The chat will start when you send the first message.
1Early the next morning, Joshua and the Israelites packed up and left Acacia. They went to the Jordan River and camped there that night.
2Two days later their leaders went through the camp,[#3.2 The Hebrew text has “At the end of three days,” two days after they had set up camp.]
3-4shouting, “When you see some of the priests carrying the sacred chest, you'll know it is time to cross to the other side. You've never been there before, and you won't know the way, unless you follow the chest. But don't get too close! Stay about a kilometer back.”[#3.3,4 The Hebrew text has “the priests, the Levites”; priests belonged to the tribe of Levi.]
5Joshua told the people, “Make yourselves acceptable to worship the Lord , because he is going to do some amazing things for us.”[#3.5 People had to do certain things to make themselves acceptable to worship the (see Leviticus 7.20,21; 15.2,33; 22.4-8; Deuteronomy 23.10,11).]
6Then Joshua turned to the priests and said, “Take the chest and cross the Jordan River ahead of us.” So the priests picked up the chest by its carrying poles and went on ahead.
7The Lord told Joshua, “Beginning today I will show the people that you are their leader, and they will know that I am helping you as I helped Moses.
8Now, tell the priests who are carrying the chest to go a little way into the river and stand there.”
9Joshua spoke to the people:
14The Israelites packed up and left camp. The priests carrying the chest walked in front,
15until they came to the Jordan River. The water in the river had risen over its banks, as it often does in springtime. But as soon as the feet of the priests touched the water,[#3.15 Or “harvest time”; the grain harvest was in late spring.]
16-17the river stopped flowing, and the water started piling up at the town of Adam near Zarethan. No water flowed toward the Dead Sea, and the priests stood in the middle of the dry riverbed near Jericho while everyone else crossed over.