Crossing the Jordan
1Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3giving orders to the people: ‘When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the Levitical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits3:4 That is, about 900 metres between you and the ark; do not go near it.’
5Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.’
6Joshua 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.
7And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so that they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses. 8Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: “When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.” ’
9Joshua said to the Israelites, ‘Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. 10This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 11See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 12Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord – the Lord of all the earth – set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.’
14So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 15Now the Jordan is in flood all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.
Israelitterne går over Jordanfloden
1Tidligt næste morgen brød Josva og Israels folk op fra lejren ved Shittim og kom ned til Jordanfloden. Der slog de lejr, indtil de var parat til at gå over floden.
2Tre dage senere gik lederne rundt i lejren 3med følgende besked til folket: „Når I ser præsterne bryde op og gå af sted med pagtens ark, skal I følge efter. 4De vil gå foran jer og vise vej. Men der skal være en afstand på en kilometer3,4 På hebraisk 2000 alen, ca. 900 meter. mellem jer og arken. I må ikke komme for tæt på den.”
5Derefter sagde Josva til folket: „Sørg for at være rituelt rene, for i morgen vil Herren gøre undere iblandt jer.”
6Til præsterne sagde han: „I skal tage pagtens ark og gå i spidsen for folket.” Og de accepterede at tage pagtens ark og gå foran folket.
7Om natten sagde Herren til Josva: „I dag vil jeg sørge for, at du vinder stor respekt blandt Israels folk. Alle skal få at se, at jeg er med dig, ligesom jeg var med Moses. 8Sig til præsterne, som skal bære pagtens ark: Når I kommer til flodens bred, skal I gå et skridt ud i den og blive stående.”
9Næste morgen kaldte Josva folket sammen og sagde: „Hør efter, hvad Herren, jeres Gud, siger. 10I dag vil I se et bevis på, at den levende Gud er midt iblandt jer. Det vil give jer mod til at tro på, at han også vil drive landets indbyggere på flugt foran jer—alle kana’anæerne, hittitterne, hivvitterne, perizzitterne, girgashitterne, amoritterne og jebusitterne. 11Arken, der tilhører Herren—hele jordens Herre—skal bane vej for jer gennem floden. 12I skal udvælge 12 mænd, en fra hver stamme. 13Så snart præsterne med arken træder ud i floden, vil vandstrømmen nordfra standse og hobe sig op som en vold.”
14-15Så brød folket op for at gå over floden, og præsterne, som bar pagtens ark, gik foran dem. Det var i høsttiden, hvor Jordanfloden går over sine bredder. Men da præsterne trådte ud i floden, 16standsede vandet, som kom nordfra, hobede sig op og stod som en vold ved byen Adam nær Saretan, mens vandet på sydsiden flød bort i retning af Det Døde Hav, indtil flodlejet var tørt, så folket kunne gå over lige ved Jeriko. 17Mens folket gik over, stod præsterne med arken midt ude i det udtørrede flodleje.
