Joshua
Chapter 4
1 After everyone had crossed the Jordan River, God spoke to Joshua, saying,
2 Choose twelve men from the people, one from each tribe.
3 Tell them, ‘Pick up twelve stones from where the priests stood in the Jordan River, carry them with you, and put them down where you stay tonight.’
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men he had chosen from the Israelites, one from each tribe.
5 Joshua said to them, “Go ahead of God’s ark into the middle of the Jordan River, and each of you pick up a stone on your shoulder, one for each of the tribes of Israel’s children.”
6 This will be a sign for you. When your children ask you in the future, “What do these stones mean to you?”
7 You will tell them, “The waters of Jordan stopped flowing when the Ark of God’s covenant crossed the river. The waters stopped, and these stones will always remind the people of Israel of this.”
8 The Israelites did as Joshua ordered and took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, as God told Joshua, one for each tribe of Israel. They brought them to where they were staying and put them down there.
9 Joshua placed twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan River where the priests carrying the covenant box had stood, and the stones remain there to this day.
10 The priests who carried the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan River until all was done that God had told Joshua to tell the people, just as Moses had instructed Joshua; and the people hurried and crossed over.
11 When all the people had finished crossing, the ark of God and the priests crossed in front of the people.
12 The descendants of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh’s tribe crossed over ready for battle ahead of the Israelites, just as Moses had instructed them.
13 About forty thousand ready for war went across to fight in the flat lands of Jericho before God.
14 On that day, God made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel, and they respected him just as they respected Moses, for his whole life.
15 God spoke to Joshua, saying,
16 Tell the priests carrying God’s covenant chest to come up from the Jordan River.
17 Joshua told the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.”
18 When the priests carrying God’s covenant ark stepped out of the Jordan River and onto dry ground, the river’s waters flowed back to their place and overflowed its banks as before.
19 The people left the Jordan River on the tenth day of the first month and set up camp in Gilgal, near the eastern edge of Jericho.
20 Joshua set up those twelve stones in Gilgal that they had taken from the Jordan.
21 He told the Israelites, “When your children ask their fathers in the future, ‘What do these stones mean?’
22 You should tell your children, “Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry ground.”
23 God dried up the Jordan River for you to cross, just as He did with the Red Sea, letting us pass through.
24 So that everyone in the world may know that God’s power is great and that you should respect God always.