Joshua 4
Jubilee Bible 2000
4 ¶ And it came to pass when all the people were finished passing the Jordan, that the LORD spoke unto Joshua, saying,
2 Take twelve men out of the people, out of each tribe a man,
3 and command them, saying, Take from here of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the sons of Israel, out of each tribe a man;
5 and Joshua said unto them, Pass before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan and take ye up each one of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel,
6 that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What do these stones mean unto you?
7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off; and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the sons of Israel for ever.
8 And the sons of Israel did so as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD spoke unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged and laid them down there.
9 Joshua also set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there unto this day.
10 ¶ For the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people made haste and passed.
11 And when all the people were finished passing, the ark of the LORD passed, and the priests, in the presence of the people.
12 And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh passed armed before the sons of Israel, as Moses had said unto them.
13 About forty thousand men prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, towards the plains of Jericho.
14 On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.
15 And the LORD spoke unto Joshua, saying,
16 Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Jordan.
17 Joshua, therefore, commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of the Jordan.
18 And it came to pass, when the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the midst of the Jordan and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned unto their place, flowing as before over all its banks.
19 And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped in Gilgal, on the east side of Jericho.
20 ¶ And Joshua raised up in Gilgal the twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan.
21 And he spoke unto the sons of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What do these stones mean unto you?
22 Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you until ye had passed, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us until we had passed,
24 that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty; that ye might fear the LORD your God all the days.
Joshua 4
EasyEnglish Bible
4 When the whole Israelite nation had crossed the Jordan River, the Lord spoke to Joshua. 2 He said, ‘Choose 12 men from the people, one from each tribe. 3 Tell them, “Pick up 12 stones from the middle of the river. Take them from the place where the priests are standing. Carry the stones with you to the shore. Put them in the place where you stay tonight.” ’
4 So Joshua called the 12 men that he had chosen, one from each Israelite tribe. 5 He said to them, ‘Go into the middle of the river, beyond the Lord's Covenant Box. Each of you must pick up a stone and put it on his shoulder. There will be one stone for each of the Israelite tribes. 6 The heap of stones will help you to remember what happened today. In future years, your children will ask you, “What do these stones mean?” 7 Then you will tell them that the water in the Jordan River stopped where the Lord's Covenant Box was. When the priests carried the Covenant Box into the river, the water stopped. These stones will help the people of Israel to remember this for ever.’
8 So the 12 men obeyed Joshua's command. They took 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan River, as the Lord had told Joshua. There was one stone for each Israelite tribe. They carried the stones to the place where the people had put their tents. They put the stones down there. 9 Joshua also made a heap of 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan River. He put them in the place where the priests with the Covenant Box had stood. Those stones are still there today.[a]
10 The priests had carried the Covenant Box into the middle of the river. They stood there while the people did everything that the Lord had told Joshua. That is what Moses had also told Joshua.
The people crossed over the river quickly. 11 As soon as everybody was on the other side, the priests also took the Covenant Box to the other side. The people watched them as they did this. 12 The tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh led the people across. They were all ready to fight, as Moses had told them.[b] 13 About 40,000 men who had weapons crossed to the flat land near Jericho. They marched past the Lord's Covenant Box.
14 That day the Lord caused all the Israelite people to respect Joshua. They respected him all his life, as they had respected Moses.
15 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 16 ‘Tell the priests who are carrying the Covenant Box to come up out of the Jordan River.’
17 So Joshua told the priests, ‘Come up out of the Jordan.’ 18 So the priests came up from the middle of the river. They were carrying the Lord's Covenant Box. As soon as their feet touched the dry ground on the shore, the water of the Jordan ran again. There was so much water that it made a flood, like before.
19 On the tenth day of the first month, the people left the shore of the Jordan River. They put up their tents at a place called Gilgal. That was on the east side of Jericho city. 20 At Gilgal, Joshua made a heap with the 12 stones that they had taken out of the Jordan River. 21 He said to the Israelite people, ‘In future years, your children will ask you, “What do these stones mean?” 22 Then you must tell them, “We Israelites went across the Jordan River on dry ground.” 23 Yes, you have seen what the Lord your God has done. He made the Jordan River become dry, so that you could cross over it. That was like he did to the Red Sea, so that we could cross it when we left Egypt. 24 The Lord has done this so that all the nations of the world can see how powerful he is. He did it so that you would always obey him, the Lord your God.’
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