Joshua 4

1 After all the people of the Israeli nation had finished crossing the Jordan [River], Yahweh said to Joshua,

And it came to pass when the whole nation had completely gone over the Jordan, that Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying,

2 “When you choose the twelve men, one from each tribe, whom I mentioned previously, tell them to pick up [large] stones from the middle of the Jordan riverbed, where the priests are [still] standing.

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

3 Tell them to carry the stones with you and put them down at the place where you will stay tonight.”

and command them, saying, Take up hence out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging-place where ye shall lodge this night.

4 So Joshua chose twelve men, one from each tribe. He called them together, and said to them,

And Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had appointed of the children of Israel, a man out of every tribe;

5 “Go into the middle of the Jordan riverbed, to [where the priests are standing, holding] the chest that Yahweh, your God, gave you. Each of you must pick up a [large] stone, one for each tribe, [and carry it] on your shoulder [to our camp].

and Joshua said to them, Pass before the ark of Jehovah your God into the midst of the Jordan, and lift up each of you a stone [and put it] upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,

6 [Then pile them up] to be a memorial for you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’,

that this may be a sign in your midst. When your children ask hereafter, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

7 tell them that the water in the Jordan River was blocked off when the priests were carrying the chest [that contained] the Ten Commandments that Yahweh [gave us]. When the chest was carried into the Jordan [River], the water was blocked off [so that we could cross the riverbed]. These stones will be a memorial for the descendants of us Israeli people forever.”

then ye shall say to them, That the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; when it went through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

8 So those Israeli men did what Joshua told them to do. They went and picked up twelve [large] stones from the middle of the Jordan [riverbed], one stone for each of the tribes, just as Yahweh had told Joshua. They carried the stones to their camp and put them down.

And the children of Israel did so, as Joshua had commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as Jehovah had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging-place, and laid them down there.

9 Then Joshua set up twelve [other large] stones [in a pile], in the middle of the Jordan [riverbed], where the priests who carried the chest containing the Ten Commandments were standing. And those stones are still there.

And twelve stones did Joshua set up in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant had stood firm; and they are there to this day.

10 The priests who carried the chest remained standing in the middle of the Jordan [riverbed] until the people had finished doing everything that Yahweh had commanded Joshua to tell them to do. Those were the same instructions that Moses had given to Joshua. The Israeli people crossed [the riverbed] quickly.

And the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was finished that Jehovah had commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hasted and passed over.

11 As soon as all of them had crossed, as the people watched, the priests carried the chest [the rest of the way across the river].

And it came to pass, when all the people had completely gone over, that the ark of Jehovah went over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.

12 The soldiers of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and of half of the soldiers of the tribe of Manasseh, crossed over ahead of the rest of the Israeli people, carrying their weapons, as Moses had commanded.

And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, went over in array before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them.

13 As Yahweh was watching, there were about 40,000 of those soldiers, carrying weapons ready for battle, who crossed the riverbed to the plains near Jericho, [ready] to fight.

About forty thousand armed for military service passed over before Jehovah to the war, unto the plains of Jericho.

14 On that day, all the people of Israel saw that Yahweh had caused Joshua to be a great leader. And they honored Joshua for the rest of his life, just as they had honored Moses.

On that day Jehovah magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

15 Yahweh said to Joshua,

And Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying,

16 “[Now] tell the priests who are carrying the chest containing the Ten Commandments to come up from the Jordan [riverbed].”

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

17 So Joshua commanded the priests to do that.

And Joshua commanded the priests, saying, Come up out of the Jordan.

18 Then the priests, carrying the chest containing the Ten Commandments that Yahweh [had given to Moses], came up out of the riverbed. And as soon as they walked up out of the riverbed onto the riverbank, the water of the Jordan [River] flowed again, and flooded [over the river banks] as it had done before.

And it came to pass when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah had come up out of the midst of the Jordan, [when] the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on to the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and they flowed as previously, over all its banks.

19 It was on the tenth day of the first month [of that year] that the people crossed over the Jordan [River] and camped at [a place called] Gilgal, on the east side of [the land near] Jericho [city].

And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the eastern extremity of Jericho.

20 The men [who were carrying] the twelve [large] stones from the Jordan [riverbed brought them to] Joshua, [and he] set them up at Gilgal

And those twelve stones which they had taken out of the Jordan did Joshua set up in Gilgal.

21 Joshua said to the Israeli people, “In the future, when your children and grandchildren ask, ‘(What do these stones [mean/Why are these stones here)]?’,

And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children hereafter ask their fathers, saying, What [mean] these stones?

22 tell them, ‘We Israeli people crossed the Jordan [River as though we were crossing] on dry ground.

then ye shall let your children know, saying, On dry land did Israel come over this Jordan;

23 As we were watching, Yahweh, your God, dried up the river until we had all crossed over. Yahweh, the God whom we worship, did to the Jordan [River] just like he did to the Red Sea, when he caused it to become dry as [our parents] were watching, until they all crossed over it.

because Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until ye had passed over, as Jehovah your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we had passed over;

24 Yahweh did that in order that all the people-groups of the earth may know that he [MTY] is very powerful, and in order that you may always (be in awe of/revere) Yahweh, your God.’”

that all peoples of the earth might know the hand of Jehovah, that it is mighty; that ye might fear Jehovah your God continually.