² “Choose twelve men^(A) from among the people, one from each tribe, ³ and tell them to take up twelve stones^(B) from the middle of the Jordan,^(C) from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.^(D)”

⁴ So Joshua called together the twelve men^(E) he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, ⁵ and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.^(F) 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^(G) among you. In the future, when your children^(H) ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’^{(I) 7} tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off^(J) 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^(K) to the people of Israel forever.”

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