Bible Verses About the Jordan River: 12

"Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground."

— Joshua 3:15-17 (NIV)

People who search bible verses about the jordan river want Scripture on the yarden crossing and the dry-ground entry into the land — not only the promised land gift / go-in-and-possess inventory alone, the land of milk and honey fertility formula alone, or the Red Sea parting inventory alone. This page is a numbered list of twelve passages with the NIV text and a short note on each. Related lists: Bible verses about promised land, Bible verses about faith, Bible verses about hope, Bible verses about covenant, Bible verses about providence, Bible verses about ark of the covenant, Bible verses about worship, Bible verses about living God, Bible verses about Jesus, Bible verses about Christ, Bible verses about the Red Sea, Bible verses about the wilderness, and Bible verse of the day. Jordan River here means the cut-off waters and the walk across on dry ground — distinct from land-gift speech and Red Sea parting alone.

Word study (lead theme). In Hebrew, יַרְדֵּן yarden (Strong's H3383; Bible Hub H3383) — Jordan (the descending river). In Joshua 3 the priests' feet touch the flood-stage edge, the water from upstream stops, and the nation crosses on dry ground while the ark stands in the middle. This list tracks that crossing / dry-bed inventory — not the promised-land gift twelve alone, and not the Red Sea parting twelve alone.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Joshua 3 presses the Lord's cutting off the Jordan so Israel might pass over (Bible Hub MHC Joshua 3; Blue Letter Bible, Matthew Henry on Joshua 3). (Promised-land gift, Red Sea parting, and wilderness-testing pages live elsewhere; this list centers the Jordan crossing.)

12 Bible verses about the jordan river

1. Joshua 3:15-17. "Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground." The classic Jordan crossing — flood stage cut off; dry ground. See Bible verses about ark of the covenant.

2. Joshua 3:13. "And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap." Waters cut off — stand up in a heap. See Bible verses about living God.

3. Joshua 3:8. "Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you reach the edge of the Jordan's waters, go and stand in the river.'" Stand in the river — at the edge of the Jordan. See Bible verses about faith.

4. Joshua 4:7. "tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." Memorial stones — waters of the Jordan cut off. See Bible verses about covenant.

5. Joshua 4:22-23. "tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over." Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground — as he did the Red Sea. See Bible verses about the Red Sea.

6. Psalm 114:3. "The sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back;" The Jordan turned back. See Bible verses about worship.

7. Psalm 114:5. "Why was it, sea, that you fled? Why, Jordan, did you turn back?" Why, Jordan, did you turn back? See Bible verses about hope.

8. 2 Kings 2:8. "Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground." Elijah strikes the Jordan — crossed on dry ground. See Bible verses about providence.

9. 2 Kings 2:14. "He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. 'Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?' he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over." Elisha strikes the Jordan — and crosses. See Bible verses about faith.

10. Matthew 3:13. "Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John." Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized. See Bible verses about Jesus.

11. Mark 1:9. "At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan." Baptized by John in the Jordan. See Bible verses about Christ.

12. Jeremiah 12:5. "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?" Thickets by the Jordan — the harder stretch. See Bible verses about hope.

How to use these verses

Pick one verse when you need the Jordan River — not twelve as a grind. If you need the classic dry-bed crossing, start at Joshua 3:15–17. If you need Elijah and Elisha dividing the waters, open 2 Kings 2:8 and 2:14. If you need Jesus at the Jordan for baptism, open Matthew 3:13. For the land-gift / go-in-and-possess speech, open Bible verses about promised land. For the Red Sea parting that closed Egypt, open Bible verses about the Red Sea. For a daily verse, open Bible verse of the day.

Questions people ask

What is a good Bible verse about the Jordan River?

Joshua 3:15–17 is the clear starting place; Joshua 4:7 and Matthew 3:13 press memorial stones and Jesus' baptism.

How do Bible verses about the Jordan River differ from promised land alone?

Promised-land pages gather the gift / go-in-and-possess speech. This list centers the yarden waters cut off so the nation could cross.

What Hebrew word sits under Jordan River?

Yarden (H3383) — Jordan; the descending river Israel crosses on dry ground.

Why isn't Deuteronomy 1:8 or Genesis 12:7 on this page?

Those exclusive land-gift leads stay on the promised-land hub so the lists stay distinct (this page owns the crossing inventory above).

How is the Jordan different from the Red Sea alone?

Red Sea pages gather the yam parting that closed Egypt. This list centers the river crossing that opened the land.