²⁵ And they overthrew the cities, and ^(A)on every good piece of land every man threw a stone until it was covered. They stopped every spring of water and felled all the good trees, till only its stones were left in ^(B)Kir-hareseth, and the slingers surrounded and attacked it.

²⁷ But at the time of the going down of the sun, Joshua commanded, and ^(A)they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had hidden themselves, and they set large stones against the mouth of the cave, which remain to this very day.

³ and command them, saying, ‘Take ^(A)twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place ^(B)where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in ^(C)the place where you lodge tonight.’” ⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. ⁵ And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you. ^(D)When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ ⁷ then you shall tell them that ^(E)the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel ^(F)a memorial forever.”

⁸ And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down^[a] there. ⁹ And Joshua set up^[b] twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, ^(G)in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.

^5 (A)Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, ^(B)so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

¹⁷ And they took Absalom and threw him into a great pit in the forest and raised over him ^(A)a very great heap of stones. And all Israel ^(B)fled every one to his own home. ¹⁸ Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself ^(C)the pillar that is in ^(D)the King's Valley, for he said, ^(E)“I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom's monument^[a] to this day.

⁴ And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is ^(A)holy bread—^(B)if the young men have kept themselves from women.” ⁵ And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?”

¹⁵ And he said to the people, “Be ready for the ^(A)third day; ^(B)do not go near a woman.”