4:1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,
4:2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,
4:3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”
4:4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,
4:5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,
4:6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’
4:7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
4:8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.
4:9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.
4:10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over,
4:11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched.
4:12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them.
4:13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.
4:14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.
4:15 Then the LORD said to Joshua,
4:16 “Command the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan.”
4:17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”
4:18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.
4:19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.
4:20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.
4:21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’
4:22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’
4:23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.
4:24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.”
4:1 And when all the nation had completely crossed over the Jordan, Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying,
4:2 Take for yourselves twelve men from among the people, one man from each tribe;
4:3 And command them, saying, Take up for yourselves from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones; and bring them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.
4:4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from among the children of Israel, one man from each tribe.
4:5 And Joshua said to them, Pass on before the Ark of Jehovah your God into the middle of the Jordan, and every one of you lift up one stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
4:6 That this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, saying, What do these stones mean to you?
4:7 You shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. Thus these stones will be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.
4:8 And the children of Israel did as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, as Jehovah told Joshua to do, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel. And they brought them over with them to the place where they were to lodge, and they laid them down there.
4:9 Then Joshua erected twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.
4:10 And the priests who carried the Ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that Jehovah had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed over.
4:11 And when all the people had completely crossed over, the Ark of Jehovah with the priests crossed over before the people.
4:12 And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle array before the children of Israel, as Moses had told them to do;
4:13 About forty thousand equipped for war crossed over before Jehovah into the plains of Jericho for battle.
4:14 On that day Jehovah magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him as they had revered Moses all the days of his life.
4:15 Then Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying,
4:16 Command the priests who carry the Ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan.
4:17 And Joshua commanded the priests, saying, Come up out of the Jordan.
4:18 And when the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah came up out from the middle of the Jordan, when the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up onto the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went over all its banks as before.
4:19 And the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal, at the eastern edge of Jericho.
4:20 And those twelve stones, which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua erected in Gilgal.
4:21 And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What do these stones mean?
4:22 You shall let your children know, saying, On dry ground Israel crossed over this Jordan.
4:23 For Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you crossed over, as Jehovah your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we crossed over;
4:24 That all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of Jehovah, that it is mighty; that you may fear Jehovah your God always.