Joshua 3

Joshua 3:1 Joshua started early the following day and left the Acacia Grove with all the Israelites. They went as far as the Jordan and stayed there before crossing.

Joshua 3:2 After three days, the officers went through the camp

Joshua 3:3 commanding the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahveh your God carried by the Levitical priests, you are to break camp and follow it.

Joshua 3:4 But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between yourselves and the ark. Don’t go near it so that you can see the way to walk because you haven’t traveled this way before.”

Joshua 3:5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves because Yahveh will do miracles among you tomorrow.”

Joshua 3:6 Then he said to the priests, “Carry the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

Joshua 3:7 Yahveh spoke to Joshua: “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so they will know that I will be with you just like I was with Moses.

Joshua 3:8 Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant: When you reach the edge of the water, stand in the Jordan.”

Joshua 3:9 Then Joshua told the Israelites, “Come closer and listen to the words of Yahveh your God.”

Joshua 3:10 He said, “You will know that the living God is among you and that he will undoubtedly dispossess the Canaanites, Hethites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites before you.

Joshua 3:11 when the ark of the covenant of Yahveh of the whole land goes ahead of you into the Jordan.

Joshua 3:12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.

Joshua 3:13 When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of Yahveh, Yahveh of the whole land, come to rest in the Jordan’s water, its water will be cut off.[1] The water flowing downstream will stand up in a mass.”

Joshua 3:14 When the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of the people.

Joshua 3:15 Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge.

Joshua 3:16 and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising in a mass that extended as far as Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah – the Dead Sea – was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho.

Joshua 3:17 The priests carrying the ark of Yahveh’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all of Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

[1] כָּרָת = cut off, exterminate, make a treaty or covenant. Joshua 3:13, 16; 4:7; 7:9; 9:6, 7, 11, 15, 16, 23; 11:21; 23:4; 24:25.

Joshua 3 quotes:

“The action of the story slows down in the crossing narrative (Josh. 3-4). Commands are repeated and events are described in laborious detail to indicate the importance of crossing the Jordan for the faith of Israel. The narrator also describes a liturgical drama that would be used for instruction of the young. The fords of the Jordan River and then Gilgal, the camp after Israel crossed the river, become the central locations for the narrative and the events to follow. The Israelite narrator’s point of view dominates the two chapters. Officers, Joshua, the Lord, and finally Joshua again give commands. Then the tribes cross the Jordan as a result of their obedience and God’s miracle.”

Harris J. Gordon et al. Joshua Judges Ruth. Hendrickson Publishers ; Paternoster Press 2000. p. 32.

“After certain preparatory communications and actions took place (Joshua 3:1-6), the Lord instructed Joshua concerning the crossing of the Jordan River (Josh. 3:7-8). Then Joshua communicated further words to the people (3:9-13).”

Lyles, Ron, et al. Joshua and Judges. 1st ed, Baptistway Press, 2005. p. 34.

“At Joshua’s command all necessary preparations are made, and the Israelites cross to the west bank of the Jordan River and so set foot on Canaan, the promised land. The passage is accomplished by a miraculous cessation of the flow of the river, recalling the drying up of the Sea of Reeds at the departure from Egypt. Memorial stones in the Jordan and at Gilgal, on the west side of the river, mark the event. Everything is ready for the conquest of the land.”

Bratcher Robert G and Barclay Moon Newman. A Handbook on the Book of Joshua. United Bible Societies 1992. p. 36.

The JOSHUA shelf in Jeff’s library

Day: December 27, 2025

Joshua 3

Joshua 3

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