When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan,k the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve menl from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stonesm from the middle of the Jordan,n from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.o”

4 So Joshua called together the twelve menp he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.q Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a signr among you. In the future, when your childrens ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’t 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut offu before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorialv to the people of Israel forever.”

8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stonesw from the middle of the Jordan,x according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua;y and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stonesz that had beena in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.a