Joshua 4:1-5

Legacy Standard Bible

Memorial Stones from the Jordan

4 Now it happened when all the nation had completed crossing the ^(A)Jordan, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, ² “^(B)Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Carry for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in ^(C)the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’” ⁴ So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; ⁵ and Joshua said to them, “^[a]Cross again before the ark of Yahweh your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you carry a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, ⁶ in order that this would be a sign among you, so that ^(D)when your children ask ^[b]later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ⁷ then you shall say to them, ‘Because the ^(E)waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a ^(F)memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

⁸ Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded and carried twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as Yahweh spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to ^(G)the lodging place and laid them down there. ⁹ But Joshua set up twelve ^(H)stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day. ¹⁰ Now the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that Yahweh had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed. ¹¹ And it happened when all the people had completed crossing, that the ark of Yahweh and the priests crossed before the people. ^12 (I)And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle array before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them; ¹³ about 40,000 equipped for war crossed for battle before Yahweh to the desert plains of Jericho.

^14 (J)On that day, Yahweh magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, so that they ^[c]feared him, just as they had ^[d]feared Moses all the days of his life.

¹⁵ Then Yahweh said to ^[e]Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests who carry ^(K)the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁸ So it happened when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were ^[f]lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went over all its banks as before.

¹⁹ Now the people came up from the Jordan on the ^(L)tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. ^20 [g](M)And those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up ^(N)at Gilgal. ²¹ Then he said to the sons of ^[h]Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² then you shall make your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on ^(O)dry land.’ ²³ For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as Yahweh your God had done to the ^[i]Red Sea, ^(P)which He dried up before us until we had crossed, ²⁴ that ^(Q)all the peoples of the earth may know that the ^(R)hand of Yahweh is strong, so that you may ^[j](S)fear Yahweh your God ^[k]forever.”

The Men of Israel Circumcised

5 Now it happened when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the ^(T)Canaanites who were by the sea, ^(U)heard how Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until ^[l]they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.