Joshua 4

1 And when they had crossed over, the Lord said to Joshua:

And it came to pass, when all the people had finished passing over the Jordan, That the Lord said unto Joshua, as followeth,

2 “Choose twelve men, one from each tribe,

Take yourselves twelve men out of the people, one man each out of every tribe,

3 and instruct them so that they may take from the midst of the channel of the Jordan, where the feet of the priests stood still, twelve very hard stones, which you shall station in the place of the camp, where you will pitch your tents this night.”

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

4 And Joshua called twelve men, whom he had chosen from the sons of Israel, one from each tribe,

Then did Joshua call the twelve men, whom he had appointed out of the children of Israel, one man each out of every tribe:

5 and he said to them: “Go before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and let each one carry from there one stone on your shoulders, according to the number of the sons of Israel,

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

6 so that it may be a sign among you. And when your sons will ask you, tomorrow, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

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

7 you shall respond to them: ‘The waters of the Jordan failed before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, when the ark crossed over it. For this reason, these stones were placed as a monument for the sons of Israel, even forever.’”

That ye shall answer them, That 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; and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

8 Therefore, the sons of Israel did as Joshua instructed them, carrying twelve stones from the midst of the channel of the Jordan, just as the Lord had ordered him, according to the number of the sons of Israel, as far as the place where they made camp, and there they stationed them.

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

9 Similarly, Joshua positioned another twelve stones in the middle of the channel of the Jordan, where the priests stood who were carrying the ark of the covenant; and they are there, even to the present day.

Twelve stones also did Joshua set up in the midst of the Jordan, on the spot where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant had stood: and they have remained there unto this day.

10 Now the priests who were carrying the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was accomplished which the Lord had instructed Joshua to speak to the people and which Moses had said to him. And the people hurried, and they passed over.

But the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until every thing was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hastened and passed over.

11 And when they had all crossed, the ark of the Lord also crossed, and the priests advanced before the people.

And it came to pass, when all the people had finished passing over, that the ark of the Lord passed over with the priests in the presence of the people.

12 Likewise, the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the one half tribe of Manasseh advanced with weapons before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had instructed them.

And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Menasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken unto them:

13 And forty thousand fighters, by companies and divisions, advanced through the plains and fields of the city of Jericho.

About forty thousand ready armed for war, did they pass over before the Lord unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

14 In that day, the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, so that they would fear him, just as they had feared Moses while he lived.

On that day the Lord made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

15 And he said to him,

And the Lord said unto Joshua, as followeth,

16 “Command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant to ascend from the Jordan.”

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

17 And he commanded them, saying, “Ascend from the Jordan.”

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

18 And when those who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord had ascended, and they began to step on dry soil, the waters returned to their channel, and they flowed as they usually did before.

And it came to pass, when the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of the Jordan, the soles of the feet of the priests were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all its banks, as on the preceding days.

19 Now the people ascended from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal, opposite the eastern portion of the city of Jericho.

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

20 Likewise, the twelve stones that they had taken up from the channel of the Jordan, Joshua stationed at Gilgal.

And those twelve stones, which they had taken out of the Jordan, did Joshua set up in Gilgal.

21 And he said to the sons of Israel: “When your sons will question their fathers, tomorrow, and they will say to them, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

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

22 you shall teach them, and you shall say: ‘Israel passed over this Jordan, through the dry channel.’

Then shall ye let your children know, saying, On dry land did Israel pass over this Jordan;

23 For the Lord your God dried up its waters in your sight, until you crossed over, just as he had done before, at the Red Sea, which he dried up until we crossed over.

That the Lord your God dried up the waters of the 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;

24 So may all the peoples of the earth learn of the very powerful hand of the Lord. So may you also fear the Lord your God for all time.”

In order that all the nations of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty; in order that ye may fear the Lord your God all the days.