Joshua 3
The Message
The Jordan
3 1-4 Joshua was up early and on his way from Shittim with all the People of Israel with him. He arrived at the Jordan and camped before crossing over. After three days, leaders went through the camp and gave out orders to the people: “When you see the Covenant-Chest of God, your God, carried by the Levitical priests, start moving. Follow it. Make sure you keep a proper distance between you and it, about half a mile—be sure now to keep your distance!—and you’ll see clearly the route to take. You’ve never been on this road before.”
5 Then Joshua addressed the people: “Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you.”
6 Joshua instructed the priests, “Take up the Chest of the Covenant and step out before the people.” So they took it up and processed before the people.
7-8 God said to Joshua, “This very day I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel. They’ll see for themselves that I’m with you in the same way that I was with Moses. You will command the priests who are carrying the Chest of the Covenant: ‘When you come to the edge of the Jordan’s waters, stand there on the river bank.’”
9-13 Then Joshua addressed the People of Israel: “Attention! Listen to what God, your God, has to say. This is how you’ll know that God is alive among you—he will completely dispossess before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. Look at what’s before you: the Chest of the Covenant. Think of it—the Master of the entire earth is crossing the Jordan as you watch. Now take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the Chest of God, Master of all the earth, touch the Jordan’s water, the flow of water will be stopped—the water coming from upstream will pile up in a heap.”
14-16 And that’s what happened. The people left their tents to cross the Jordan, led by the priests carrying the Chest of the Covenant. When the priests got to the Jordan and their feet touched the water at the edge (the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest), the flow of water stopped. It piled up in a heap—a long way off—at Adam, which is near Zarethan. The river went dry all the way down to the Arabah Sea (the Salt Sea). And the people crossed, facing Jericho.
17 And there they stood; those priests carrying the Chest of the Covenant stood firmly planted on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground. Finally the whole nation was across the Jordan, and not one wet foot.
Josua 3
Bibelen på hverdagsdansk
Israelitterne går over Jordanfloden
3 Tidligt næste morgen brød Josva og Israels folk op fra lejren ved Shittim og kom ned til Jordanfloden. Der slog de lejr, indtil de var parat til at gå over floden.
2 Tre dage senere gik lederne rundt i lejren 3 med følgende besked til folket: „Når I ser præsterne bryde op og gå af sted med pagtens ark, skal I følge efter. 4 De vil gå foran jer og vise vej. Men der skal være en afstand på en kilometer[a] mellem jer og arken. I må ikke komme for tæt på den.”
5 Derefter sagde Josva til folket: „Sørg for at være rituelt rene, for i morgen vil Herren gøre undere iblandt jer.”
6 Til præsterne sagde han: „I skal tage pagtens ark og gå i spidsen for folket.” Og de accepterede at tage pagtens ark og gå foran folket.
7 Om natten sagde Herren til Josva: „I dag vil jeg sørge for, at du vinder stor respekt blandt Israels folk. Alle skal få at se, at jeg er med dig, ligesom jeg var med Moses. 8 Sig til præsterne, som skal bære pagtens ark: Når I kommer til flodens bred, skal I gå et skridt ud i den og blive stående.”
9 Næste morgen kaldte Josva folket sammen og sagde: „Hør efter, hvad Herren, jeres Gud, siger. 10 I dag vil I se et bevis på, at den levende Gud er midt iblandt jer. Det vil give jer mod til at tro på, at han også vil drive landets indbyggere på flugt foran jer—alle kana’anæerne, hittitterne, hivvitterne, perizzitterne, girgashitterne, amoritterne og jebusitterne. 11 Arken, der tilhører Herren—hele jordens Herre—skal bane vej for jer gennem floden. 12 I skal udvælge 12 mænd, en fra hver stamme. 13 Så snart præsterne med arken træder ud i floden, vil vandstrømmen nordfra standse og hobe sig op som en vold.”
14-15 Så brød folket op for at gå over floden, og præsterne, som bar pagtens ark, gik foran dem. Det var i høsttiden, hvor Jordanfloden går over sine bredder. Men da præsterne trådte ud i floden, 16 standsede vandet, som kom nordfra, hobede sig op og stod som en vold ved byen Adam nær Saretan, mens vandet på sydsiden flød bort i retning af Det Døde Hav, indtil flodlejet var tørt, så folket kunne gå over lige ved Jeriko. 17 Mens folket gik over, stod præsterne med arken midt ude i det udtørrede flodleje.
Footnotes
- 3,4 På hebraisk 2000 alen, ca. 900 meter.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Bibelen på hverdagsdansk (Danish New Living Bible) Copyright © 2002, 2006 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.