Crossing The River Jordan

After the death of Moses, Jehovah said to Joshua, Moses' helper, "Moses

my servant is dead: Now arise, go over the Jordan with all this people

to the land which I am about to give to the Israelites. As long as you

live no one will be able to stand against you. As I was with Moses, so I

shall be with you: I will not fail you nor forsake you. Be brave and

strong, for you shall give this people the land which I solemnly

p omised their fathers I would give them. Only be brave and strong to

keep faithfully all the law, as Moses my servant commanded you. Turn not

from it to the right nor to the left, and you shall have success

wherever you go. Have I not commanded you? Be brave and strong; fear not

nor be afraid, for Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go."



Then Joshua gave this order to the officers who were over the people:

"Go through all the camp and give this command: 'Prepare food for

yourselves, for within three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in

and take the land which Jehovah your God has given you as your own.'"



While Joshua was at Shittim, he secretly sent two men as spies, with the

command: "Go, explore the land and especially Jericho." So they went and

entered the house of a woman named Rahab, and stayed there.



It was reported to the king of Jericho, "Some men came here to-night

from the Israelites to explore the land." Therefore the king of Jericho

sent to Rahab and said, "Bring out the men who entered your house, for

they have come to explore all the land."



Now the woman had taken the two men and hidden them; so she said, "It is

true, some men came to me, but I did not know where they came from. When

the time came to shut the gate at night, the men went out and I do not

know where they have gone. Follow after them quickly, for you may

overtake them." She, however, had brought them up to the roof and hidden

them with the stalks of flax which she had spread out there. So the men

of Jericho followed after them in the direction of the fords of the

Jordan; and as soon as the men of Jericho had gone out, the gate was

closed.



The spies had hardly lain down when Rahab came up to them on the roof

and said, "I know that Jehovah has given you the land and that fear of

you has seized us and that because of you all who live in the land are

losing heart. Now therefore swear to me by Jehovah, since I have treated

you with kindness, that you will also treat my family kindly, and

promise me that you will save the lives of my father, my mother, my

brothers, and my sisters, together with all that they have, and will not

put us to death." The men said to her, "We are ready to give our lives

for you, if you do not tell what we are doing; and when Jehovah gives us

the land, we will treat you kindly and faithfully."



Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house in

which she lived was built into the city wall. She said to them, "Go

into the hills, that the men who are looking for you may not find you,

and hide yourselves there three days until they have returned. Then you

may go on your way."



The men said to her, "We shall be free from our solemn promise to you,

unless, when we come into the land, you bind this cord of scarlet thread

in the window through which you let us down and gather your father, your

mother, your brothers, and all your family into your house. If any one

goes out of the doors of your house into the street, he shall be

responsible for his death and we shall be innocent. If any one stays

with you in the house, we will be responsible for his death if any one

lays hands on him. But if you tell what we are doing, we shall be free

from our solemn promise to you." She replied, "It shall be as you say."

So she sent them away. And when they were gone, she bound the scarlet

cord in the window.



So they left and went into the hills and stayed there three days until

those who were looking for them had returned. They sought for them in

every direction but did not find them. Then the two men came down from

the hills, crossed the river, and came to Joshua and told him all that

had happened to them.



Joshua rose up early in the morning and set out from Shittim. And he and

all the Israelites came to the Jordan and spent the night there before

crossing. And Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for

to-morrow Jehovah will do wonders among you. Come and hear the words of

Jehovah your God. By this you shall know that a living God is with you:

the ark of the Lord of all the earth is about to pass over before you

into the Jordan. When the priests who bear the ark of the Lord of all

the earth step into the waters of the Jordan, its waters shall be cut

off, so that the waters that come down from above will stand still in a

heap."



So when the people left their tents to pass over the Jordan, the

priests, who were carrying the ark were in front of them. And when the

bearers of the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who

were carrying the ark dipped in the brink of the water--for the Jordan

overflows all its banks during the harvest time--the waters that came

down from above stood still and its waters rose in a heap a long

distance up the river at Adam, the city that is near Zarethan. The

waters that went down toward the Dead Sea were wholly cut off, while the

people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who were carrying the

ark of Jehovah stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan,

while all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until the whole

nation had completed the crossing of the Jordan.



When they had all crossed, Jehovah said to Joshua, "Command them to take

from the middle of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet

stood, twelve stones and carry them over with you and lay them down in

the camping-place, where you pass the night, that this may be a reminder

to them. Then when your children ask from time to time: 'What do these

stones mean to you?' you shall say to them, 'They are reminders that the

waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of Jehovah, when it

passed over the Jordan.' These stones shall be a constant reminder to

the Israelites."



So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded and took up out of the middle

of the Jordan twelve stones corresponding to the number of the tribes of

the Israelites. They carried them over with them to the place where they

camped and laid them down there.



Then the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and the river

overflowed all its banks as before.