Open English Translation JOS Chapter 3

3 Early the next morning, Yehoshua and the people got up early and set off from Acacia Grove and went as far as the Yordan River and camped there without crossing over. 2 After three days, the leaders went throughout the camp 3 and instructed the people, “As soon as you all see the box containing the agreement with your God Yahweh, and see the Levitical priests carrying it, then you yourselves should move out from your places and follow after it. 4 But keep about nine hundred metres back from it. Don’t go any closer than that so that you all can see the way to go, because we haven’t been this way before.”

5 Then Yehoshua told the people, “Make sure you all do the ritual washing to make yourselves pure, because tomorrow Yahweh will do miracles among us.” 6 And he told the priests, “Lift up the box with the agreement, and walk across here in front of the people.” So they lifted up the sacred chest and went and stood in front of all the people.

7 Then Yahweh told Yehoshua, “Today I’ll begin to make you powerful in the eyes of all Israel so they’ll know that I’m with you just like I was with Mosheh. 8 Tell the priests who’re carrying the sacred chest that as soon as they come to the edge of the river, they should go in just a little and then stop there.”

9 Then Yehoshua told the Israelis, “Gather around here and listen to your God Yahweh’s message.” 10 He told them, “This is how you’ll all know that God, who can do anything, is among you. With your own eyes, you’ll all see how he’ll take away the land from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Listen, the sacred chest containing the slabs that belongs to the master who owns the whole world, is about to be taken across the Yordan in front of you. 12 So now, select one man from each of your twelve tribes, 13 and as soon as the priests carrying the sacred chest go into the Yordan, as soon as their feet touch the water, the river water on the upstream side will pile up in a heap.”

14 So once the people had packed up their tents ready to cross the river, the priests carrying the sacred box walked ahead in front of them. 15 Then as soon as those priests steeped into the edge of the fast-flowing river (because it overflowed its banks at harvest time in the spring), 16 then the water coming from upstream suddenly stopped flowing. The water far upstream piled up near a town called Adam (near Tsaretan), and the water that normally flowed down towards the Sea of Arabah (also called the Dead Sea or the Salt Sea) stopped flowing, so the people were able to cross what was the Yordan River opposite Yericho. 17 The priests carrying the sacred chest with Yahweh’s agreement in it, stood on firm, dry ground in what had been the middle of the river. All the Israelis crossed over on dry ground until everyone was across.