Joshua 4
4
The Memorial Stones
1After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan,#Jos 3:17 the Lord spoke to Joshua: 2“Choose twelve men from the people, one man for each tribe,#Jos 3:12 3and command them: Take twelve stones#Ex 28:21; 39:14; Jos 4:9,20; 1Kg 18:31 from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests#4:3 Lit feet of the priests, also in v. 9 are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.”
4So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, 5and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes, 6so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you? ’ #Ex 12:26–27; 13:8–9,14; Dt 6:20–24; Jos 4:21–22 7you should tell them, ‘The water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s water was cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.”#Ex 12:14; 28:12; 39:7; Lv 2:2; Nm 16:40; 31:54; Is 57:8; Zch 6:14
8The Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them. The twelve men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the Israelite tribes, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there. 9Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle#4:9 Or Now Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing. The stones are still there today.#Jos 6:25
10The priests carrying the ark continued standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people, in keeping with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried across, 11and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the Lord crossed in the sight of the people. 12The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh went in battle formation in front of the Israelites,#Nm 32:17 as Moses had instructed them. 13About forty thousand equipped for war crossed to the plains of Jericho in the Lord’s presence.
14On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him throughout his life, as they had revered Moses.#Jos 3:7 15The Lord told Joshua, 16“Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony#Ex 25:16 to come up from the Jordan.”
17So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.” 18When the priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant came up from the middle of the Jordan, and their feet#4:18 Lit and the soles of the feet of the priests stepped out on solid ground, the water of the Jordan resumed its course, flowing over all the banks as before.
19The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month,#Ex 12:3; Ezk 40:1 and camped at Gilgal on the eastern limits of Jericho.#Dt 11:30 20Then Joshua set up in Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan, 21and he said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ 22you should tell your children, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’#Jos 3:17 23For the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over,#Ex 14:21 just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until we had crossed over. 24This is so that all the peoples of the earth may know#Ex 9:14–16; 14:31; 1Kg 8:42 that the Lord’s hand is strong,#Nm 11:23; Ps 89:13; Is 41:20; 59:1; 66:14 and so that you may always fear the Lord your God.”#Ex 14:31; Dt 6:2; 10:12; 14:23; 31:12–13
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Joshua 4: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Joshua 4
4
1 WHEN ALL the nation had fully passed over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,
2 Take twelve men from among the people, one man out of every tribe,
3 And command them, Take twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan from the place where the priests' feet stood firm; carry them over with you and leave them at the place where you lodge tonight.
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men of the Israelites whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe.
5 And Joshua said to them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God in the midst of the Jordan, and take up every man of you a stone on his shoulder, as is the number of the tribes of the Israelites,
6 That this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, What do these stones mean to you?
7 Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever.
8 And the Israelites did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord told Joshua, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there.
9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to 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 tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people passed over in haste.
11 When all the people had passed over, the ark of the Lord and the priests went over in the presence of the people.
12 And the sons of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the [other] Israelites, as Moses had bidden them;
13 About 40,000 [of these] prepared for war passed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for battle.
14 On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him, as they stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.
15 And the Lord said to Joshua,
16 Order the priests bearing the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan.
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, Come up out of the Jordan.
18 And when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up out of the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of their feet were lifted up to the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and flowed over all its banks as they had before.
19 And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and encamped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.
20 And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan Joshua set up in Gilgal.
21 And he said to the Israelites, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, What do these stones mean?
22 You shall let your children know, Israel came over this Jordan on dry ground.
23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up for us until we passed over,
24 That all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and that you may reverence and fear the Lord your God forever.
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