Josue 4
4
1And when they were passed over, the Lord said to Josue:
2Choose twelve men, one of every tribe:
3And command them to take out of the midst of the Jordan, where the feet of the priests stood, twelve very hard stones, which you shall set in the place of the camp, where you shall pitch your tents this night.
4And Josue called twelve men, whom he had chosen out of the children of Israel, one out of every tribe.
5And he said to them: Go before the ark of the Lord your God to the midst of the Jordan, and carry from thence every man a stone on your shoulders, according to the number of the children of Israel.
6That it may be a sign among you: and when your children shall ask you to-morrow, saying: What mean these stones?
7You shall answer them: The waters of the Jordan ran off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, when it passed over the same. Therefore were these stones set for a monument of the children of Israel for ever.
8The children of Israel therefore did as Josue commanded them, carrying out of the channel of the Jordan twelve stones, as the Lord had commanded him, according to the number of the children of Israel, unto the place wherein they camped: and there they set them.
9And Josue put other twelve stones in the midst of the channel of the Jordan, where the priests stood that carried the ark of the covenant: and they are there until this present day.
10Now the priests, that carried the ark, stood in the midst of the Jordan till all things were accomplished which the Lord had commanded Josue to speak to the people, and Moses had said to him. And the people made haste and passed over.
11And when they had all passed over: the ark also of the Lord passed over, and the priests went before the people.
12The children of Ruben also and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasses, went armed before the children of Israel as Moses had commanded them.
13And forty thousand fighting men by their troops, and bands, marched through the plains and fields of the city of Jericho.
14In that day the Lord magnified Josue in the sight of all Israel, that they should fear him, as they had feared Moses, while he lived.
15And he said to him:
16Command the priests, that carry the ark of the covenant, to come up out of the Jordan.
17And he commanded them, saying: Come ye up out of the Jordan.
18And when they, that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, were come up, and began to tread on the dry ground, the waters returned into the channel, and ran as they were wont before.
19And the people came up out of the Jordan, the tenth day of the first month, and camped in Galgal, over against the east side of the city of Jericho.
20And the twelve stones, which they had taken out of the channel of the Jordan, Josue pitched in Galgal,
21And said to the children of Israel: When your children shall ask their fathers, to-morrow, and shall say to them: What mean these stones?
22You shall teach them and say: Israel passed over this Jordan through the dry channel.
23The Lord your God drying up the waters thereof in your sight, until you passed over:
24As he had done before in the Red Sea, which he dried up till we passed through.
25That all the people of the earth may learn the most mighty hand of the Lord: that you also may fear the Lord your God for ever.
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Josue 4: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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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