Joshua 3:14-4:7

Holman Christian Standard Bible

¹⁴ When the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant^(A) ahead of the people. ¹⁵ Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season.^(B) But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge ¹⁶ and the water flowing downstream stood still, rising up in a mass that extended as far as^[a] Adam, a city next to Zarethan. The water flowing downstream into the Sea of the Arabah^(C) (the Dead Sea) was completely cut off, and the people crossed opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ The priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan,^(D) while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

The Memorial Stones

4 After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan,^(E) the Lord spoke to Joshua: ² “Choose 12 men from the people, one man for each tribe,^{(F) 3} and command them: Take 12 stones from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests^[b] are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.”

⁴ So Joshua summoned the 12 men he had selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, ⁵ and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each^[c] of the Israelite tribes, ⁶ so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’^{(G) 7} you should tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.”^(H)