Joshua 4
New American Standard Bible
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
Joshua 4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Twelve Stones Set Up at Gilgal
4 When the entire nation had finished crossing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Select twelve men from the people, one from each tribe,(A) 3 and command them, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you camp tonight.’ ”(B) 4 Then Joshua summoned the twelve men whom he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe. 5 Joshua said to them, “Pass on before 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 Israelites, 6 so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’(C) 7 then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever.”(D)
8 The Israelites did as Joshua commanded. They took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua, carried them over with them to the place where they camped, and laid them down there.(E) 9 (Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood, and they are there to this day.)(F)
10 The priests who bore the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people crossed over in haste. 11 As soon as all the people had finished crossing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over to the front of the people. 12 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the Israelites, as Moses had ordered them.(G) 13 About forty thousand armed for war crossed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for battle.
14 On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him, as they had stood in awe of Moses all the days of his life.(H)
15 The Lord said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant to come up out of the Jordan.” 17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” 18 When the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan and the soles of the priests’ feet touched dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before.(I)
19 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.(J) 20 Those twelve stones that they had taken out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal,(K) 21 saying to the Israelites, “When your children ask their parents in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’(L) 22 then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel crossed over the Jordan here on dry ground.’(M) 23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea,[a] which he dried up for us until we crossed over,(N) 24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”(O)
Footnotes
- 4.23 Or Sea of Reeds
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.