Joshua 3:1   (Read all of Joshua 3)

Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over.

Joshua 3:3   (Read all of Joshua 3)

giving orders to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it.

Joshua 3:4   (Read all of Joshua 3)

Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and the ark; do not go near it."

Joshua 3:6   (Read all of Joshua 3)

Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people." So they took it up and went ahead of them.

Joshua 3:7   (Read all of Joshua 3)

And the Lord said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.

Joshua 3:8   (Read all of Joshua 3)

Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.' "

Joshua 3:9   (Read all of Joshua 3)

Joshua said to the Israelites, "Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.

Joshua 3:11   (Read all of Joshua 3)

See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you.

Joshua 3:13   (Read all of Joshua 3)

And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord-the Lord of all the earth-set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap."

Joshua 3:14   (Read all of Joshua 3)

So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.

Joshua 3:15   (Read all of Joshua 3)

Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge,

Joshua 3:16   (Read all of Joshua 3)

the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

Joshua 3:17   (Read all of Joshua 3)

The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

Joshua 4:1   (Read all of Joshua 4)

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,

Joshua 4:3   (Read all of Joshua 4)

and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."

Joshua 4:4   (Read all of Joshua 4)

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,

Joshua 4:5   (Read all of Joshua 4)

and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,

Joshua 4:6   (Read all of Joshua 4)

to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?'

Joshua 4:7   (Read all of Joshua 4)

tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."

Joshua 4:8   (Read all of Joshua 4)

So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.

Joshua 4:9   (Read all of Joshua 4)

Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

Joshua 4:10   (Read all of Joshua 4)

Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over,

Joshua 4:11   (Read all of Joshua 4)

and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side while the people watched.

Joshua 4:14   (Read all of Joshua 4)

That day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.