Joshua 3:1-17
Israel Goes Across the Jordan River
Early one morning Joshua and all the Israelites started out from Shittim. They went down to the Jordan River. They camped there before they went across it. After three days the officers went all through the camp. They gave orders to the people. They said, “Watch for the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. The priests, who are Levites, will be carrying it. When you see it, you must move out from where you are and follow it. Then you will know which way to go. You have never gone this way before. But don’t go near the ark. Stay about 1,000 yards away from it.”
Joshua said to the people, “Set yourselves apart to the Lord. Tomorrow he’ll do amazing things among you.”
Joshua said to the priests, “Go and get the ark of the covenant. Walk on ahead of the people.” So they went and got it. Then they walked on ahead of them.
The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to honor you in the eyes of all the Israelites. Then they will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses. Speak to the priests who carry the ark of the covenant. Tell them, ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan River, go into the water and stand there.’ ”
Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here. Listen to what the Lord your God is saying. You will soon know that the living God is among you. He will certainly drive out the people now living in the land. He’ll do it to make room for you. He’ll drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. The ark will go into the Jordan River ahead of you. It’s the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth. Choose 12 men from the tribes of Israel. Choose one from each tribe. The priests will carry the ark of the Lord. He’s the Lord of the whole earth. As soon as the priests step into the Jordan, it will stop flowing. The water that’s coming down the river will pile up in one place. That’s how you will know that the living God is among you.”
So the people took their tents down. They prepared to go across the Jordan River. The priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. The water of the Jordan was going over its banks. It always does that at the time the crops are being gathered. The priests came to the river. Their feet touched the water’s edge. Right away the water coming down the river stopped flowing. It piled up far away at a town called Adam near Zarethan. The water flowing down to the Dead Sea was completely cut off. So the people went across the Jordan River opposite Jericho. The priests carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. They stopped in the middle of the river and stood on dry ground. They stayed there until the whole nation of Israel had gone across on dry ground.
Joshua 4:1-24
After the whole nation had gone across the Jordan River, the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, “Choose 12 men from among the people. Choose one from each tribe. Tell them to get 12 stones from the middle of the river. They must pick them up from right where the priests stood. They must carry the stones over with all of you. And they must put them down at the place where you will stay tonight.”
So Joshua called together the 12 men he had appointed from among the Israelites. There was one man from each tribe. He said to them, “Go back to the middle of the Jordan River. Go to where the ark of the Lord your God is. Each one of you must pick up a stone. You must carry it on your shoulder. There will be as many stones as there are tribes in Israel. The stones will serve as a reminder to you. In days to come, your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Tell them that the Lord cut off the flow of water in the Jordan River. Tell them its water stopped flowing when the ark of the covenant of the Lord went across. The stones will always remind the Israelites of what happened there.”
So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan River. There was one stone for each of the tribes of Israel. It was just as the Lord had told Joshua. The people carried the stones with them to their camp. There they put them down. Joshua also piled up 12 stones in the middle of the river. He piled them up right where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are still there to this very day.
The priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan River. They stayed there until the people had done everything the Lord had commanded Joshua. It was just as Moses had directed Joshua. All the people went across quickly. As soon as they did, the ark of the Lord and the priests also went across to the other side. The people were watching them. Among the people who went across the river were men from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh. The men were ready for battle. They went across ahead of the rest of the Israelites. It was just as Moses had directed them. There were about 40,000 of them. All of them were ready for battle. They went across in front of the ark of the Lord. They marched to the plains around Jericho. They were prepared to go to war.
That day the Lord honored Joshua in the eyes of all the Israelites. They had respect for Joshua as long as he lived. They respected him just as much as they had respected Moses.
Then the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, “Command the priests to come up out of the Jordan River. They are carrying the ark where the tablets of the covenant law are kept.”
So Joshua gave a command to the priests. He said, “Come up out of the Jordan River.”
Then the priests came up out of the river. They were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord. As soon as they stepped out on dry ground, the water of the Jordan began to flow again. It went over its banks, just as it had done before.
On the tenth day of the first month the people went up out of the Jordan River. They camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. Joshua set up the 12 stones at Gilgal. They were the ones the people had taken out of the Jordan. Then he spoke to the Israelites. He said, “In days to come, your children after you will ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Their parents must tell them, ‘Israel went across the Jordan River on dry ground.’ The Lord your God dried up the Jordan for you until you had gone across it. He did to the Jordan River the same thing he had done to the Red Sea. He dried up the Red Sea ahead of us until we had gone across it. He did it so that all the nations on earth would know that he is powerful. He did it so that you would always have respect for the Lord your God.”
Joshua 5:1-12
All the Amorite and Canaanite kings heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan River. They heard how he had dried it up for the Israelites until they had gone across it. The Amorite kings lived west of the Jordan. The kings of Canaan lived along the Mediterranean Sea. When all those kings heard what the Lord had done, they were terrified. They weren’t brave enough to face the Israelites anymore.
Circumcision and Passover at Gilgal
At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make knives out of flint. Use them to circumcise the men of Israel.” So Joshua made knives out of flint. Then he used them to circumcise the men of Israel at Gibeath Haaraloth.
Here is why Joshua circumcised them. All the men who came out of Egypt had died. They died while they were wandering through the Sinai Desert. They were the men old enough to serve in the army. All the men who came out had been circumcised. But all the men born in the desert during the journey from Egypt hadn’t been circumcised. The Israelites had moved around in the desert for 40 years. By the end of that time all the men old enough to serve in the army when they left Egypt had died. That’s because they hadn’t obeyed the Lord. He had made a promise to them. He had told them they wouldn’t see the land. It’s the land he had promised to their people to give us. It’s a land that has plenty of milk and honey. Because they hadn’t obeyed him, he raised up their sons to take their place. They were the ones Joshua circumcised. They hadn’t been circumcised yet. That’s because no one had circumcised them during the journey. So Joshua circumcised all those men. The whole nation remained in the camp until the men were healed.
Then the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, “Today I have taken away from you the shame of being slaves in Egypt.” That’s why the place where the men were circumcised has been called Gilgal to this very day.
The Israelites celebrated the Passover Feast. They observed it on the evening of the 14th day of the month. They did it while they were camped at Gilgal on the plains around Jericho. The day after the Passover, they ate some of the food grown in the land. On that same day they ate grain that had been cooked. They also ate bread made without yeast. The manna stopped coming down the day after they ate the food grown in the land. The Israelites didn’t have manna anymore. Instead, that year they ate food grown in Canaan.
