Dual Panel1Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, where they encamped before crossing.
2At the end of three days the officers passed through the camp,
3giving the people these instructions: “When you see the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God being carried forward by the levitical priests, then you too must leave your positions and set out. Follow it,
4but do not go close to it; keep some distance behind, about two thousand cubits. It will show you the route you are to follow, for you have not travelled this way before.”
5Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will perform a great miracle among you.”
6To the priests he said, “Lift the Ark of the Covenant and move ahead of the people.” So they lifted it up and went at the head of the people.
7The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I shall begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, and they will know that I shall be with you as I was with Moses.
8Give this order to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you are to take your stand in the river.”
9Joshua said to the Israelites, “Draw near and listen to the words of the LORD your God.”
10He went on, “By this you will know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites:
11the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth is to cross the Jordan at your head.
12Choose now twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.
13As soon as the priests carrying the Ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, set foot in the waters of the Jordan, then the waters of the Jordan will be cut off; the water coming down from upstream will stand piled up like a bank.”
14The people set out from their encampment to cross the Jordan, with the priests in front carrying the Ark of the Covenant.
15Now the Jordan is in full flood in all its reaches throughout the time of harvest, but as soon as the priests reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water at the edge,
16the water flowing down from upstream was brought to a standstill; it piled up like a bank for a long way back, as far as Adam, a town near Zarethan. The water coming down to the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, was completely cut off, and the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
17The priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD stood firmly on the dry bed in the middle of the river, and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until the whole nation had completed the crossing of the Jordan.