The Memorial Stones
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? ’ 4:6 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.”4:7 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.
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,4:12 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.4:14 Jos 3:7
15The Lord told Joshua,
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 feet4:18 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,4:19 Ex 12:3; Ezk 40:1 and camped at Gilgal on the eastern limits of Jericho.4:19 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?’
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