1 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from AJosh 2:1Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed. 2 AJosh 1:11At the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp; 3 and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ADeut 31:9ark of the covenant of the Loʀᴅ your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4  “However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 1I.e. One cubit equals approx 18 in.cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”

5 Then Joshua said to the people, “AEx 19:10, 11; Josh 7:13Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Loʀᴅ will do wonders among you.” 6 And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “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.

7 Now the Loʀᴅ said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to AJosh 4:14exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. 8  “You shall, moreover, command the priests who are 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.’ ” 9 Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Loʀᴅ your God.” 10 Joshua said, “By this you shall know that ADeut 5:26; 1 Thess 1:9the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly BEx 33:2; Deut 7:1dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. 11  “Behold, the ark of the covenant of AJob 41:11; Ps 24:1; Zech 6:5the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. 12  “Now then, AJosh 4:2take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. 13  “It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Loʀᴅ, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are 1Lit goingflowing down from above 2Lit and they willwill AEx 15:8stand in one heap.”

14 So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying APs 132:8; Acts 7:44fthe ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the A1 Chr 12:15; Jer 12:5; 49:19Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), 16 APs 66:6; 74:15; 114:3, 5the waters which were 1Lit goingflowing down from above stood and rose up in BJosh 3:13one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were 1Lit goingflowing down toward the sea of the CDeut 1:1Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. 17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Loʀᴅ stood firm AEx 14:21, 22, 29on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.