1Joshua rose early the next morning; and all the Israelites set out from Shittim (Acacia), and came to the Jordan, and camped there before crossing over. 2And after three days, the officers went through the camp; 3And they gave these orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the Levite priests carrying it, then you shall move from your place, and follow it, 4So you will know where you must go, since you have not passed this way before. But you must keep a distance of about two thousand cubits (three thousand feet), between you and it; do not come near it.” 5And Joshua told the people, “Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the LORD will do great things among you.” 6And Joshua told the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and cross over ahead of the people.” And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went ahead of the people. 7And the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. 8And you shall tell the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the water of the Jordan, take a few steps into the river, then stand still in the Jordan.’”

9And Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come and hear the words of the LORD your God.” 10And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will, without fail, drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11The ark of the covenant of the LORD of all the earth will pass over ahead of you into the Jordan. 12Now you shall choose twelve men out of the tribes of Israel - a man from each tribe. 13And as soon as the priests carrying the ark of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, set foot in the waters of the Jordan, the downstream waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from the waters upstream, which shall pile up like a wall.”

14And when the people broke camp to cross over the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of the people; 15And as they carried the ark and came to Jordan, and their feet had touched the river’s edge, (for the Jordan overflows its banks during harvest time) , 16The upstream waters stopped and rose up in one heap in the distance, at the city called Adam, that is near Zarethan; and those waters flowing toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off; so that the people crossed over across from the town of Jericho. 17And the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the Israelites had all crossed over the Jordan on dry ground.