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Joshua got up early in the morning. He and all the people of Israel left Shittim and came to the Jordan. And they stayed there before they crossed. After three days the leaders went among the tents. They told the people, “When you see the special box of the agreement of the Lord your God with the religious leaders carrying it, leave your places and follow it. Then you may know the way to go, for you have not passed this way before. But stay about 1,000 long steps away from it. Do not come near it.”

Then Joshua said to the people, “Make yourselves holy. For tomorrow the Lord will do powerful works among you.” Joshua said to the religious leaders, “Take up the special box of the agreement and cross over in front of the people.” So they took up the special box of the agreement and went in front of the people.

The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to give you honor in the eyes of all Israel. Then they may know that I will be with you just as I have been with Moses. Tell the religious leaders who are carrying the special box of the agreement, ‘When you come to the water of the Jordan River, stand still in it.’” Then Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here. Listen to the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “You will know that the living God is among you because He will be sure to drive away from in front of you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite and the Jebusite. 11 See, the special box of the agreement of the Lord of All the earth is crossing over in front of you in the Jordan. 12 Now choose twelve men from the families of Israel, one man for each family. 13 The religious leaders who carry the special box of the agreement of the Lord of All the earth, will rest their feet in the water of the Jordan. Then the water of the Jordan will be cut off. The water flowing down from above will gather together in one place.”

14 So the people left their tents to cross the Jordan. The religious leaders carried the special box of the agreement in front of the people. 15 They carried it to the Jordan and put their feet in the water. (For the Jordan water floods during the time of gathering grain.) 16 Then the water flowing down from above stood and rose up in one place far away at Adam, the city beside Zarethan. The water flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, was all cut off. So the people crossed beside Jericho. 17 The religious leaders who carried the special box of the agreement of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. And all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had crossed the Jordan.

When all the nation had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from the people, one man from each family. Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan. Take them from the place where the religious leaders’ feet are standing. Carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you stay tonight.’” So Joshua called the twelve men he had chosen from the sons of Israel, one man from each family. And Joshua said to them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan in front of the special box of the agreement of the Lord your God. Each of you take a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the twelve family groups of Israel. Let this be something special among you. Your children will ask you later, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you will tell them that the water of the Jordan was cut off before the special box of the agreement of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the water of the Jordan was cut off. So these stones will become something to remember to the people of Israel forever.”

The sons of Israel did as Joshua told them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the Lord told Joshua. There was one stone for each family group of the sons of Israel. They carried them over with them to the place where they stayed, and put them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones at the place where the feet of the religious leaders who carried the special box of the agreement were standing in the middle of the Jordan. They are there to this day. 10 The religious leaders who carried the special box of the agreement stood in the middle of the Jordan. They stood there until everything was finished that the Lord told Joshua to tell the people, all that Moses had told Joshua.

The people crossed in a hurry. 11 When all the people were over, they watched the religious leaders carry the special box of the agreement to the other side. 12 The sons of Reuben and Gad and the half-family group of Manasseh crossed over ready for battle before the people of Israel, just as Moses had told them. 13 About 40,000 soldiers ready for battle crossed before the Lord to the desert plains of Jericho. 14 On that day the Lord gave Joshua honor in the eyes of all Israel. So they honored him as a great man just as they had honored Moses all the days of his life.

15 The Lord said to Joshua, 16 “Tell the religious leaders who carry the special box of the agreement to come up from the Jordan.” 17 So Joshua told the religious leaders to come up from the Jordan. 18 The religious leaders who carried the special box of the agreement of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan. When their feet stepped on dry ground, the water of the Jordan returned to its place. It flowed over its sides as before.

19 The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. Then they stayed at Gilgal on the east side of Jericho. 20 Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan. 21 He said to the people of Israel, “Your children will ask their fathers some time in the future, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 Then let your children know that Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground. 23 For the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you until you had crossed. It was just as the Lord your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed. 24 Now all the people of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is powerful, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”