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¹ And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they journeyed from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there and did not cross over.² And it came to pass after three days the officers went through the camp;³ And they commanded the people, saying, When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests and the Levites carrying it, then you must proceed from your place, and go after it.⁴ And there shall be a space between you and the ark, about two thousand cubits by measure; you shall not come near to it, that you may know the way by which you shall go; for you have not passed this way before.⁵ And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.⁶ And Joshua said to the priests, 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.

⁷ And the LORD said to Joshua, From this day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.⁸ And you shall command the priests who carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, When you are come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.⁹ And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.¹⁰ And Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will destroy from before you the Hittites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.¹¹ Behold, the ark of the covenant of the LORD of all the earth is passing over before you in the Jordan.¹² Now therefore take twelve men from all the tribes of Israel, a man out of each tribe.¹³ And when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be divided, the waters that are flowing down from above shall pile up as though they were in sheepskins, one beside the other.

¹⁴ And it came to pass, when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan and the priests who were bearing the ark of the covenant went before the people;¹⁵ And as soon as those that bore the ark reached the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who were bearing the ark were dipped in the brim of the water (for the Jordan overflows its banks all the time of harvest);¹⁶ That the waters that flowed down from above piled up as though they were in sheepskins, one beside the other; and extended for a long distance from the town of Aram, that is beside Zaretan; and those that flowed down toward the sea of the plain, the Salt Sea, failed to flow, and were divided; and the people passed over opposite Jericho.¹⁷ And the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people finished passing over the Jordan.