1And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they broke up from Shittim, and came close to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel; and they lodged there before they passed over.

2And it came to pass at the end of three days, that the officers passed through the midst of the camp.

3And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then shall ye break up from your place, and go after it.

4Nevertheless there shall be a space between you and it, of about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, in order that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

5And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow will the Lord do wonders in the midst of you.

6And Joshua said unto the priests, as followeth, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

7And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to make thee great in the eyes of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee.

8And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, ye shall stand still in the Jordan.

9And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Approach hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.

10And Joshua said, Hereby shall ye know that the living God is in the midst of you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Emorites, and the Jebusites.

11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into the Jordan.

12And now take yourselves twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, one man each out of every tribe.

13And it shall come to pass, that as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, namely, the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand up as a wall.

14And it came to pass, when the people broke up from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, and the priests the bearers of the ark of the covenant were before the people;

15And as they that bore the ark were come up to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, [the Jordan, however, had overflowed all its banks all the time of harvest,]

16That the waters which came down from above stood still and rose up as a wall, very far from the city Adam, which is beside Zarethan; and those that ran down toward the sea of the plain, the salt sea, failed, were cut off; and the people passed over opposite to Jericho.

17And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people had finished passing over the Jordan.