Joshua 4:1–8

THE MEMORIAL STONES

4After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan,^c the Lord spoke to Joshua: ²“Choose twelve men from the people, one man for each tribe,^{d 3}and command them: Take twelve stones^e from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.”

⁴So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, ⁵and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes, ⁶so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’^{f 7}you should tell them, ‘The water of the Jordan was cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s water was cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.”^g

⁸The Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them. The twelve men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the Israelite tribes, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there.