Joshua 4

1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,

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

2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,

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

3 and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’”

And 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.

4 So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,

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

5 and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel,

And 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:

6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

So 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?

7 you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”

Then 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.

8 Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down.

So 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.

9 Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.

And 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.

10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until the people had completed everything the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell them, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried across,

For 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.

11 and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the LORD crossed in the sight of the people.

And 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.

12 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over before the Israelites, armed for battle as Moses had instructed them.

And 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:

13 About 40,000 troops armed for battle crossed over before the LORD into the plains of Jericho.

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

14 On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.

That 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.

15 Then the LORD said to Joshua,

Then the Lord said to Joshua,

16 “Command the priests who carry the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.”

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

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.”

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

18 When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the Jordan and their feet touched the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their course and overflowed all the banks as before.

And 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.

19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.

So 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.

20 And there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.

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

21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’

And 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?

22 you are to tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’

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

23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over.

For 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:

24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and so that you may always fear the LORD your God.”

So 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.