Joshua 3:8-17

3:8 Instruct the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, ‘When you reach the bank of the Jordan River, ¹  wade into the water.’” ² 

3:9 Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God!” 3:10 Joshua continued, ³  “This is how you will know the living God is among you and that he will truly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. 3:11 Look! The ark of the covenant of the Ruler ⁴  of the whole earth is ready to enter the Jordan ahead of you. 3:12 Now select for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one per tribe. 3:13 When the feet ⁵  of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Ruler ⁶  of the whole earth, touch ⁷  the water of the Jordan, the water coming downstream toward you will stop flowing and pile up.” ⁸ 

3:14 So when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ⁹  ahead of them. 3:15 When the ones carrying the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the surface ¹⁰  of the water – (the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest time) ¹¹  – 3:16 the water coming downstream toward them stopped flowing. ¹²  It piled up far upstream ¹³  at Adam (the city near Zarethan); there was no water at all flowing to the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea). ¹⁴  The people crossed the river opposite Jericho. ¹⁵  3:17 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. All Israel crossed over on dry ground until the entire nation was on the other side. ¹⁶ 

[3:8]  ¹ tn Heb “the edge of the waters of the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied for clarity.

[3:8]  ² tn Heb “stand in the Jordan.” Here the repetition of the word “Jordan” would be redundant according to contemporary English style, so it was not included in the translation.

[3:10]  ³ tn Heb “said.”

[3:11]  ⁴ tn Or “Lord”; or “Master.”

[3:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “the soles of the feet.”

[3:13]  ⁶ tn Or “Lord”; or “Master.”

[3:13]  ⁷ tn Or “rest in.”

[3:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “the waters of the Jordan, the waters descending from above, will be cut off so that they will stand in one pile.”

[3:14]  ⁹ tn The verb, though not in the Hebrew, is added for clarification.

[3:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “dipped into the edge.”

[3:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest.”

[3:16]  ¹² tn Heb “the waters descending from above stood still.”

[3:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “they stood in one pile very far away.”

[3:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the [waters] descending toward the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) were completely cut off.”

[3:16]  ¹⁵ map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[3:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and all Israel was crossing over on dry ground until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”