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Joshua 4:1-24 — The Memorial Stones

Josh.4.1-24

¹When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, ²“Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, ³and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the camp where you will spend the night.’” ⁴So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the Israelites, one man from each tribe, ⁵and Joshua said to them, “Cross over before the Ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you lift up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, ⁶so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in the future, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ⁷then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be a memorial to the Israelites forever.” ⁸The Israelites did just as Joshua commanded. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites. They carried them over with them to the camp and laid them down there. ⁹Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant stood, and they are there to this day. ¹⁰Now the priests who carried the Ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed over. ¹¹When all the people had finished crossing, the Ark of the LORD and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. ¹²The sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the Israelites, just as Moses had spoken to them. ¹³About forty thousand men equipped for war crossed over before the LORD for battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him just as they had revered Moses all the days of his life. ¹⁵Then the LORD said to Joshua, ¹⁶“Command the priests who carry the Ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁷So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁸When the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD came up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up onto the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and flowed over all its banks as before. ¹⁹The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. ²⁰And those twelve stones, which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. ²¹He said to the Israelites, “When your children ask their fathers in the future, saying, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²²then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ ²³For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over. ²⁴He did this so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

Translation Notes

4/11/2026

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