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
Currently Selected:
Joshua 4: CSB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Joshua 4
4
The People Set Up a Monument
1After Israel had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua:
2-3Tell#4.1-3 Joshua … Tell: Or “Joshua, you and the other leaders must tell.” one man from each of the twelve tribes to pick up a large rock from where the priests are standing. Then tell the men to set up those rocks as a monument at the place where you camp tonight.
4Joshua chose twelve men; then he called them together 5and said:
Go to the middle of the riverbed where the sacred chest is, and pick up a large rock. Carry it on your shoulder to our camp. There are twelve of you, so there will be one rock for each tribe. 6-7Someday your children will ask, “Why are these rocks here?” Then you can tell them how the water stopped flowing when the chest was being carried across the river. These rocks will always remind our people of what happened here today.
8The men followed the instructions that the Lord had given Joshua. They picked up twelve rocks, one for each tribe, and carried them to the camp, where they put them down.
9Joshua set up a monument next to the place where the priests were standing. This monument was also made of twelve large rocks, and it is still there in the middle of the river.
The People of Israel Set Up Camp at Gilgal
10-13The army got ready for battle and crossed the Jordan with everyone else. They marched quickly past the sacred chest#4.10-13 the sacred chest: The Hebrew text has “the Lord.” The army was marching past the sacred chest, which was a symbol of God's throne on earth (see 1 Samuel 4.4 and Exodus 25.10-22; 37.1-9). and into the desert near Jericho. Forty thousand soldiers from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh#4.10-13 Forty thousand soldiers from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh: Or “There were forty thousand soldiers altogether, and those from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.” led the way, as Moses had ordered.#4.10-13 Moses … ordered: See Numbers 32.16-32; Joshua 1.12-16.
The priests stayed right where they were until the people had followed the orders that the Lord had given Moses and Joshua. Then they watched as the priests carried the chest the rest of the way across.
14-18“Joshua,” the Lord said, “tell the priests to come up from the Jordan and bring the chest with them.” So Joshua went over to the priests and told them what the Lord had said. And as soon as the priests carried the chest past the highest place that the floodwaters of the Jordan had reached, the river flooded its banks again.
That's how the Lord showed the Israelites that Joshua was their leader.#4.14-18 leader: See 3.7. For the rest of Joshua's life, they respected him as they had respected Moses.
19It was the tenth day of the first month#4.19 first month: Abib (also called Nisan), the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April. of the year when Israel crossed the Jordan River. They set up camp at Gilgal, which was east of the land controlled by Jericho. 20The men who had carried the twelve rocks from the Jordan brought them to Joshua, and they made them into a monument. 21Then Joshua told the people:
Years from now your children will ask you why these rocks are here. 22-23Tell them, “The Lord our God dried up the Jordan River so we could walk across. He did the same thing here for us that he did for our people at the Red Sea,#4.22,23 Red Sea: See the note at 2.10. 24because he wants everyone on earth to know how powerful he is. And he wants us to worship only him.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.