Joshua 4

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

Once the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord told Joshua,

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

“Choose twelve men from the people, one per tribe,

3 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.

and tell them, ‘Pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing. Then carry them and set them down at the place where you will camp tonight.’”

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

So Joshua sent for the twelve men he had chosen, one from each tribe,

5 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;

and told them, “Go back into the middle of the Jordan, right in front of the Ark of the Agreement of the Lord your God, and each of you pick up a stone and carry it on your shoulder, one for each of the tribes of Israel.

6 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?

This will be a memorial among you so when your children one day ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’

7 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.

you can tell them, ‘It's about the time the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord's Agreement went across. When it crossed over the water stopped. These stones are a memorial to the people of Israel forever.’”

8 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.

The people of Israel did as Joshua told them. The men picked up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan as the Lord had instructed Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped overnight and placed the stones there, one for each of the tribes of Israel.

9 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.

Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan right where the priests carrying the Ark of the Agreement had stood, and they are still there to this very day.

10 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.

The priests carrying the Ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was done just as the Lord had told the people to do, all that Moses had told Joshua to do. The people crossed over quickly.

11 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.

Once all the people had crossed over, they watched as the Ark of the Lord was carried across by the priests.

12 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:

The armed men from the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh crossed at the head of the people of Israel, as Moses had stipulated.

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

They numbered about 40,000 men, armed and ready for battle, crossed in the presence of the Lord to the plains of Jericho.

14 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.

On that day the Lord confirmed Joshua as great leader in the sight of all the Israelites, and they were in awe of him just as they had been in awe of Moses.

15 And the Lord said unto Joshua, as followeth,

The Lord had told Joshua,

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

“Order the priests carrying the Ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan.”

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

So Joshua told the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

18 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.

The priests came up out of the Jordan carrying the Ark of the Agreement, and as soon as their feet touched dry ground the waters of the Jordan returned to where they had been, overflowing its banks as before.

19 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.

The people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal, to the east of Jericho, on the tenth day of the first month.

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

Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones that had been taken from the Jordan.

21 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?

He told the Israelites, “When some day your children ask you their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’

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

you can explain to them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’

23 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;

For the Lord your God made the Jordan River dry up right in front of you so you all could cross, just as the Lord your God did at the Red Sea which he dried up so we could all cross.

24 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.

He did this so everyone on earth would know how powerful the Lord is, and so that you might be in awe of the Lord your God forever.”