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 (A)the living God is among you, and that He will without fail (B)drive out from before you the (C)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 (D)the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore, (E)take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. 13 And it shall come to pass, (F)as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, (G)the 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 (H)shall 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 (I)ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and (J)the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the (K)Jordan overflows all its banks (L)during the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away [a]at Adam, the city that is beside (M)Zaretan. So the waters that went down (N)into the Sea of the Arabah, (O)the 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; (P)and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 3:16 Qr., many mss. and vss. from Adam

Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living God(A) is among you(B) and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites,(C) Hivites, Perizzites,(D) Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.(E) 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth(F) will go into the Jordan ahead of you.(G) 12 Now then, choose twelve men(H) from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth(I)—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream(J) will be cut off(K) and stand up in a heap.(L)

14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant(M) went ahead(N) of them. 15 Now the Jordan(O) is at flood stage(P) all during harvest.(Q) Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing.(R) It piled up in a heap(S) a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan,(T) while the water flowing down(U) to the Sea of the Arabah(V) (that is, the Dead Sea(W)) was completely cut off.(X) So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.(Y) 17 The priests(Z) who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground,(AA) while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.(AB)

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