Bible Strands
Joshua 3:5
Then Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Joshua addresses the assembled people of Israel the night before they cross the Jordan, with the ark already positioned ahead of them (v. 4).
The words — הִתְקַדְּשׁוּ (hitqaddeshu), hithpael imperative of qadash: "consecrate yourselves" — the reflexive form makes the people the agents of their own separation.
The thread — Joshua 7:13 repeats the near-identical formula "consecrate yourselves for tomorrow" before the LORD acts among the people; Leviticus 20:7 grounds the command in the standing call to holiness because of God's character.
Why it lands — The verse places a human obligation before divine action: the people must separate themselves before the miracle happens, and the text gives no further instruction on what that separation entails.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 20:7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
- Joshua 7:13 Get up and consecrate the people, saying, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Among you, O Israel, there are things devoted to destruction. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.
- 1 Samuel 16:5 “In peace,” he replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
- Joel 2:16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged, gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
- John 17:19 For them I sanctify Myself, so that they too may be sanctified by the truth.
- Exodus 19:10 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes
- Leviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.
- Psalms 86:10 For You are great and perform wonders; You alone are God.
- Job 1:5 And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
- Joshua 3:13 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.”