Joshua 3:14
12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.
13 When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will stand up in a heap.”
So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.
15 Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,
16 the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea ) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.
- KJV
- And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;
- WEB
- When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people,
- ASV
- And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, the priests that bare the ark of the covenant being before the people;
- DARBY
- And it came to pass when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, that the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were before the people;
- BLB
- And it came to pass, in the journeying of the people from their camp to pass over the Jordan, and of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,
- ÅB
- Da nå folket brøt opp fra sine telt for å gå over Jordan, og prestene bar paktens ark foran folket,
- OTB
- Da folket brøt opp fra sine telt for å krysse Jordan, med prestene som bar paktsarken foran dem,
- B1930
- Da nu folket brøt op fra sine telt for å gå over Jordan, og prestene bar paktens ark foran folket,
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Acts 7:44–45
Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
Read in contextPsalms 132:8
Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.
Read in contextJoshua 3:3
and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it.
Read in contextHebrews 9:4
containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
Read in context1 Corinthians 1:24–25
but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 31:26
“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.
Read in contextJoshua 6:6
So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said, “Take up the ark of the covenant and have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the LORD.”
Read in contextJeremiah 3:16
“In those days, when you multiply and increase in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer discuss the ark of the covenant of the LORD. It will never come to mind, and no one will remember it or miss it, nor will another one be made.
Read in context