4 After the whole nation had gone across the Jordan River, the Lord spoke to Joshua. He said, ² “Choose 12 men from among the people. Choose one from each tribe. ³ Tell them to get 12 stones from the middle of the river. They must pick them up from right where the priests stood. They must carry the stones over with all of you. And they must put them down at the place where you will stay tonight.”

⁴ So Joshua called together the 12 men he had appointed from among the Israelites. There was one man from each tribe. ⁵ He said to them, “Go back to the middle of the Jordan River. Go to where the ark of the Lord your God is. Each one of you must pick up a stone. You must carry it on your shoulder. There will be as many stones as there are tribes in Israel. ⁶ The stones will serve as a reminder to you. In days to come, your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ⁷ Tell them that the Lord cut off the flow of water in the Jordan River. Tell them its water stopped flowing when the ark of the covenant of the Lord went across. The stones will always remind the Israelites of what happened there.”