¹⁶ “Command the priests who bear ^(A)the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁹ Then ^(A)the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of ^[a]His covenant was seen in His temple. And ^(B)there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, ^(C)and great hail.

³ and they commanded the people, saying, ^(A)“When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, ^(B)and the priests, the Levites, ^[a]bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. ^4 (C)Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”

⁵ And Joshua said to the people, ^(D)“Sanctify^[b] yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” ⁶ Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, ^(E)“Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.”

So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

¹⁶ And you shall put into the ark ^(A)the Testimony which I will give you.

^17 (B)“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. ¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. ²⁰ And ^(C)the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. ^21 (D)You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and ^(E)in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. ²² And ^(F)there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from ^(G)between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.