Joshua 4

1 And when the people had completely passed over Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

After all the people of the Israeli nation had finished crossing the Jordan [River], Yahweh said to Joshua,

2 Take men from the people, one of each tribe,

“When you choose the twelve men, one from each tribe, whom I mentioned previously, tell them to pick up [large] stones from the middle of the Jordan riverbed, where the priests are [still] standing.

3 and charge them; and ye shall take out of the midst of Jordan twelve fit stones, and having carried them across together with yourselves, place them in your camp, where ye shall encamp for the night.

Tell them to carry the stones with you and put them down at the place where you will stay tonight.”

4 And Joshua having called twelve men of distinction among the children of Israel, one of each tribe,

So Joshua chose twelve men, one from each tribe. He called them together, and said to them,

5 said to them, Advance before me in the presence of the Lord into the midst of Jordan, and each having taken up a stone from thence, let him carry it on his shoulders, according to the number of the twelve tribes of Israel:

“Go into the middle of the Jordan riverbed, to [where the priests are standing, holding] the chest that Yahweh, your God, gave you. Each of you must pick up a [large] stone, one for each tribe, [and carry it] on your shoulder [to our camp].

6 that these may be to you continually for an appointed sign, that when thy son asks thee in future, saying, What are these stones to us?

[Then pile them up] to be a memorial for you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’,

7 then thou mayest explain to thy son, saying, The river Jordan was dried up from before the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth, when it passed it: and these stones shall be for a memorial for you for the children of Israel for ever.

tell them that the water in the Jordan River was blocked off when the priests were carrying the chest [that contained] the Ten Commandments that Yahweh [gave us]. When the chest was carried into the Jordan [River], the water was blocked off [so that we could cross the riverbed]. These stones will be a memorial for the descendants of us Israeli people forever.”

8 And the children of Israel did so, as the Lord commanded Joshua; and they took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, (as the Lord commanded Joshua, when the children of Israel had completely passed over, ) and carried these stones with them into the camp, and laid them down there.

So those Israeli men did what Joshua told them to do. They went and picked up twelve [large] stones from the middle of the Jordan [riverbed], one stone for each of the tribes, just as Yahweh had told Joshua. They carried the stones to their camp and put them down.

9 And Joshua set also other twelve stones in Jordan itself, in the place that was under the feet of the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord; and there they are to this day.

Then Joshua set up twelve [other large] stones [in a pile], in the middle of the Jordan [riverbed], where the priests who carried the chest containing the Ten Commandments were standing. And those stones are still there.

10 And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant stood in Jordan, until Joshua [had] finished all that the Lord commanded him to report to the people; and the people hasted and passed over.

The priests who carried the chest remained standing in the middle of the Jordan [riverbed] until the people had finished doing everything that Yahweh had commanded Joshua to tell them to do. Those were the same instructions that Moses had given to Joshua. The Israeli people crossed [the riverbed] quickly.

11 And it came to pass when all the people had passed over, that the ark of the covenant of the Lord passed over, and the stones before them.

As soon as all of them had crossed, as the people watched, the priests carried the chest [the rest of the way across the river].

12 And the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses commanded them.

The soldiers of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and of half of the soldiers of the tribe of Manasseh, crossed over ahead of the rest of the Israeli people, carrying their weapons, as Moses had commanded.

13 Forty thousand armed for battle went over before the Lord to war, to the city of Jericho.

As Yahweh was watching, there were about 40,000 of those soldiers, carrying weapons ready for battle, who crossed the riverbed to the plains near Jericho, [ready] to fight.

14 In that day the Lord magnified Joshua before all the people of Israel; and they feared him, as [they did] Moses, as long as he lived.

On that day, all the people of Israel saw that Yahweh had caused Joshua to be a great leader. And they honored Joshua for the rest of his life, just as they had honored Moses.

15 And the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

Yahweh said to Joshua,

16 Charge the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the testimony of the Lord, to go up out of Jordan.

“[Now] tell the priests who are carrying the chest containing the Ten Commandments to come up from the Jordan [riverbed].”

17 And Joshua charged the priests, saying, Go up out of Jordan.

So Joshua commanded the priests to do that.

18 And it came to pass when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord were gone up out of Jordan, and set their feet upon the land, [that] the water of Jordan returned impetuously to its place, and went as before over all its banks.

Then the priests, carrying the chest containing the Ten Commandments that Yahweh [had given to Moses], came up out of the riverbed. And as soon as they walked up out of the riverbed onto the riverbank, the water of the Jordan [River] flowed again, and flooded [over the river banks] as it had done before.

19 And the people went up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month; and the children of Israel encamped in Galgala in the region eastward from Jericho.

It was on the tenth day of the first month [of that year] that the people crossed over the Jordan [River] and camped at [a place called] Gilgal, on the east side of [the land near] Jericho [city].

20 And Joshua set these twelve stones which he took out of Jordan, in Galgala,

The men [who were carrying] the twelve [large] stones from the Jordan [riverbed brought them to] Joshua, [and he] set them up at Gilgal

21 saying, When your sons ask you, saying, What are these stones?

Joshua said to the Israeli people, “In the future, when your children and grandchildren ask, ‘(What do these stones [mean/Why are these stones here)]?’,

22 Tell your sons, that Israel went over this Jordan on dry land,

tell them, ‘We Israeli people crossed the Jordan [River as though we were crossing] on dry ground.

23 when the Lord our God had dried up the water of Jordan from before them, until they had passed over; as the Lord our God did to the Red Sea, which the Lord our God dried up from before us, until we passed over.

As we were watching, Yahweh, your God, dried up the river until we had all crossed over. Yahweh, the God whom we worship, did to the Jordan [River] just like he did to the Red Sea, when he caused it to become dry as [our parents] were watching, until they all crossed over it.

24 That all the nations of the earth might know, that the power of the Lord is mighty, and that ye might worship the Lord our God in every work.

Yahweh did that in order that all the people-groups of the earth may know that he [MTY] is very powerful, and in order that you may always (be in awe of/revere) Yahweh, your God.’”