Joshua 4

¹Now when all the nation had come to the other side of Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,

²Take twelve men from the people, a man for every tribe,

³And say to them, Take up from the middle of Jordan, from the place where the feet of the priests were resting, twelve stones, and take them over with you and put them down in the place where you take your rest tonight.

⁴So Joshua sent for the twelve men, whom he had ready, one man out of every tribe of the children of Israel,

⁵And he said to them, Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of Jordan, and let every one of you take up a stone on his back, one for every tribe of the children of Israel:

⁶So that this may be a sign among you; when your children say to you in time to come, What is the reason for these stones?

⁷Then you will say to them, Because the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the Lord's agreement; when it went over Jordan the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones will be a sign for the children of Israel, keeping it in their memory for ever.

⁸So the children of Israel did as Joshua gave them orders, and took twelve stones from the middle of Jordan, as the Lord had said to Joshua, one for every tribe of the children of Israel; these they took across with them to their night's resting-place and put them down there.

⁹And Joshua put up twelve stones in the middle of Jordan, where the feet of the priests who took up the ark of the agreement had been placed: and there they are to this day.

¹⁰For the priests who took up the ark kept there in the middle of Jordan till all the orders given to Joshua by Moses from the Lord had been done: then the people went over quickly.

¹¹And when all the people had come to the other side, the ark of the Lord went over, and the priests, before the eyes of the people.

¹²And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh went over armed before the children of Israel as Moses had said to them:

¹³About forty thousand armed for war went over before the Lord to the fight, to the lowlands of Jericho.

¹⁴That day the Lord made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel; and all the days of his life they went in fear of him, as they had gone in fear of Moses.

¹⁵Then the Lord said to Joshua,

¹⁶Give orders to the priests who take up the ark of witness, to come up out of Jordan.

¹⁷So Joshua gave orders to the priests, saying, Come up now out of Jordan.

¹⁸And when the priests who took up the ark of the Lord's agreement came up out of Jordan and their feet came out on to dry land, the waters of Jordan went back to their place, overflowing its edges as before.

¹⁹So on the tenth day of the first month the people came up out of Jordan, and put up their tents in Gilgal, on the east side of Jericho.

²⁰And the twelve stones which they took out of Jordan, Joshua put up in Gilgal.

²¹And he said to the children of Israel, When your children say to their fathers in time to come, What is the reason for these stones?

²²Then give your children the story, and say, Israel came over this river Jordan on dry land.

²³For the Lord your God made the waters of Jordan dry before you till you had gone across, as he did to the Red Sea, drying it up before us till we had gone across:

²⁴So that all the peoples of the earth may see that the hand of the Lord is strong; and that they may go in fear of the Lord your God for ever.

Joshua 4

¹It happened, when all the nation had completely passed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

²"Take twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

³and command them, saying, 'Take from out of the middle of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging place, where you will lodge tonight.'"

⁴Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

⁵Joshua said to them, "Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you pick up a stone and put it on your shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel;

⁶that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do you mean by these stones?'

⁷then you shall tell them, 'Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.'"

⁸The children of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, as the Lord spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.

⁹Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

¹⁰For the priests who bore the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan, until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua; and the people hurried and passed over.

¹¹It happened, when all the people had completely passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over, with the priests, in the presence of the people.

¹²The children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spoke to them.

¹³About forty thousand men, ready and armed for war passed over before the Lord to battle, to the plains of Jericho.

¹⁴On that day, the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

¹⁶"Command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Jordan."

¹⁷Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, "Come up out of the Jordan!"

¹⁸It happened, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before.

¹⁹The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho.

²⁰Joshua set up those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, in Gilgal.

²¹He spoke to the children of Israel, saying, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean?'

²²Then you shall let your children know, saying, 'Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.

²³For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until you had passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we had passed over;

²⁴that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty; that you may fear the Lord your God forever.'"