¹⁰ When they came to Geliloth^(A) near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar^(B) there by the Jordan.

²⁶ And Joshua recorded^(A) these things in the Book of the Law of God.^(B) Then he took a large stone^(C) and set it up there under the oak^(D) near the holy place of the Lord.

²⁷ “See!” he said to all the people. “This stone^(E) will be a witness^(F) against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue^(G) to your God.”^(H)

²⁵ The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord.’ So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord.

²⁶ “That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.’ ²⁷ On the contrary, it is to be a witness^(A) between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings.^(B) Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’

²⁸ “And we said, ‘If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar, which our ancestors built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness^(C) between us and you.’

⁵ and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.^(A) 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^(B) among you. In the future, when your children^(C) ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’^{(D) 7} tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off^(E) 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^(F) to the people of Israel forever.”

⁸ So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones^(G) from the middle of the Jordan,^(H) according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua;^(I) and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. ⁹ Joshua set up the twelve stones^(J) 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.^(K)

⁴⁶ He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap,^(A) and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.^[a](B)

⁴⁸ Laban said, “This heap^(C) is a witness between you and me today.”^(D) That is why it was called Galeed. ⁴⁹ It was also called Mizpah,^[b](E) because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat^(F) my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness^(G) between you and me.”^(H)

⁵¹ Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap,^(I) and here is this pillar^(J) I have set up between you and me. ⁵² This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness,^(K) that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap^(L) and pillar to my side to harm me.^(M)