Joshua 4:1-9

The Twelve Stones Taken from the Jordan

4¹ Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan , the Lord spoke to Joshua , saying , ² " Take for yourselves twelve e men from the people , one man from each e tribe , ³ and command them, saying , 'Take up for yourselves twelve e stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan , from the place where the priests' feet are standing firm , and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight .' " ⁴ So Joshua called the twelve e men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel , one man from each e tribe ; ⁵ and Joshua said to them, "Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan , and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder , according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel . ⁶ "Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later , saying , 'What do these stones mean to you?' ⁷ then you shall say to them, 'Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before e 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 become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever e ." ⁸ Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded , and took up twelve e stones from the middle of the Jordan , just as the Lord spoke 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 put them down there . ⁹ Then Joshua set up twelve e stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place e where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing , and they are there to this day .