Quotes About Obedience

Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.

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.

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 waterís edge,

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.

The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed over the dry ground, until the entire nation had crossed the Jordan.

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,

So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,

and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel,

Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down.

Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until the people had completed everything the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell them, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried across,

and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the LORD crossed in the sight of the people.

The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over before the Israelites, armed for battle as Moses had instructed them.

About 40,000 troops armed for battle crossed over before the LORD into the plains of Jericho.

Then the LORD said to Joshua,

“Command the priests who carry the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.”

So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.”

When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the Jordan and their feet touched the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their course and overflowed all the banks as before.

At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel once again.”

So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.

Now this is why Joshua circumcised them: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of war—had died on the journey in the wilderness after they had left Egypt.

Though all who had come out were circumcised, none of those born in the wilderness on the journey from Egypt had been circumcised.

For the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness forty years, until all the nationís men of war who had come out of Egypt had died, since they did not obey the LORD. So the LORD vowed never to let them see the land He had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

And Joshua raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones he circumcised. Until this time they were still uncircumcised, since they had not been circumcised along the way.