Joshua 3:7–4:11

7 And the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to hexalt 4you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, ias I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 You shall command jthe priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, kyou shall stand in the Jordan.’ ”

9 So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.” 10 And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that lthe living God is among you, and that He will without fail mdrive out from before you the nCanaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of othe Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore, ptake for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. 13 And it shall come to pass, qas soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, rthe Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they sshall stand as a heap.”

14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the tark of the covenant before the people, 15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and uthe feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the vJordan overflows all its banks wduring the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away 5at Adam, the city that is beside xZaretan. So the waters that went down yinto the Sea of the Arabah, zthe Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; aand all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

The Memorial Stones

4 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed aover the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: 2 b“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 cthe priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in dthe 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 ea sign among you fwhen your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them that gthe 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 ha 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 iark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.