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1Early the next morning, Joshua and all the Israelites left Shittim. They put up their tents beside the Jordan River. They waited to go across the river.
2Three days later, the Israelite leaders went to every tent.
3They commanded the people, ‘The Levite priests will carry the Covenant Box of the Lord your God. When you see them, you must leave here and you must follow them.[#3:3 Levites belonged to the of Levi, one of the 12 tribes of Israel. God chose the Levites to do special work for him in his . They helped the in the temple.]
4They will show you the way to go because you have never been here before. But do not go too near to the Covenant Box. Stay about 1,000 metres behind it.’
5Joshua said to the people, ‘Make yourselves ready to serve the Lord as his holy people. Tomorrow, the Lord will do great miracles among you.’
6He said to the priests, ‘Pick up the Covenant Box, and carry it in front of the people.’ So they picked it up, and they went on in front of the people.
7Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to make all the Israelite people respect you. They will know that I am with you, in the same way that I was with Moses.
8The priests that are carrying the Covenant Box must go to the shore of the Jordan River. Tell them to go into the water and to stand there.’
9Joshua said to the Israelites, ‘Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.
10The God who lives for ever is with you. He will certainly chase the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites out from this land. Then you will have their land. The Lord will show you that he will certainly do this.[#3:10 Many different lived in the land of Canaan.]
11Look now! The Covenant Box of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan River in front of you.
12Now choose 12 men, one from each tribe of Israel's family.
13Watch the priests who are carrying the Covenant Box. As soon as their feet touch the water of the river, you will see that the water stops running. It will rise up like a wall.’
14So the Israelite people prepared to leave their tents. The priests carried the Covenant Box towards the Jordan River. The people followed them.
15It was the time of the harvest and there was a lot of water coming down the river. But when the priests reached the shore of the river with the Covenant Box and their feet touched the water,
16the water stopped. It stopped a long way up the river, at a town called Adam. That is near Zarethan. The water going down to the Salt Sea stopped completely. So the people went across the river near Jericho city.
17The priests stood in the middle of the river on dry ground, with the Lord 's Covenant Box. While they stood there, all the Israelite people walked across the river on dry ground. In this way, the whole nation arrived on the other side of the river.