Joshua 4
1 And it came to pass, when all the nation had made an end of passing over the Jordan, that Yahweh slake unto Joshua, saying:
After all the people of the Israeli nation had finished crossing the Jordan [River], Yahweh said to Joshua,
2 Take unto you, from among the people, twelve men, one man severally from 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 command ye them, saying, Take you up from hence, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where stood the feet of the priests with firm footing, twelve stones; —and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging-place where ye shall lodge, tonight.
Tell them to carry the stones with you and put them down at the place where you will stay tonight.”
4 So Joshua called unto the twelve men whom he had made ready, from among the sons of Israel, —one man severally out of each tribe;
So Joshua chose twelve men, one from each tribe. He called them together, and said to them,
5 and Joshua said unto them: Pass ye over, before the ark of Yahweh your God, into the midst of the Jordan, —and lift ye up, each man one stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons 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 this may be a sign in your midst, —for your sons will ask in time to come, saying, What mean these stones to you?
[Then pile them up] to be a memorial for you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’,
7 Then shall ye say unto them—That the waters of the Jordan, were cut off, from before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, when it passed into the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan, were cut off. So shall these stones become a memorial unto the sons of Israel, unto times age-abiding.
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 sons of Israel did so, as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as spake Yahweh unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, —and carried them with them unto the place where they lodged, 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 Twelve stones also, did Joshua set up in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where stood the feet of the priests who were bearing the ark of the covenant, —and they have remained there until 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 Now, the priests who were bearing the ark, continued standing in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was finished which Yahweh commanded Joshua, to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua, —the people therefore 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 so it was, as soon as all the people had made an end of passing over, —then passed over the ark of Yahweh, and the priests, in presence of the people.
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 Also the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, passed over, armed, before the sons of Israel, —as Moses had spoken unto 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 about forty thousand, equipped for the war, passed over before Yahweh, to battle, into the waste plains 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 On that day, did Yahweh magnify Joshua in the eyes of all Israel, —and they revered him, as they revered Moses, all the days of his life.
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 Then spake Yahweh unto Joshua, saying:
Yahweh said to Joshua,
16 Command the priests who are bearing the ark of testimony, —that they come up out of the Jordan.
“[Now] tell the priests who are carrying the chest containing the Ten Commandments to come up from the Jordan [riverbed].”
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, —Come ye up out of the Jordan.
So Joshua commanded the priests to do that.
18 And it came to pass, when the priests who were bearing the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came up out of the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the feet of the priests were withdrawn unto the dry ground, then returned the waters of the Jordan unto their place, and went, as before, over all his 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 So, the people, came up out of the Jordan, on the tenth of the first month, —and encamped in Gilgal, at the eastern end of 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, these twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, did Joshua set up, in Gilgal.
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 Then spake he unto the sons of Israel, saying, —When your sons shall ask, in time to come, of their fathers, saying, —What mean 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 then shall ye let your sons know, saying, —On dry ground, came Israel over this Jordan;
tell them, ‘We Israeli people crossed the Jordan [River as though we were crossing] on dry ground.
23 in that Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan, from before you, until ye had passed over, —as Yahweh your God had done unto the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we had 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 peoples of the earth might know the hand of Yahweh, that, firm, it is; that they might revere Yahweh your God, all the days.
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.’”
