³³ who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day,^(A) to search^(B) out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

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.”

⁶ Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them.

⁶ On that day I swore^(A) to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey,^(B) the most beautiful of all lands.^(C)