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Joshua

Chapter 3

¹ And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and departed from Shittim; and they came as far as Jordan, and lodged there before they crossed over. ² And it came to pass after three days, [that] the scribes went through the camp; ³ and they charged the people, saying, When ye shall see the ark of the covenant of the Lord our God, and our priests and the Levites bearing it, ye shall depart from your places, and ye shall go after it. ⁴ But let there be a distance between you and it; ye shall stand as much as two thousand cubits [from it]. Do not draw nigh to it, that ye may know the way which ye are to go; for ye have not gone the way before.

ΚΑΙ ὤρθρισεν Ἰησοῦς τὸ πρωΐ, καὶ ἀπῇραν ἐκ Σαττὶν καὶ ἤλθοσαν ἕως τοῦ Ἰορδάνου καὶ κατέλυσαν ἐκεῖ πρὸ τοῦ διαβῆναι. καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας διῆλθον οἱ γραμματεῖς διὰ τῆς παρεμβολῆς καὶ ἐνετείλαντο τῷ λαῷ λέγοντες· ὅταν ἴδητε τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς ἡμῶν καὶ τοὺς Λευίτας αἴροντας αὐτήν, ἀπαρεῖτε ἀπὸ τὸν τόπον ὑμῶν καὶ πορεύσεσθε ὀπίσω αὐτῆς· ἀλλὰ μακρὰν ἔστω ἀνὰ μέσον ὑμῶν καὶ ἐκείνης, ὅσον δισχιλίους πήχεις στήσεσθε· μὴ προσεγγίσητε αὐτῇ, ἵνα ἐπίστησθε τὴν ὁδόν, ἣν πορεύσεσθε αὐτήν· οὐ γὰρ πεπόρευσθε τὴν ὁδὸν ἀπ' ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτης ἡμέρας.

Josh 3:1-4

⁵ And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. ⁶ And Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and go before the people: and the priests took up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and went before the people. ⁷ And the Lord said to Joshua, This day do I begin to exalt thee before all the children of Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so will I also be with thee. ⁸ And now charge the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, As soon as ye shall enter on a part of the water of Jordan, then ye shall stand in Jordan.

καὶ εἶπεν Ἰησοῦς τῷ λαῷ· ἁγνίσασθε εἰς αὔριον, ὅτι αὔριον ποιήσει Κύριος ἐν ὑμῖν θαυμαστά. καὶ εἶπεν Ἰησοῦς τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν· ἄρατε τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης Κυρίου καὶ προπορεύεσθε τοῦ λαοῦ. καὶ ᾖραν οἱ ἱερεῖς τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης Κυρίου καὶ ἐπορεύοντο ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ λαοῦ. καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Ἰησοῦν· ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ ἄρχομαι ὑψῶσαί σε κατενώπιον πάντων υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ, ἵνα γνῶσιν ὅτι καθότι ἤμην μετὰ Μωυσῆ, οὕτως ἔσομαι καὶ μετὰ σοῦ. καὶ νῦν ἔντειλαι τοῖς ἱερεῦσι τοῖς αἴρουσι τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης λέγων· ὡς ἂν εἰσέλθητε ἐπὶ μέρους τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἰορδάνῃ στήσεσθε.

Josh 3:5-8

⁹ And Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come hither, and hearken to the word of the Lord our God. ¹⁰ Hereby ye shall know that the living God [is] among you, and will utterly destroy from before our face the Canaanite, and the Hittite and Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite. ¹¹ Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over Jordan. ¹² Choose for yourselves twelve men of the sons of Israel, one of each tribe. ¹³ And it shall come to pass, when the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth rest in the water of Jordan, the water of Jordan [below] shall fail, and the water coming down from above shall stop.

καὶ εἶπεν Ἰησοῦς τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ· προσαγάγετε ὧδε καὶ ἀκούσατε τὸ ρῆμα Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν. ἐν τούτῳ γνώσεσθε ὅτι Θεὸς ζῶν ἐν ὑμῖν καὶ ὀλοθρεύων ὀλοθρεύσει ἀπὸ προσώπου ἡμῶν τὸν Χαναναῖον καὶ τὸν Χετταῖον καὶ τὸν Φερεζαῖον καὶ τὸν Εὐαῖον καὶ τὸν Ἀμορραῖον καὶ τὸν Γεργεσαῖον καὶ τὸν Ἰεβουσαῖον· ἰδοὺ ἡ κιβωτὸς διαθήκης Κυρίου πάσης τῆς γῆς διαβαίνει τὸν Ἰορδάνην. προχειρίσασθε ὑμῖν δώδεκα ἄνδρας ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ, ἕνα ἀφ' ἑκάστης φυλῆς. καὶ ἔσται ὡς ἂν καταπαύσωσιν οἱ πόδες τῶν ἱερέων τῶν αἰρόντων τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης Κυρίου πάσης τῆς γῆς ἐν τῷ ὕδατι τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου ἐκλείψει, τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ τὸ καταβαῖνον στήσεται.

Josh 3:9-13

¹⁴ And the people removed from their tents to cross over Jordan, and the priests bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord before the people. ¹⁵ And when the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered upon Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord were dipped in part of the water of Jordan (now Jordan overflowed all its banks about the time of wheat harvest): ¹⁶ then the waters that came down from above stopped; there stood one solid heap very far off, as far as the region of Kiriath-jearim, and the lower part came down to the Sea of Arabah, the salt sea, till it completely failed; and the people stood opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry land in the midst of Jordan; and all the children of Israel went through on dry land, until all the people had completely gone over Jordan.

καὶ ἀπῇρεν ὁ λαὸς ἐκ τῶν σκηνωμάτων αὐτῶν διαβῆναι τὸν Ἰορδάνην, οἱ δὲ ἱερεῖς ᾔροσαν τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης Κυρίου πρότεροι τοῦ λαοῦ. ὡς δὲ εἰσεπορεύοντο οἱ ἱερεῖς οἱ αἴροντες τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰορδάνην καὶ οἱ πόδες τῶν ἱερέων τῶν αἰρόντων τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης Κυρίου ἐβάφησαν εἰς μέρος τοῦ ὕδατος τοῦ Ἰορδάνου· ὁ δὲ Ἰορδάνης ἐπληροῦτο καθ' ὅλην τὴν κρηπίδα αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ ἡμέραι θερισμοῦ πυρῶν· καὶ ἔστη τὰ ὕδατα τὰ καταβαίνοντα ἄνωθεν, ἔστη πῆγμα ἓν ἀφεστηκὸς μακρὰν σφόδρα σφοδρῶς ἕως μέρους Καριαθιαρίμ, τὸ δὲ καταβαῖνον κατέβη εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν Ἄραβα, θάλασσαν ἁλός, ἕως εἰς τὸ τέλος ἐξέλιπε· καὶ ὁ λαὸς εἱστήκει ἀπέναντι Ἱεριχώ. καὶ ἔστησαν οἱ ἱερεῖς οἱ αἴροντες τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης Κυρίου ἐπὶ ξηρᾶς ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου· καὶ πάντες οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ διέβαινον διὰ ξηρᾶς, ἕως συνετέλεσε πᾶς ὁ λαὸς διαβαίνων τὸν Ἰορδάνην.

Josh 3:14-17

Greek: Septuagint, public domain via eBible.org (grclxx). The English remains the primary text; the Greek is offered for study.

The Fathers on this passage

How the fathers, councils, and saints of the corpus read Joshua: Chapter 3. Drawn by meaning from across the tradition; follow any link to read it in full context.