1Joshua 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 crossed over.
2And it happened at the end of three days that the officers went through the midst of the camp,
3and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.
4Yet let there be a distance between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure; do not come near it, so that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.
5And Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders among you.”
6And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.
7And Yahweh said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so that they may know that just as I was with Moses, I will be with you.
8And you shall command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’”
9And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come here and hear the words of Yahweh your God.”
10And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that a living God is among you, and that he will surely drive out from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.
11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.
12Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe.
13And it shall be, when the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off—the waters flowing down from above—and they will stand as a single heap.”
14And it happened, when the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of the people,
15and as those carrying the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water—now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the days of harvest—
16the waters flowing down from above stood still; they rose up as a single 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 crossed over opposite Jericho.
17And the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
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