Joshua 4

Chapter 4

Memorials to the Jordan Crossing

1 When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,2 “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe.

3 Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’”
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel.5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the LORD your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’

7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”

8 So the men did as Joshua had commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the LORD had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there.

9 Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. And they are there to this day.
10 The priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the river until all of the LORD’s commands that Moses had given to Joshua were carried out. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the riverbed.

11 And when everyone was safely on the other side, the priests crossed over with the Ark of the LORD as the people watched.
12 The armed warriors from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh led the Israelites across the Jordan, just as Moses had directed.

13 These armed men—about 40,000 strong—were ready for battle, and the LORD was with them as they crossed over to the plains of Jericho.

14 That day the LORD made Joshua a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites, and for the rest of his life they revered him as much as they had revered Moses.
15 The LORD had said to Joshua,16 “Command the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenantt to come up out of the riverbed.”17 So Joshua gave the command.

18 As soon as the priests carrying the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant came up out of the riverbed and their feet were on high ground, the water of the Jordan returned and overflowed its banks as before.
19 The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month.t Then they camped at Gilgal, just east of Jericho.

20 It was there at Gilgal that Joshua piled up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River.
21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’22 Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’23 For the LORD your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Seat when he dried it up until we had all crossed over.

24 He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the LORD’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the LORD your God forever.”

JOSHUA 4

The People Set Up //a Monument

1 After Israel had crossed the Jordan, the [Lord] said to Joshua:

2-3 Tellt one man from each of the twelve tribes to pick up a large rock from where the priests are standing. Then tell the men to set up those rocks as a monument at the place where you camp tonight.
4 Joshua chose twelve men; then he called them together

5 and said:
Go to the middle of the riverbed where the sacred chest is, and pick up a large rock. Carry it on your shoulder to our camp. There are twelve of you, so there will be one rock for each tribe.

6-7 Someday your children will ask, “Why are these rocks here?” Then you can tell them how the water stopped flowing when the chest was being carried across the river. These rocks will always remind our people of what happened here today.

8 The men followed the instructions that the [Lord] had given Joshua. They picked up twelve rocks, one for each tribe, and carried them to the camp, where they put them down.

9 Joshua set up a monument next to the place where the priests were standing. This monument was also made of twelve large rocks, and it is still there in the middle of the river.

The People of Israel //Set Up Camp at Gilgal

10-13 The army got ready for battle and crossed the Jordan with everyone else. They marched quickly past the sacred chestt and into the desert near Jericho. Forty thousand soldiers from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseht led the way, as Moses had ordered.t
The priests stayed right where they were until the people had followed the orders that the [Lord] had given Moses and Joshua. Then they watched as the priests carried the chest the rest of the way across.

14-18 “Joshua,” the [Lord] said, “tell the priests to come up from the Jordan and bring the chest with them.” So Joshua went over to the priests and told them what the [Lord] had said. And as soon as the priests carried the chest past the highest place that the floodwaters of the Jordan had reached, the river flooded its banks again.
That's how the [Lord] showed the Israelites that Joshua was their leader.t For the rest of Joshua's life, they respected him as they had respected Moses.
19 It was the tenth day of the first montht of the year when Israel crossed the Jordan River. They set up camp at Gilgal, which was east of the land controlled by Jericho. 20 The men who had carried the twelve rocks from the Jordan brought them to Joshua, and they made them into a monument.

21 Then Joshua told the people:
Years from now your children will ask you why these rocks are here. 22-23 Tell them, “The [Lord] our God dried up the Jordan River so we could walk across. He did the same thing here for us that he did for our people at the Red Sea, t 24 because he wants everyone on earth to know how powerful he is. And he wants us to worship only him.”