Joshua 3 - NKJV Bible Online

Joshua 3

Israel Crosses the Jordan

Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out ^afrom ¹Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. 2 So it was, ^aafter three days, that the officers went through the camp; 3 and they commanded the people, saying, ^a“When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, ^band the priests, the Levites, ¹bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4 ^aYet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”
5 And Joshua said to the people, ^a“Sanctify¹ yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” 6 Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, ^a“Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.”
So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.
7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to ^aexalt¹ you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, ^bas I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 You shall command ^athe priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, ^byou shall stand in the Jordan.’ ”
9 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 ^athe living God is among you, and that He will without fail ^bdrive out from before you the ^cCanaanites 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 ^athe Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore, ^atake for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. 13 And it shall come to pass, ^aas soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, ^bthe 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 ^cshall 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 ^aark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and ^athe feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the ^bJordan overflows all its banks ^cduring the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away ¹at Adam, the city that is beside ^aZaretan. So the waters that went down ^binto the Sea of the Arabah, ^cthe 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; ^aand all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

« Joshua 2Joshua 3Joshua 4 »