Joshua 4

After all the people of Israel had finished crossing the Jordan River, God said to Joshua,

“Choose 12 men, one from each tribe {of Israel}.

Tell them to pick up 12 stones from the middle of the dry Jordan {riverbed} where the priests are standing. Tell them to carry those stones and put them down at the place you will stay tonight.” \*

{So Joshua chose 12 men,} one from each tribe of Israel. Then Joshua called them together

and said to them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan {riverbed}, in front of {the priests who are standing and holding} the sacred chest of God your God. Each of you must pick up a {large} stone, one for each tribe. Each of you is to carry a stone on his shoulder. That will be a total of 12 stones for the 12 tribes of the people of Israel. \*

These stones will be a monument for you to see. In the future, your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’

Tell them that {these stones are here} because God blocked the water in the Jordan River {so that it stopped flowing} when the priests were carrying the sacred chest of God. When the chest was carried into the Jordan River, God blocked the water {so that we were able to cross the Jordan on dry ground}. These stones will cause our descendants to remember forever what God has done.” \*

So those 12 men did exactly what Joshua had told them to do. They went and picked up 12 {large} stones from the middle of the Jordan {riverbed}, one stone for each of the tribes of Israel. That was what God had told Joshua. Then they carried the stones to their camp. They put the stones down there.

Then Joshua {took} 12 {other large} stones and stacked them in a pile in the middle of the Jordan {riverbed} where the priests who carried the sacred chest were standing. And those stones are still there. \*

The priests who carried the chest remained standing in the middle of the Jordan {riverbed} until the Israelites had finished doing everything that God had commanded Joshua to tell them to do. These were the same instructions that Moses had given to Joshua. The Israelites crossed {the riverbed} quickly.

As soon as all the people had crossed over, then the priests carried the sacred chest of God across the river. The people watched them do that. \*

The soldiers from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, crossed over ahead of the rest of the Israelite people. They brought their weapons with them. That was what Moses had ordered them to do.

As God was watching, about 40, 000 soldiers crossed the riverbed. These men were ready fight in the Israelite army. They were heading for the plains of Jericho, where they would fight a battle.

On that day, God caused all the people of Israel to honor Joshua greatly as their leader. And they deeply respected Joshua his entire life, just as they had deeply respected Moses. \*

God said to Joshua,

“Order the priests who are carrying the sacred chest of the testimony to come up from the Jordan {riverbed}.” \*

So Joshua commanded the priests to come up from the Jordan {riverbed}.

Then the priests, carrying the sacred chest of God, came up out of the Jordan {riverbed}. As soon as the priests walked up out of the riverbed onto the riverbank, the water of the Jordan River started flowing again, and the river overflowed its banks as it had been doing before. \*

It was on the tenth day of the first month of their year that the Israelite people crossed over the Jordan {riverbed} and camped at a place called Gilgal. That is east of the land near the city of Jericho.

At Gilgal, Joshua set up the 12 {large} stones that the 12 men had carried from the Jordan {riverbed}.

Then Joshua said to the people of Israel, “In the future, when your descendants ask, ‘Why are these stones here?’ \*

tell them, ‘This is where we Israelites crossed the Jordan River on dry ground.’

While you were watching, God, the God you worship, dried up the river for you, until we had all crossed it. God, the God we worship, did {to the Jordan River} exactly what he did to the Sea of Reeds. He caused that to become dry, as our parents were watching, until they all crossed it.

{God did that} in order that all the peoples of the earth would know that he is very powerful. And because you have seen this, as a result, you will always revere God your God.” \*