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Joshua 3:3-5
New Catholic Bible
Joshua 3:3-5
New Catholic Bible
3 giving orders to the people saying, “When you see the priests and Levites carrying the Ark of the Lord, your God, set out from where you are and follow after it. 4 Maintain a distance of about two thousand cubits[a] between it and yourselves; do not approach it too closely. Thus you will know the way you are to go, for you have never passed this way before.” 5 Joshua said to the priests, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will perform wondrous deeds in your midst.”[b]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Joshua 3:4 Cubits: a measure of length in Hebrew; a cubit was about 50 cm. Two thousand cubits or a thousand yards was the distance of a Sabbath walk, that is, of the walk permitted to Hebrews on the Sabbath; this limitation symbolized the respect due to the divine transcendence.
- Joshua 3:5 See Ex 19:10, 15. The consecration or purification consisted in washing one’s clothes and being sexually continent.
Joshua 3:3-5
New International Version
Joshua 3:3-5
New International Version
3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant(A) of the Lord your God, and the Levitical(B) priests(C) carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits[a](D) between you and the ark; do not go near it.”
5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves,(E) for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things(F) among you.”
Footnotes
- Joshua 3:4 That is, about 3,000 feet or about 900 meters
New International Version (NIV) 
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