JoshuaChapter 4

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¹The whole nation finished crossing the Jordan. Then the LORD said to Joshua, ²"Choose twelve men from the people, one from each tribe. ³Tell them, 'Pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, where the priests stood. Carry them with you. Put them down at the place where you stay tonight.'" ⁴So Joshua called the twelve men he had chosen from the Israelites, one from each tribe. ⁵He said to them, "Go ahead of the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you must lift a stone onto his shoulder. There will be one stone for each tribe of Israel. ⁶These stones will be a sign among you. In the future, your children may ask, 'What do these stones mean to you?' ⁷When they do, tell them, 'The water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When the ark crossed the Jordan, the water was cut off.' So these stones will help the Israelites remember forever." ⁸So the Israelites did what Joshua told them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel. This was just as the LORD had told Joshua. They carried the stones to the camp and put them down there. ⁹Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan. He put them where the priests carrying the ark of the covenant had stood. The stones are still there today. ¹⁰The priests carrying the ark stayed standing in the middle of the Jordan. They stayed until the people had done everything the LORD told Joshua to tell them. This was just as Moses had told Joshua. The people hurried across. ¹¹When everyone had finished crossing, the priests crossed with the ark of the LORD. The people watched them. ¹²The men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over ahead of the Israelites. They were armed for battle, as Moses had told them. ¹³About 40,000 soldiers armed for battle crossed over before the LORD. They went to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴That day the LORD made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel. They honored him all his life, just as they had honored Moses. ¹⁵Then the LORD said to Joshua, ¹⁶"Tell the priests who carry the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan." ¹⁷So Joshua gave orders to the priests. "Come up out of the Jordan," he said. ¹⁸The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the Jordan. As soon as their feet touched dry land, the water of the Jordan came back. It flowed over all its banks as before. ¹⁹The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. They camped at Gilgal, on the east edge of Jericho. ²⁰There at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan. ²¹Then Joshua said to the Israelites, "In the future, your children may ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' ²²When they do, tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' ²³This is because the LORD your God dried up the water of the Jordan in front of you until you had crossed. He did just what he did to the Red Sea. He dried it up in front of us until we had crossed over. ²⁴He did this so that all the people of the earth would know that the LORD's hand is mighty. He did it so that you would always fear the LORD your God."