4 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan,^(A) the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Choose twelve men^(B) from among the people, one from each tribe, ³ and tell them to take up twelve stones^(C) from the middle of the Jordan,^(D) from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.^(E)”

⁴ So Joshua called together the twelve men^(F) he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, ⁵ and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.^(G) Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, ⁶ to serve as a sign^(H) among you. In the future, when your children^(I) ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’^{(J) 7} tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off^(K) before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial^(L) to the people of Israel forever.”

The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal

³⁰ Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal^(A) an altar^(B) to the Lord, the God of Israel, ³¹ as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool^(C) had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings.^{(D) 32} There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses.^{(E) 33} All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing the Levitical^(F) priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born^(G) were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal,^(H) as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.

³⁴ Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law.^{(I) 35} There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.^(J)