Joshua 4

1 AND it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,

When all the people crossed over the Jordan, Yahweh said to Joshua,

2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

“Choose twelve men for yourselves from among the people, one man from each tribe.

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.

Give them this command: 'Take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests are standing on the dry ground, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you will spend the night tonight.'”

4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:

Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had chosen from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.

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:

Joshua said to them, “Go over before the ark of Yahweh your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up 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, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

This will be a sign in your midst for you when your children ask in days to come, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

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.

Then you will say to them, 'The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones will be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.'”

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.

The people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded, and they picked up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, as Yahweh said to Joshua. They set the stones up according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel. They carried the stones with them, over to the place where they camped and they set 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.

Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan River, in the place where the feet of the priests that carried the ark of the covenant stood. The memorial is there to 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.

The priests that carried the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything that Yahweh commanded Joshua to tell the people was completed, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried and they crossed 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.

When all the people had finished crossing over, the ark of Yahweh and the priests crossed over before 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:

The tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh passed before the people of Israel formed up as an army, just as Moses said to them.

13 About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the Lord unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

About forty thousand men equipped for war passed before Yahweh, for battle on 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.

On that day Yahweh made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel. They honored him—just as they honored Moses— all his days.

15 And the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying,

Then Yahweh spoke to Joshua,

16 Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.

“Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan.”

17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.

So, Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the 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.

When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came up out of the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of their feet were lifted up out on dry ground, then the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed its banks, just as they were four days 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.

The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. They stayed in Gilgal, east of Jericho.

20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.

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

21 And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?

He said to the people of Israel, “When your descendants ask their fathers in times to come, 'What are these stones?'

22 Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.

Tell your children, 'This is where Israel crossed over the Jordan on dry ground.'

23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:

Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you, until you had crossed over, just as Yahweh your God did to the Sea of Reeds, which he dried up for us until we passed over,

24 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.

so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of Yahweh is mighty, and that you will honor Yahweh your God forever.”