Joshua 4

Wycliffe Bible

4 And when the sons of Israel were passed over (the) Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, (And when all the Israelites had crossed over the Jordan River, the Lord said to Joshua,)

² Choose thou twelve men, by each lineage one man, (Choose thou twelve men, one man out of each tribe,)

³ and command thou to them, that they take from the midst of the trough of (the) Jordan, where the feet of [the] priests stood, twelve hardest stones; the which thou shalt set in [the] place of the tents, where ye shall set (the) tents in this night. (and command thou to them, that they take out of the middle of the trough, or the river bed, of the Jordan River, twelve stones, from where the feet of the priests had firmly stood; which thou shalt put in the place of the camp, where ye shall pitch the tents tonight.)

⁴ And Joshua called (the) twelve men, which he had chosen of the sons of Israel, of each lineage one man; (And Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had chosen out of the Israelites, one man out of each tribe;)

⁵ and he said to them, Go ye before the ark of your Lord God to the midst of (the) Jordan, and bear ye from thence in your shoulders each man one stone, by the number of the sons of Israel, (and he said to them, Go ye before the Ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan River, and each man carry ye out from there a stone on his shoulders, one for each of the tribes of Israel,)

⁶ that it be a sign betwixt you. And when your sons shall ask you tomorrow, that is, in time to coming, and shall say, What will these stones be mean(ing)? (that shall become a sign for all of you. And so when your sons and daughters shall ask you tomorrow, that is, in the time to come, and shall say, What mean ye by these stones?)

⁷ ye shall answer to them, The waters of (the) Jordan failed before the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord, when the ark passed over (the) Jordan; therefore these stones be set into mind of the sons of Israel, till into without end. (ye shall answer to them, The waters of the Jordan River stopped flowing before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, when the Ark crossed over the Jordan River; and so these stones be here to help the Israelites to remember this forevermore.)

⁸ Therefore the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded to them, and bare from the midst of the trough of (the) Jordan twelve stones, as the Lord commanded to him, by the number of the sons of Israel, unto the place in which they setted tents (one for each of the tribes of Israel, unto the place where they pitched their tents); and there they putted those stones.

⁹ Also Joshua putted (an)other twelve stones in the midst of the trough of (the) Jordan, where the priests (had) stood, that bare the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord (who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord); and those stones be there unto this present day.

¹⁰ Forsooth the priests, that bare the ark, stood in the midst of (the) Jordan, till all things were [ful]filled, which the Lord commanded, that Joshua should speak to the people (that Joshua should tell the people to do), as Moses had said to him. And the people hasted, and passed over (the) Jordan.

¹¹ And when all men had passed [over], also the ark of the Lord passed [over], and (then) the priests went before the people (again).

¹² Also the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and half the lineage of Manasseh, went armed before the sons of Israel, as Moses commanded to them. (And the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh, went armed before the Israelites, as Moses had commanded them to do.)

¹³ And forty thousand of fighters went by their companies, and by their gatherings, on the plain and field places of the city of Jericho. (And forty thousand fighting men went by their companies, over the plains and fields, near the city of Jericho.)

¹⁴ In that day the Lord magnified Joshua before all Israel, that they should dread him, as they dreaded Moses, while he lived yet. (On that day the Lord magnified Joshua before all Israel, so that they would fear him, like they had feared Moses/so that they would revere him, like they had revered Moses, while he was yet alive.)

¹⁵ And the Lord said to Joshua,

¹⁶ Command thou to the priests that bear the ark of [the] bond of peace, that they go up from (the) Jordan. (Command thou to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant, that they come up from the Jordan River.)

¹⁷ And Joshua commanded to them, and said, Go ye up from (the) Jordan. (And Joshua commanded to them, and said, Come ye up from the Jordan River.)

¹⁸ And when they had gone up, bearing the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord, and had begun to tread on the dry earth, the waters turned again into their trough, and flowed again, as they were wont (to) before. (And when they had come up, carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and had begun to tread on the dry earth, the waters returned to their place, and flowed again, as they were wont to before.)

¹⁹ And the people went up from (the) Jordan in the tenth day of the first month, and they setted tents in Gilgal, against the east coast of the city of Jericho. (And the people went up from the Jordan River on the tenth day of the first month, and they pitched their tents in Gilgal, east of the city of Jericho.)

²⁰ Also Joshua putted in Gilgal the twelve stones, which they had taken from the trough of (the) Jordan.

²¹ And he said to the sons of Israel, When your sons shall ask tomorrow their fathers, and shall say to them, What will these stones be mean(ing)? (And he said to the Israelites, When your sons and daughters shall ask their fathers tomorrow, and shall say to them, What mean ye by these stones?)

²² ye shall teach them, and say, We passed this Jordan by the dry bottom, (ye shall teach them, and say, We crossed over the Jordan River on dry land,)

²³ for our Lord God dried the waters thereof in our sight, till that we over-passed it, as he did before in the Red Sea, which he dried while we passed [over], (for the Lord our God dried up its waters before us, until we had crossed over it, like he did before at the Sea of Reeds, which he dried up so we could cross over it,)

²⁴ that all the peoples of (the) earth learn, or know, (of) the full strong might of the Lord, and that ye dread your Lord God in all time. (so that all the peoples of the earth can learn, or come to know, of the strong might, or the powerful hand, of the Lord, and so that ye shall fear the Lord your God forevermore/and so that ye shall revere the Lord your God forevermore.)