1 Early in the morning Joshua got up, and he and all the children of Israel set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing.
2 After three days the officials went through the camp
3 and gave the people this order: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, move out from your positions and follow it.
4 But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark; do not go near it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never traveled this way before."
5 Joshua told the people, "Sanctify yourselves, because tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you."
6 And Joshua said to the priests, "Lift up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people." So they lifted up the ark of the covenant and went on ahead of the people.
7 The LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel, so that they will know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.
8 Give this order to the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, stand still in the Jordan.'"
9 Joshua said to the children of Israel, "Come closer and listen to the words of the LORD your God."
10 Then Joshua said, "This is how you will know that the living God is in your midst and that he will certainly drive out ahead of you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites:
11 look, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is about to cross ahead of you into the Jordan.
12 So now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.
13 As soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off; the water flowing down from upstream will stand in a single heap."
14 So the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant in front of them.
15 Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the bearers of the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the water's edge,
16 the water flowing from upstream stopped and rose up in a single heap a great distance away, at Adam, the town next to Zarethan, while the water flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan.