Joshua 4

¹And whanne thei weren passid ouer, the Lord seide to Josue,

²Chese thou twelue men,

³by ech lynage o man, and comaunde thou to hem, that thei take fro the myddis of the trow of Jordan, where the `feet of preestis stoden, twelue hardiste stoonys; whiche thou schalt sette in the place of castels, where ye schulen sette tentis in this nyyt.

⁴And Josue clepide twelue men, whiche he hadde chose of the sones of Israel, of ech lynage o man;

⁵and he seide to hem, Go ye bifore the arke of youre Lord God to the myddis of Jordan, and bere ye fro thennus in youre schuldris ech man o stoon, bi the noumbre of the sones of Israel,

⁶that it be a signe bitwixe you. And whanne youre sones schulen axe you to morewe, that is, in tyme `to comynge, and schulen seie, What wolen these stonus `to hem silf?

⁷ye schulen answere to hem, The watris of Jordan failiden bifor the arke of boond of pees of the Lord, whanne the arke passide Jordan; therfor these stoonus ben set in to mynde of the sones of Israel, til in to withouten ende.

⁸Therfor the sones of Israel diden as Josue comaundide to hem, and baren fro the myddis of the trow of Jordan twelue stoonys, as the Lord comaundide to hem, bi the noumbre of the sones of Israel, `til to the place in which thei settiden tentis; and there thei puttiden tho stonys.

⁹Also Josue puttide othire twelue stoonys in the myddis of the trow of Jordan, where the preestis stoden, that baren the arke of boond of pees of the Lord; and tho stoonys ben there `til in to present dai.

¹⁰Forsothe the preestis, that baren the arke, stoden in the myddis of Jordan, til alle thingis weren fillid, whiche the Lord comaundide, that Josue schulde speke to the puple, as Moises hadde seide to hym. And the puple hastide, and passide.

¹¹And whanne alle men hadden passid, also the arke of the Lord passide, and the preestis yeden bifor the puple.

¹²Also the sones of Ruben, and of Gad, and half the lynage of Manasse, yeden armed bifor the sones of Israel, as Moyses comaundide to hem.

¹³And fourti thousynde of fiyters yeden bi her cumpanyes and gaderyngis on the pleyn and feeldi places of the citee of Jerico.

¹⁴In that day the Lord magnyfiede Josue bifor al Israel, that thei schulden drede hym, as thei dreden Moises, while he lyuede yit.

¹⁵And the Lord seide to Josue,

¹⁶Comaunde thou to the preestis that beren the arke of boond of pees, that thei stie fro Jordan.

¹⁷And Josue comaundide to hem, and seide, Stie ye fro Jordan.

¹⁸And whanne thei hadden stied, berynge the arke of boond of pees of the Lord, and hadde bigunne to trede on the drie erthe, the watris turneden ayen in to her trowe, and flowiden, as tho weren wont before.

¹⁹Forsothe the puple stiede fro Jordan in the tenthe dai of the firste monethe, and thei settiden tentis in Galgalis, ayens the eest coost of the citee of Jerico.

²⁰Also Josue puttide in Galgalis the twelue stonys, whiche thei hadden take fro the trow of Jordan.

²¹And he seide to the sones of Israel, Whanne youre sones schulen axe to morewe her fadris, and schulen seie to hem, What wolen these stoonys `to hem silf?

²²ye schulen teche hem, and ye schulen seie, We passiden this Jordan bi the drie botme,

²³for oure Lord God driede the watris therof in oure siyt, til we passiden,

²⁴as he dide bifore in the Reed See, which he driede while we passiden,

²⁵that alle the puplis of londis lurne the strongeste hond of the Lord, that also ye drede youre Lord God in al tyme.

Joshua 4

¹And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,

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

³And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.

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

⁵And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:

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

⁷Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

⁸And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.

⁹And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.

¹⁰For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.

¹¹And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.

¹²And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:

¹³About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the Lord unto 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.

¹⁵And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,

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

¹⁷Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.

¹⁸And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.

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

²⁰And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.

²¹And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?

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

²³For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:

²⁴That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.