The Jordan Crossing

The words

1. Brink

   Joshua is to command the ark-bearing priests to stand still in the Jordan when they reach the water’s brink.

   Joshua 3:7–8 (opens a new tab)

2. Cut Off

   Joshua says waters flowing toward the sea of the plain, the Salt Sea, fail and are cut off as Israel crosses.

   Joshua 3:16 (opens a new tab)

3. Dry Ground

   Joshua describes all Israel crossing on dry ground while the priests remain in the riverbed, holding the ark of the covenant.

   Joshua 3:17 (opens a new tab)

4. Encamp

   After crossing, Israel encamps at Gilgal on the tenth day of the first month, on Jericho’s eastern border.

   Joshua 4:19 (opens a new tab)

5. Feet

   Joshua says the priests’ feet dip into the water before the waters above stand in a heap and the people cross.

   Did you know?

   The narrative also marks the priests’ exit by their feet: once their soles touch dry land, the Jordan returns to its course.

   Joshua 3:15–16 (opens a new tab) · Joshua 4:18 (opens a new tab)

6. Firm

   The ark-bearing priests remain “firm on dry ground” in the river until the people have completed the crossing.

   Joshua 3:17 (opens a new tab)

7. Gilgal

   Joshua sets up the twelve stones brought from the Jordan at Gilgal, the camp named on Jericho’s eastern border.

   Joshua 4:19–20 (opens a new tab)

8. Heap

   Joshua describes the waters coming down from above as standing and rising in a heap, while Israel crosses opposite Jericho.

   Joshua 3:16 (opens a new tab)

9. Jordan

   Israel crosses the Jordan on dry ground while priests carrying the ark remain in the river’s midst until everyone has passed.

   Did you know?

   Psalm 114 addresses both the sea and the Jordan, asking the sea why it fled and the river why it was driven back.

   Joshua 3:17 (opens a new tab) · Psalm 114:3–5 (opens a new tab)

10. Lodging

    The twelve stones are to be carried from the Jordan to the lodging place where Israel will camp that night.

    Joshua 4:3 (opens a new tab)

11. Memorial

    The stones are a memorial for Israel’s descendants, prompting children to ask their fathers what the stones mean.

    Joshua 4:6–7 (opens a new tab)

12. Overfloweth

    Joshua notes that the Jordan overflows all its banks during harvest, placing the crossing in a season of high water.

    Joshua 3:15 (opens a new tab)

13. Sanctify

    Joshua tells the people to “sanctify yourselves” before the crossing, saying the LORD will do wonders among them the following day.

    Joshua 3:5 (opens a new tab)

14. Twelve

    Joshua selects twelve men, one from each tribe, to carry twelve stones from the priests’ standing place in the Jordan to the camp.

    Did you know?

    Alongside the stones carried to Gilgal, Joshua 4:9 describes twelve stones set up where the priests stood in the Jordan.

    Joshua 4:2–5; Joshua 4:8–9 (opens a new tab) · Joshua 4:20 (opens a new tab)

15. Zaretan

    Zarethan in the NET Bible.

    Joshua names Zaretan as a place beside Adam while describing the stopped waters; the people cross opposite Jericho.

    Joshua 3:16 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Joshua 3:16 (opens a new tab)