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And it came to pass, when Kol HaGoy had completely passed over the Yarden, that Hashem spoke unto Yehoshua, saying,

Take you Shneym Asar Anashim out of HaAm, out of every Shevet an ish,

And command ye them, saying, Take you from here out of the middle of the Yarden, out of the place where the feet of the Kohanim stood firm, twelve avanim (stones), and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the malon (lodging place), where ye shall lodge halailah (tonight).

Then Yehoshua called the Shneym Asar Ish, whom he had prepared of the Bnei Yisroel, out of every tribe an Ish;

And Yehoshua said unto them, Pass over before the Aron Hashem Eloheichem into the middle of the Yarden, and take you up every ish of you an even (stone) upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the Shivtei Bnei Yisroel;

That this may be an ot among you, that when your banim ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these avanim?

Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of the Yarden were cut off from before the Aron Brit Hashem; when it passed over the Yarden, the waters of the Yarden were cut off; and these avanim shall be for a zikaron (memorial) unto the Bnei Yisroel ad olam (forever).

And the Bnei Yisroel did so just as Yehoshua commanded, and took up Shtei Esreh Avanim out of the middle of the Yarden, just as Hashem spoke unto Yehoshua, according to the number of the Shivtei Bnei Yisroel, and carried them over with them unto the malon where they lodged, and laid them down there.

And Yehoshua set up Shteym Esreh Avanim in the middle of the Yarden, in the place where the feet of the Kohanim bearing the Aron HaBrit stood; and they are there unto this day.

10 For the Kohanim bearing the Aron stood in the middle of the Yarden, until everything was finished that Hashem commanded Yehoshua to speak unto HaAm, according to all that Moshe commanded Yehoshua; and HaAm hurried and crossed over.

11 And it came to pass, when Kol HaAm had completely crossed over, that the Aron Hashem crossed over, and the Kohanim, ahead of HaAm.

12 And the Bnei Reuven, and the Bnei Gad, and the half-tribe of Menasheh, crossed over armed ahead of the Bnei Yisroel, just as Moshe directed them;

13 About forty thousand, battle-ready, crossed over before Hashem for milchamah, to the plains of Yericho.

14 On Yom Hahu Hashem magnified Yehoshua in the eyes of Kol Yisroel; and they feared him, just as they feared Moshe, all the days of his life.

15 And Hashem spoke unto Yehoshua, saying,

16 Command the Kohanim bearing the Aron HaEdut, so that they come up out of the Yarden.

17 Yehoshua therefore commanded the Kohanim, saying, Come ye up out of the Yarden.

18 And it came to pass, when the Kohanim bearing the Aron Brit Hashem were come up out of the middle of the Yarden, and the soles of the feet of the Kohanim were set on dry land, that the waters of the Yarden returned unto their place, and overflowed all its banks, as they did before.

19 And HaAm came up out of the Yarden on the tenth day of the chodesh harishon, and camped at Gilgal, by the eastern border of Yericho.

20 And those twelve avanim, which they took out of the Yarden, did Yehoshua set in a pile at Gilgal.

21 And he spoke unto the Bnei Yisroel, saying, When your banim shall ask their avot in time to come, saying, What mean these avanim?

22 Then ye shall let your banim know, saying, Yisroel crossed over this Yarden on yabashah (dry land [Gn 1:9]).

23 For Hashem Eloheichem dried up the waters of the Yarden from before you, until ye were passed over, just as Hashem Eloheichem did to Yam Suf, which He dried up from before us, until we were crossed over;

24 So that Kol Ammei HaAretz (all the peoples of the earth) might know the Yad Hashem, that it is chazakah; so that ye might fear Hashem Eloheichem kol hayamim (all the days, forever).

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan,(A) the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men(B) from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones(C) from the middle of the Jordan,(D) from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.(E)

So Joshua called together the twelve men(F) he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.(G) Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign(H) among you. In the future, when your children(I) ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’(J) tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off(K) 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(L) to the people of Israel forever.”

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

10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12 The men of Reuben,(R) Gad(S) and the half-tribe of Manasseh(T) crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites,(U) as Moses had directed them.(V) 13 About forty thousand armed for battle(W) crossed over(X) before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for war.

14 That day the Lord exalted(Y) Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.

15 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law(Z) to come up out of the Jordan.”

17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”

18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place(AA) and ran at flood stage(AB) as before.

19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal(AC) on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones(AD) they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’(AE) 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’(AF) 23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea[b] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.(AG) 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know(AH) that the hand of the Lord is powerful(AI) and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.(AJ)

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 4:9 Or Joshua also set up twelve stones
  2. Joshua 4:23 Or the Sea of Reeds