And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

Memorial Stones from the Jordan

Now when the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

then you shall say to them, ‘That the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed;

and when all the people had finished crossing, then the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed in front of the people.

The sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle formation before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them;

about forty thousand equipped for war, crossed for battle before the Lord to the desert plains of Jericho.

then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’

For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed;

Israel Is Circumcised

Now it came about when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard how the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.

If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then cross into the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and settle among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us, by building an altar for yourselves besides the altar of the Lord our God.

You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Therefore I handed them over to you.

Then he said to them, “Pursue them, for the Lord has handed your enemies the Moabites over to you.” So they went down after him and took control of the crossing places of the Jordan opposite Moab, and did not allow anyone to cross.

Then all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the east assembled together; and they crossed over and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

Then Gideon and the three hundred men who were with him came to the Jordan and crossed over, exhausted yet still pursuing.

Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his relatives, and crossed over into Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem trusted him.

And the sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was in great difficulty.

So Jephthah crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord handed them over to him.

Jephthah and His Successors

Now the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they crossed to Zaphon; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the sons of Ammon without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you!”

When I saw that you were no deliverer, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the sons of Ammon, and the Lord handed them over to me. Why then have you come up to me this day to fight against me?”

And the Gileadites took control of the crossing places of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. And it happened whenever any of the survivors of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” that the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,”

then they would say to him, “Just say, ‘Shibboleth.’” But he said, “Sibboleth,” for he was not prepared to pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the crossing places of the Jordan. So at that time forty-two thousand from Ephraim fell.

And some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling.

Jonathan’s Victory

Now the day came that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come, and let’s cross over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.