Joshua_Chapter 4

When all the people had crossed the Jordan River, the Lord said to Joshua,

Choose twelve people from among the people, one from each tribe,

Command them, ‘Take twelve stones from here, from the place where the priests stand in the middle of the Jordan River, and bring them over to the place where you are to stay tonight.’.

So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had prepared from among the Israelites, one from each tribe.

Say to them, Go down into the Jordan River and cross over to the front of the ark of the Lord your God. Take a stone from each of the twelve tribes of the Israelites and carry it on their shoulders.

These stones can serve as evidence among you. In the future, your descendants will ask you what these stones mean.

Then say to them, This is because the waters of the Jordan River are cut off before the ark of the Lord. When the Ark crossed the Jordan River, the water in the Jordan River was cut off. These stones will serve as an eternal memory for the Israelites.

The Israelites took twelve stones from the Jordan River, according to the number of the Israelite tribes, as Joshua had commanded them to do. They brought the stones over to the place where they stayed and left them there.

Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan River, where the priests who carried the ark stood with their feet. Until today, the stone is still there.

The priests who carried the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan River until the Lord had finished what Joshua had commanded the people, just as Moses had commanded Joshua. So the people rushed over.

All the people crossed the river, and the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over before the people.

The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh all went over with weapons in front of the Israelites, as Moses had commanded them.

About forty thousand people prepared to go to war and crossed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho, waiting to go to battle.

On that day, the Lord made Joshua great in the sight of all Israel. Throughout his lifetime, the people revered him, just as they revered Moses in the past.

The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

Command the priests who carry the Ark of the Testament to come up from the Jordan River.

Then Joshua commanded the priests, saying, Come up from the Jordan River.

The priests who carried the Ark of the Lord came up from the Jordan River, and as soon as their feet landed on the dry land, the water of the Jordan River flowed back to its original place, still rising over both sides.

On the tenth day of the first month, the people came up from the Jordan River and camped in Gilgal, east of Jericho.

The twelve stones they took from the Jordan River were erected by Joshua in Gilgal,

Say to the Israelites, ‘In the future, your descendants will ask their fathers,’ What do these stones mean? ‘.

Tell them that the Israelites have crossed this Jordan River on dry land.

For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan River before you, waiting for you to come, just as the Lord your God dried up the Red Sea before us, waiting for us to come,

Let all the people of the earth know that the hand of the Lord is strong, and that you will forever fear the Lord your God.