

2. And it came to pass after three days that the officers went through the host,

3. and they commanded the people, saying, “When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place and go after it.

4. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go, for ye have not passed this way heretofore.”

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

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

7. And the Lord said unto 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 I will be with thee.

8. And thou shalt command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When ye have come to the brink of the water of the Jordan, ye shall stand still in the Jordan.’”

9. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, “Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.”

10. And Joshua said, “Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites 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 the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into the Jordan.

12. Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

13. And it shall come to pass, as soon as 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, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand up in a heap.”

14. And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents to pass over the Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,

15. and as those who bore the ark had come unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark were dipped in the brim of the water (for the Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest),

16. that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan. And those who came down toward the sea of the plain, even the Salt Sea, failed and were cut off; and the people passed over right against Jericho.

17. And the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people had passed clean over the Jordan.