So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.
Parallel translations
- 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,
- 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;
- NKJV So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,
- NASB So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,
- NLT So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them.
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
The people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark going ahead. Israel moves forward in obedient faith.
Overview
The narrative shifts from instruction to action as the nation advances behind the ark. The people's willingness to march toward a flooded river shows trust in God's promise through Joshua. Their forward movement, led by the symbol of God's presence, embodies the obedience of faith that characterizes God's people following their Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Acts 7:44–45Our 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.
- Ps 132:8Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.
- Josh 3:3and 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.
- 1 Cor 1:24–25but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
- Josh 6:6So 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.”
- Heb 9:4containing 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.
- Josh 3:6And he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.
- Jer 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.
- Deut 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.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:14 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.