Joshua 4:1-19

Other Translations of Joshua 4:1-19

King James Version

The Twelve Stones Taken from the Jordan

4¹ And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, ² Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, ³ And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. ⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: ⁵ And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: ⁶ That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? ⁷ Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. ⁸ And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. ⁹ And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.

¹⁰ For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over. ¹¹ And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. ¹² And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them: ¹³ About forty thousand prepared prepared: or, ready armed for war passed over before the Lord unto battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. ¹⁵ And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying, ¹⁶ Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan. ¹⁷ Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. ¹⁸ And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before. ¹⁹ And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.

English Standard Version

The Twelve Stones Taken from the Jordan

4¹ When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ² "Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, ³ and command them, saying, 'Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.'" ⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. ⁵ And Joshua said to them, "Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?' ⁷ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever." ⁸ And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them downOr to rest there. ⁹ And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.

¹⁰ For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people passed over in haste. ¹¹ And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people. ¹² The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. ¹³ About 40,000 ready for war passed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life. ¹⁵ And the Lord said to Joshua, ¹⁶ "Command the priests bearing the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan." ¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan." ¹⁸ And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before. ¹⁹ The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.

The Message

The Twelve Stones Taken from the Jordan

4¹ When the whole nation was finally across, God spoke to Joshua: ² "Select twelve men from the people, a man from each tribe, ³ and tell them, 'From right here, the middle of the Jordan where the feet of the priests are standing firm, take twelve stones. Carry them across with you and set them down in the place where you camp tonight.'" ⁴ Joshua called out the twelve men whom he selected from the People of Israel, one man from each tribe. ⁵ Joshua directed them, "Cross to the middle of the Jordan and take your place in front of the Chest of God, your God. Each of you heft a stone to your shoulder, a stone for each of the tribes of the People of Israel, ⁶ so you'll have something later to mark the occasion. When your children ask you, 'What are these stones to you?' ⁷ you'll say, 'The flow of the Jordan was stopped in front of the Chest of the Covenant of God as it crossed the Jordan - stopped in its tracks. These stones are a permanent memorial for the People of Israel.'" ⁸ The People of Israel did exactly as Joshua commanded: They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan - a stone for each of the twelve tribes, just as God had instructed Joshua - carried them across with them to the camp, and set them down there. ⁹ Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the middle of the Jordan that had marked the place where the priests who carried the Chest of the Covenant had stood. They are still there today.

¹⁰ The priests carrying the Chest continued standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything God had instructed Joshua to tell the people to do was done (confirming what Moses had instructed Joshua). The people crossed; no one dawdled. ¹¹ When the crossing of all the people was complete, they watched as the Chest of the Covenant and the priests crossed over. ¹² The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had crossed over in battle formation in front of the People of Israel, obedient to Moses' instructions. ¹³ All told, about 40,000 armed soldiers crossed over before God to the plains of Jericho, ready for battle. ¹⁴ God made Joshua great that day in the sight of all Israel. They were in awe of him just as they had been in awe of Moses all his life. ¹⁵ God told Joshua, ¹⁶ "Command the priests carrying the Chest of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan." ¹⁷ Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan." ¹⁸ They did it. The priests carrying God's Chest of the Covenant came up from the middle of the Jordan. As soon as the soles of the priests' feet touched dry land, the Jordan's waters resumed their flow within the banks, just as before. ¹⁹ The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. They set up camp at The Gilgal (The Circle) to the east of Jericho.

New King James Version

The Twelve Stones Taken from the Jordan

4¹ And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: ² "Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, ³ and command them, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.' " ⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; ⁵ and Joshua said to them: "Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' ⁷ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever." ⁸ And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. ⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

¹⁰ So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst 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. ¹¹ Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people. ¹² And the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them. ¹³ About forty thousand prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. ¹⁴ On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life. ¹⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, ¹⁶ "Command the priests who bear the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan." ¹⁷ Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, "Come up from the Jordan." ¹⁸ And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before. ¹⁹ Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.

New Living Translation

The Twelve Stones Taken from the Jordan

4¹ 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 Covenant 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. Then they camped at Gilgal, just east of Jericho.