Joshua 4

Modern

Literal

Twelve Stones from the Jordan

¹When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,

¹And it came to pass, when all the people had finished passing over the Jordan, that YHWH spoke to Joshua, saying,

²“Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,

²“Take for yourselves from the people twelve men—one man—one man from a tribe.

³and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’”

³And command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves from this place out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where stood firm the priests’ feet, twelve stones, and you shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place, in which you lodge tonight.’”

⁴So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,

⁴And Joshua called to twelve men, whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel—one man—one man from a tribe.

⁵and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel,

⁵And Joshua said to them, “Pass over before the face of the ark of YHWH your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up for yourselves each man one stone on his shoulder, by the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel,

⁶to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

⁶so that this may be a sign among you when your children ask hereafter, saying, ‘What are these stones to you?’

⁷you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”

⁷And you shall say to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off from the face of the ark of the covenant of YHWH. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the sons of Israel even to forever.”

⁸Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down.

⁸And the sons of Israel did so, as Joshua had commanded, and they took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as YHWH had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and laid them down there.

⁹Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan,^a in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.

⁹And Joshua set up and two and ten stones in the midst of the Jordan, under the standing place of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant. And they are there to this day.

¹⁰Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until the people had completed everything the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell them, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried across,

¹⁰And the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until the completion of all that YHWH had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and passed over.

¹¹and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the LORD crossed in the sight of the people.

¹¹And it came to pass, when all the people had finished passing over, that the ark of YHWH and the priests passed over before the faces of the people.

¹²The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over before the Israelites, armed for battle as Moses had instructed them.

¹²And the men of Reuben, and the men of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the faces of the sons of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them.

¹³About 40,000 troops armed for battle crossed over before the LORD into the plains of Jericho.

¹³About forty thousand armed ones of the host passed over before the face of YHWH for battle to the plains of Jericho.

¹⁴On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.

¹⁴On that day YHWH exalted Joshua in the eyes of all Israel, and they feared him as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

¹⁵Then the LORD said to Joshua,

¹⁵And YHWH spoke to Joshua, saying,

¹⁶“Command the priests who carry the ark of the Testimony^a to come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁶“Command the priests who bear the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁷So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁷And Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.”

¹⁸When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the Jordan and their feet touched the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their course and overflowed all the banks as before.

¹⁸And it came to pass, when had come the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of YHWH from the midst of the Jordan, the soles of the feet of the priests having touched unto the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed as yesterday and the day before yesterday, over all its banks,

The Camp at Gilgal

¹⁹On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.

¹⁹and the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the border east of Jericho.

²⁰And there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.

²⁰And these twelve stones that they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.

²¹Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’

²¹And he spoke to the sons of Israel, saying, “When your sons ask their fathers hereafter, saying, ‘What are these stones?’

²²you are to tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’

²²And you shall let your sons know, saying, ‘On the dry land Israel passed over this Jordan.’

²³For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea,^a which He dried up before us until we had crossed over.

²³For YHWH your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before your faces until you had passed over, as YHWH your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had passed 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 always fear the LORD your God.”

²⁴that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of YHWH, that it is mighty, so that you may fear YHWH your God all the days.”