Joshua 3:9-4:7

New King James Version

⁹ So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰ And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that ^(A)the living God is among you, and that He will without fail ^(B)drive out from before you the ^(C)Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: ¹¹ Behold, the ark of the covenant of ^(D)the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. ¹² Now therefore, ^(E)take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. ¹³ And it shall come to pass, ^(F)as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, ^(G)the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they ^(H)shall stand as a heap.”

¹⁴ So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ^(I)ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵ and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and ^(J)the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the ^(K)Jordan overflows all its banks ^(L)during the whole time of harvest), ¹⁶ that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away ^[a]at Adam, the city that is beside ^(M)Zaretan. So the waters that went down ^(N)into the Sea of the Arabah, ^(O)the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; ^(P)and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

The Memorial Stones

4 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed ^(Q)over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: ^2 (R)“Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where ^(S)the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in ^(T)the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’ ”

⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; ⁵ and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, ⁶ that this may be ^(U)a sign among you ^(V)when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ⁷ Then you shall answer them that ^(W)the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for ^(X)a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”