1 And when all the people were wholy gone ouer Iorden, (after the Lord had spoken vnto Ioshua, saying, 2 Take you twelue me out of the people, out of euery tribe a man, 3 And command you them, saying, Take you hence out of the middes of Iorden, out of the place where the Priestes stoode in a readinesse, twelue stones, which ye shall take away with you, and leaue them in the lodging where you shall lodge this night) 4 Then Ioshua called the twelue men, whome he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of euery tribe a man, 5 And Ioshua said vnto them, Go ouer before the Arke of the Lord your God, euen through the middes of Iorden, and take vp euery man of you a stone vpon his shoulder according vnto the nomber of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 That this may bee a signe among you, that whe your children shall aske their fathers in time to come, saying, What meane you by these stones? 7 Then ye may answere them, That the waters of Iorden were cut off before the Arke of the couenant of the Lord: for when it passed through Iorden, the waters of Iorden were cut off: therefore these stones are a memoriall vnto the children of Israel for euer. 8 Then ye children of Israel did euen so as Ioshua had commanded, and tooke vp twelue stones out of the mids of Iorden as ye Lord had said vnto Ioshua, according to the nomber of the tribes of the children of Israel, and caried them away with them vnto the lodging, and layd them down there. 9 And Ioshua set vp twelue stones in the middes of Iorden, in the place where the feete of the Priests, which bare the Arke of the couenant stood, and there haue they continued vnto this day. 10 So the Priests, which bare ye Arke, stoode in the middes of Iorden, vntill euery thing was finished that ye Lord had comanded Ioshua to say vnto the people, according to all that Moses charged Ioshua: then the people hasted and went ouer. 11 When all the people were cleane passed ouer, the Arke of the Lord went ouer also, and the Priests before the people. 12 And the sonnes of Reuben, and the sonnes of Gad, and halfe the tribe of Manasseh went ouer before the children of Israel armed, as Moses had charged them. 13 Euen fourty thousand prepared for warre, went before the Lord vnto battel, into ye plaine of Iericho. 14 That day the Lord magnified Ioshua in the sight of all Israel, and they feared him, as they feared Moses all dayes of his life. 15 And the Lord spake vnto Ioshua, saying, 16 Commande the Priests that beare ye Arke of the testimonie, to come vp out of Iorden. 17 Ioshua therefore commanded the Priests, saying, Come ye vp out of Iorden. 18 And when the Priests that bare the Arke of the couenant of ye Lord were come vp out of the middes of Iorden, and assoone as the soles of the Priests feete were set on the dry land, the waters of Iorde returned vnto their place, and flowed ouer all the bankes thereof, as they did before. 19 So the people came vp out of Iorden the tenth day of the first moneth, and pitched in Gilgal, in the Eastside of Iericho. 20 Also the twelue stones, which they tooke out of Iorden, did Ioshua pitch in Gilgal. 21 And he spake vnto ye childre of Israel, saying, When your children shall aske their fathers in time to come, and say, What meane these stones? 22 Then ye shall shew your children, and say, Israel came ouer this Iorden on dry land: 23 For the Lord your God dryed vp ye waters of Iorden before you, vntill ye were gone ouer, as the Lord your God did the red Sea, which hee dryed vp before vs, till we were gone ouer, 24 That all the people of the worlde may know that the hand of the Lord is mightie, that ye might feare the Lord your God continually.
Memorial Stones Are Set Up
1 When the whole nation had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men, one from each tribe, 3 and command them to take twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests were standing. Tell them to carry these stones with them and to put them down where you camp tonight.”
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men he had chosen, 5 and he told them, “Go into the Jordan ahead of the Covenant Box of the Lord your God. Each one of you take a stone on your shoulder, one for each of the tribes of Israel. 6 These stones will remind the people of what the Lord has done. In the future, when your children ask what these stones mean to you, 7 you will tell them that the water of the Jordan stopped flowing when the Lord's Covenant Box crossed the river. These stones will always remind the people of Israel of what happened here.”
8 The men followed Joshua's orders. As the Lord had commanded Joshua, they took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the tribes of Israel, carried them to the camping place, and put them down there. 9 Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, where the priests carrying the Covenant Box had stood. (Those stones are still there.) 10 The priests stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything had been done that the Lord ordered Joshua to tell the people to do. This is what Moses had commanded.
The people hurried across the river. 11 When they were all on the other side, the priests with the Lord's Covenant Box went on ahead of the people. 12 The men of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and of half the tribe of Manasseh, ready for battle, crossed ahead of the rest of the people, as Moses had told them to do. 13 In the presence of the Lord about forty thousand men ready for war crossed over to the plain near Jericho. 14 What the Lord did that day made the people of Israel consider Joshua a great man. They honored him all his life, just as they had honored Moses.
15 Then the Lord told Joshua 16 to command the priests carrying the Covenant Box to come up out of the Jordan. 17 Joshua did so, 18 and when the priests reached the riverbank, the river began flowing once more and flooded its banks again.
19 The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, east of Jericho. 20 There Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan. 21 And he said to the people of Israel, “In the future, when your children ask you what these stones mean, 22 you will tell them about the time when Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground. 23 Tell them that the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan for you until you had crossed, just as he dried up the Red Sea for us. 24 Because of this everyone on earth will know how great the Lord's power is, and you will honor the Lord your God forever.”