Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan.
- KJV Behold, the ark of the covenant of the LORD of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.
- BSB Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you into the Jordan.
- NASB Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.
- NLT Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Joshua announces that the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will cross over before them into the Jordan. God, sovereign over all, leads the way.
Overview
The title 'Lord of all the earth' asserts Yahweh's universal sovereignty, not merely over Israel but over all nations and creation. As such, He has full right to give Canaan to His people and to lead them across the Jordan. The ark going first proclaims that the conquest is God's work, accomplished under His authority over the whole world.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Zech 6:5The angel answered me, “These are the four winds of the sky, which go out from standing before the Lord of all the earth.
- Zech 4:14Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
- Ps 24:1A Psalm by David. The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein.
- Mic 4:13Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs brass; and you will beat in pieces many peoples: and I will devote their gain to Yahweh, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.
- Josh 3:13It shall be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in one heap.”
- Isa 54:5For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the whole earth.
- Josh 3:3–6and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of Yahweh your God’s covenant, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then leave your place, and follow it.
- Zech 14:9Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be one, and his name one.
- Job 41:11Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine.
- Isa 3:12As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people, those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.
- Jer 10:7Who should not fear you, King of the nations? For it belongs to you. Because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is no one like you.
- Zeph 2:11Yahweh will be awesome to them, for he will famish all the gods of the land. Men will worship him, everyone from his place, even all the shores of the nations.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 3:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.