Joshua 4
4
1And it came to pass when the whole nation had completely gone over the Jordan, that Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying, 2Take you twelve men out of the people, one man out of every tribe, 3and command them, saying, Take up hence out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging-place where ye shall lodge this night. 4And Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had appointed of the children of Israel, a man out of every tribe; 5and Joshua said to them, Pass before the ark of Jehovah your God#GodHebrew: Elohim into the midst of the Jordan, and lift up each of you a stone and put it upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6that this may be a sign in your midst. When your children ask hereafter, saying, What mean ye by these stones? 7then ye shall say to them, That the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; when it went through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. 8And the children of Israel did so, as Joshua had commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as Jehovah had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging-place, and laid them down there. 9And twelve stones did Joshua set up in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant had stood firm; and they are there to this day.
10And the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was finished that Jehovah had commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hasted and passed over. 11And it came to pass, when all the people had completely gone over, that the ark of Jehovah went over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. 12And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, went over in array before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. 13About forty thousand armed for military service passed over before Jehovah to the war, unto the plains of Jericho. 14On that day Jehovah magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life. 15And Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying, 16Command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Jordan. 17And Joshua commanded the priests, saying, Come up out of the Jordan. 18And it came to pass when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah had come up out of the midst of the Jordan, when the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on to the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and they flowed as previously, over all its banks. 19And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the eastern extremity of Jericho.
20And those twelve stones which they had taken out of the Jordan did Joshua set up in Gilgal. 21And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children hereafter ask their fathers, saying, What mean these stones? 22then ye shall let your children know, saying, On dry land did Israel come over this Jordan; 23because Jehovah your God#GodHebrew: Elohim dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until ye had passed over, as Jehovah your God#GodHebrew: Elohim did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we had passed over; 24that all peoples of the earth might know the hand of Jehovah, that it is mighty; that ye might fear Jehovah your God#GodHebrew: Elohim continually.
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Joshua 4: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Joshua 4
4
Memorial Stones are Set Up
1When the whole nation had crossed the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2“Choose twelve men, one from each tribe, 3and command them to take twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests were standing. Tell them to carry these stones with them and to put them down where you camp tonight.”
4Then Joshua called the twelve men he had chosen, 5and said, “Go into the Jordan ahead of the Covenant Box of the LORD your God. Each one of you take a stone on your shoulder, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 6These stones will remind the people of what the LORD has done. In the future, when your children ask what these stones mean to you, 7you will tell them that the water of the Jordan stopped flowing when the LORD's Covenant Box crossed the river. These stones will always remind the people of Israel of what happened here.”
8The men followed Joshua's orders. As the LORD had commanded Joshua, they took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the tribes of Israel, carried them to the camping place, and put them down there. 9Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, where the priests carrying the Covenant Box had stood. (Those stones are still there.) 10The priests stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything had been done that the LORD ordered Joshua to tell the people to do. This is what Moses had commanded.
The people hurried across the river. 11When they were all on the other side, the priests with the LORD's Covenant Box went on ahead of the people. 12The men of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and of half the tribe of Manasseh, ready for battle, crossed ahead of the rest of the people, as Moses had told them to do. 13In the presence of the LORD about 40,000 men ready for war crossed over to the plain near Jericho. 14What the LORD did that day made the people of Israel consider Joshua a great man. They honoured him all his life, just as they had honoured Moses.
15Then the LORD told Joshua 16to command the priests carrying the Covenant Box to come up out of the Jordan. 17Joshua did so, 18and when the priests reached the river bank, the river began flowing once more and flooded its banks again.
19The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and made camp at Gilgal, east of Jericho. 20There Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan. 21He said to the people of Israel, “In the future, when your children ask you what these stones mean, 22you will tell them about the time when Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. 23Tell them that the LORD your God dried up the water of the Jordan for you until you had crossed, just as he dried up the Red Sea for us. 24Because of this everyone on earth will know how great the LORD's power is, and you will honour the LORD your God for ever.”
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.