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4 When the whole Israelite nation had crossed the Jordan River, the Lord spoke to Joshua. ² He said, ‘Choose 12 men from the people, one from each tribe. ³ Tell them, “Pick up 12 stones from the middle of the river. Take them from the place where the priests are standing. Carry the stones with you to the shore. Put them in the place where you stay tonight.” ’

⁴ So Joshua called the 12 men that he had chosen, one from each Israelite tribe. ⁵ He said to them, ‘Go into the middle of the river, beyond the Lord 's Covenant Box. Each of you must pick up a stone and put it on his shoulder. There will be one stone for each of the Israelite tribes. ⁶ The heap of stones will help you to remember what happened today. In future years, your children will ask you, “What do these stones mean?” ⁷ Then you will tell them that the water in the Jordan River stopped where the Lord 's Covenant Box was. When the priests carried the Covenant Box into the river, the water stopped. These stones will help the people of Israel to remember this for ever.’

⁸ So the 12 men obeyed Joshua's command. They took 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan River, as the Lord had told Joshua. There was one stone for each Israelite tribe. They carried the stones to the place where the people had put their tents. They put the stones down there. ⁹ Joshua also made a heap of 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan River. He put them in the place where the priests with the Covenant Box had stood. Those stones are still there today. ^{[ a ]}

¹⁰ The priests had carried the Covenant Box into the middle of the river. They stood there while the people did everything that the Lord had told Joshua. That is what Moses had also told Joshua.

The people crossed over the river quickly. ¹¹ As soon as everybody was on the other side, the priests also took the Covenant Box to the other side. The people watched them as they did this. ¹² The tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh led the people across. They were all ready to fight, as Moses had told them. ^{[ b ]} ¹³ About 40,000 men who had weapons crossed to the flat land near Jericho. They marched past the Lord 's Covenant Box.

¹⁴ That day the Lord caused all the Israelite people to respect Joshua. They respected him all his life, as they had respected Moses.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶ ‘Tell the priests who are carrying the Covenant Box to come up out of the Jordan River.’

¹⁷ So Joshua told the priests, ‘Come up out of the Jordan.’ ¹⁸ So the priests came up from the middle of the river. They were carrying the Lord 's Covenant Box. As soon as their feet touched the dry ground on the shore, the water of the Jordan ran again. There was so much water that it made a flood, like before.

¹⁹ On the tenth day of the first month, the people left the shore of the Jordan River. They put up their tents at a place called Gilgal. That was on the east side of Jericho city. ²⁰ At Gilgal, Joshua made a heap with the 12 stones that they had taken out of the Jordan River. ²¹ He said to the Israelite people, ‘In future years, your children will ask you, “What do these stones mean?” ²² Then you must tell them, “We Israelites went across the Jordan River on dry ground.” ²³ Yes, you have seen what the Lord your God has done. He made the Jordan River become dry, so that you could cross over it. That was like he did to the Red Sea, so that we could cross it when we left Egypt. ²⁴ The Lord has done this so that all the nations of the world can see how powerful he is. He did it so that you would always obey him, the Lord your God.’

Footnotes

4:9 The stones were still there when this book was written.
4:12 The tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh already had their own land on the east side of the Jordan River.

Rocks to Remind the People

4 After all the people had crossed the Jordan River, the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Choose twelve men, one from each tribe. ³ Tell them to look in the river where the priests were standing and get twelve rocks from that place. Carry these rocks with you and put them where you stay tonight.”

⁴ So Joshua chose one man from each tribe. Then he called the twelve men together. ⁵ He said to them, “Go out into the river where the Holy Box of the Lord your God is. Each of you must find one rock. There will be one rock for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Carry that rock on your shoulder. ⁶ These rocks will be a sign for you. In the future, your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?’ ⁷ You will tell them that the Lord stopped the water from flowing in the Jordan River. When the Holy Box of the Lord ’s Agreement crossed the river, the water stopped flowing. These rocks will help the Israelites remember this forever.”

⁸ So the Israelites obeyed Joshua. They carried twelve rocks from the middle of the Jordan River. There was one rock for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. They did this as the Lord had commanded Joshua. The men carried the rocks with them. Then they put the rocks at the place where they made their camp. ⁹ Joshua also put twelve rocks in the middle of the Jordan River. He put them at the place where the priests had stood while carrying the Holy Box. These rocks are still there today.

¹⁰ The Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people what to do. This is what Moses had said Joshua must do. So the priests carrying the Holy Box stood in the middle of the river until everything was done. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the river. ¹¹ After the people finished crossing the river, the priests carried the Lord ’s Holy Box to the front of the people.

¹² The men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh obeyed Moses. These men crossed the river in front of the other people. These men were prepared for war. They were going to help the rest of the Israelites take the land God had promised to give them. ¹³ About 40,000 soldiers, prepared for war, passed before the Lord . They were marching toward the plains of Jericho.

¹⁴ That day the Lord made Joshua a great man to all the Israelites. From that time on, they respected Joshua just as they had Moses.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests carrying the Box that holds the Agreement ^{[ a ]} to come out of the river.”

¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come out of the Jordan River.”

¹⁸ The priests obeyed Joshua. They carried the Box of the Lord ’s Agreement with them and came out of the river. When their feet touched the land on the other side of the river, the water in the river began flowing again. The water again overflowed its banks just as it had before the people crossed.

¹⁹ The people crossed the Jordan River on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, east of Jericho. ²⁰ They carried with them the twelve rocks that they had taken from the Jordan River, and Joshua set them up at Gilgal. ²¹ Then Joshua told the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?’ ²² Tell them, ‘These rocks help us remember the way the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry land.’ ²³ The Lord your God caused the water in the Jordan River to stop flowing so that you could cross it on dry land—just as the Lord had stopped the water at the Red Sea so that we could cross it on dry land. ²⁴ The Lord did this so that all the people in this country would know that he is very powerful. Then they will always be afraid of the Lord your God.”

Footnotes

Joshua 4:16 Box that holds the Agreement Literally, “Testimony.” See “ Agreement ” in the Word List.

4 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,

² Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

³ And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.

⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:

⁵ And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:

⁶ That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

⁷ Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord ; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

⁸ And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.

⁹ And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.

¹⁰ For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.

¹¹ And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.

¹² And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:

¹³ About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the Lord unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

¹⁴ On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵ And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,

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

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

¹⁸ And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.

¹⁹ And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.

²⁰ And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.

²¹ And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?

²² Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.

²³ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of 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 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord , that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.

Memorial Stones from the Jordan

4 Now when the entire nation had finished crossing the ^{( A )} Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, ² “ ^{( B )} Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firmly, and carry them over with you and lay them down in ^{( C )} the encampment where you will spend the night.’” ⁴ So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; ⁵ and Joshua said to them, “ ^{[ a ]} Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. ⁶ ^{[ b ]} This shall be a sign among you; ^{( D )} when your children ask ^{[ c ]} later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ⁷ then you shall say to them, ‘That the ^{( E )} waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord ; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a ^{( F )} memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

⁸ So the sons of Israel did exactly as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the Lord spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to ^{( G )} the encampment and put them down there. ⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve ^{( H )} stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day. ¹⁰ For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed; ¹¹ and when all the people had finished crossing, then the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed in front of the people. ¹² ^{( I )} The sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle formation before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them; ¹³ about forty thousand equipped for war, crossed for battle before the Lord to the desert plains of Jericho.

¹⁴ ^{( J )} On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, so that they ^{[ d ]} revered him, just as they had ^{[ e ]} revered Moses all the days of his life.

¹⁵ Now the Lord said to ^{[ f ]} Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests who carry ^{( K )} the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁸ It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were ^{[ g ]} lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before.

¹⁹ Now the people came up from the Jordan on the ^{( L )} tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal, on the eastern edge of Jericho. ²⁰ As for ^{[ h ]} ^{( M )} those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set them up ^{( N )} at Gilgal. ²¹ And he said to the sons of ^{[ i ]} Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ ²² then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on ^{( O )} dry ground.’ ²³ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the ^{[ j ]} Red Sea, ^{( P )} which He dried up before us until we had crossed; ²⁴ so that ^{( Q )} all the peoples of the earth may know that the ^{( R )} hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may ^{[ k ]} ^{( S )} fear the Lord your God ^{[ l ]} forever.”

Footnotes

Joshua 4:5 Lit Cross before the ark
Joshua 4:6 Lit So that this may be
Joshua 4:6 Lit tomorrow
Joshua 4:14 Or feared
Joshua 4:14 Or feared
Joshua 4:15 Lit Joshua, saying
Joshua 4:18 Lit drawn out
Joshua 4:20 Lit these
Joshua 4:21 Lit Israel, saying,
Joshua 4:23 Lit Sea of Reeds
Joshua 4:24 Or revere
Joshua 4:24 Lit all the days

4 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, ^{( A )} the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Choose twelve men ^{( B )} from among the people, one from each tribe, ³ and tell them to take up twelve stones ^{( C )} from the middle of the Jordan, ^{( D )} from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight. ^{( E )} ”

⁴ So Joshua called together the twelve men ^{( F )} he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, ⁵ and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. ^{( G )} Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, ⁶ to serve as a sign ^{( H )} among you. In the future, when your children ^{( I )} ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ^{( J )} ⁷ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off ^{( K )} 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 ^{( L )} to the people of Israel forever.”

⁸ So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones ^{( M )} from the middle of the Jordan, ^{( N )} according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; ^{( O )} and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. ⁹ Joshua set up the twelve stones ^{( P )} that had been ^{[ a ]} 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. ^{( Q )}

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, 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. ¹² The men of Reuben, ^{( R )} Gad ^{( S )} and the half-tribe of Manasseh ^{( T )} crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, ^{( U )} as Moses had directed them. ^{( V )} ¹³ About forty thousand armed for battle ^{( W )} crossed over ^{( X )} before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for war.

¹⁴ That day the Lord exalted ^{( Y )} Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law ^{( Z )} to come up out of the Jordan.”

¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

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 ^{( AA )} and ran at flood stage ^{( AB )} as before.

¹⁹ On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal ^{( AC )} on the eastern border of Jericho. ²⁰ And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones ^{( AD )} they had taken out of the Jordan. ²¹ He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ^{( AE )} ²² tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ ^{( AF )} 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 what he had done to the Red Sea ^{[ b ]} when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. ^{( AG )} ²⁴ He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know ^{( AH )} that the hand of the Lord is powerful ^{( AI )} and so that you might always fear the Lord your God. ^{( AJ )} ”

Footnotes

Joshua 4:9 Or Joshua also set up twelve stones
Joshua 4:23 Or the Sea of Reeds

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