Crossing the Jordan

3 Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittimu and went to the Jordan,v where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three daysw the officersx went throughout the camp,y 3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenantz of the Lord your God, and the Leviticala priestsb carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubitsa c between you and the ark; do not go near it.”

5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves,d for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing thingse among you.”

6 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.

7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt youf in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.g 8 Tell the priestsh who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’ ”

9 Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10 This is how you will know that the living Godi is among youj and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites,k Hivites, Perizzites,l Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.m 11 See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earthn will go into the Jordan ahead of you.o 12 Now then, choose twelve menp from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earthq—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstreamr will be cut offs and stand up in a heap.t”

14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenantu went aheadv of them. 15 Now the Jordanw is at flood stagex all during harvest.y Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing.z It piled up in a heapa a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan,b while the water flowing downc to the Sea of the Arabahd (that is, the Dead Seae) was completely cut off.f So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.g 17 The priestsh who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground,i while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.j

4 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan,k the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve menl from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stonesm from the middle of the Jordan,n from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.o”

4 So Joshua called together the twelve menp he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.q Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a signr among you. In the future, when your childrens ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’t 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut offu 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 memorialv to the people of Israel forever.”

8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stonesw from the middle of the Jordan,x according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua;y and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stonesz that had beena 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.a

10 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, 11 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. 12 The men of Reuben,b Gadc and the half-tribe of Manassehd crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites,e as Moses had directed them.f 13 About forty thousand armed for battleg crossed overh before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for war.

14 That day the Lord exaltedi 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.

15 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant lawj to come up out of the Jordan.”

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their placek and ran at flood stagel as before.

19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgalm on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stonesn they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’o 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’p 23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Seab when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.q 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might knowr that the hand of the Lord is powerfuls and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.t”

5 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coastu heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until theya had crossed over, their hearts melted in fearv and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.

Circumcision and Passover at Gilgal

2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knivesw and circumcisex the Israelites again.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.b

4 Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of military agey—died in the wilderness on the way after leaving Egypt.z 5 All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt had not. 6 The Israelites had moved about in the wildernessa forty yearsb until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord. For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us,c a land flowing with milk and honey.d 7 So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. 8 And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.e

9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgalc f to this day.

10 On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month,g while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover.h 11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land:i unleavened breadj and roasted grain.k 12 The manna stopped the day afterd they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.l

The Fall of Jericho

13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a manm standing in front of him with a drawn swordn in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedowno to the groundp in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lorde have for his servant?”

15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.”q And Joshua did so.