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,

When all the people crossed over the Jordan, Yahweh said to Joshua,

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

“Choose twelve men for yourselves from among the people, one man from each 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.

Give them this command: 'Take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests are standing on the dry ground, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you will spend the night 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:

Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had chosen from the tribes of Israel, 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;

Joshua said to them, “Go over before the ark of Yahweh your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people 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 sign in your midst for you when your children ask in days to come, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

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.

Then you will say to them, 'The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones will be 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 just as Joshua commanded, and they picked up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, as Yahweh said to Joshua. They set the stones up according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel. They carried the stones with them, over to the place where they camped and they set them down there.

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.

Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan River, in the place where the feet of the priests that carried the ark of the covenant stood. The memorial is there to this 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 that carried the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything that Yahweh commanded Joshua to tell the people was completed, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried and they crossed over.

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.

When all the people had finished crossing over, the ark of Yahweh and the priests crossed over before the people.

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 tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh passed before the people of Israel formed up as an army, just as Moses said to them.

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

About forty thousand men equipped for war passed before Yahweh, for battle on 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 Yahweh made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel. They honored him—just as they honored Moses— all his days.

15 And the Lord said unto Joshua, as followeth,

Then Yahweh spoke to Joshua,

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

“Command the priests who carry 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 commanded 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.

When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of their feet were lifted up out on dry ground, then the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed its banks, just as they were four days 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 came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. They stayed in Gilgal, east of Jericho.

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

The twelve stones that they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.

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 said to the people of Israel, “When your descendants ask their fathers in times to come, 'What are these stones?'

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

Tell your children, 'This is where Israel crossed over 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;

Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you, until you had crossed over, just as Yahweh your God did to the Sea of Reeds, which he dried up for us until we passed over,

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.

so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of Yahweh is mighty, and that you will honor Yahweh your God forever.”