Chapter 4
The Twelve Memorial Stones. 1 When the entire people had passed over the Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each of the tribes, 3 and tell them to take twelve stones from the bed of the Jordan where the priests had been standing, and to carry them over with you, depositing them at the place where you will be camping this evening.”
4 So Joshua called the twelve men together whom the Israelites had chosen, one man from each tribe, 5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross over in front of the Ark of the Lord, your God, into the middle of the Jordan and have each man place a rock on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites. 6 [a]These will serve as a reminder for you when, in the future, your children ask, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ 7 you will answer them, ‘The waters of the Jordan stopped flowing before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan ceased to flow.’ These stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”
8 The Israelites did just what Joshua had commanded them to do. They picked up twelve stones from the Jordan’s riverbed, just as the Lord had instructed Joshua to do, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, and they brought them out to the place where they were camping that night and they laid them down there. 9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the Jordan’s riverbed, where the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant had been standing. They are still there today.
10 Now the priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything that the Lord had directed Joshua to tell the people had been done, the things that Moses had ordered Joshua to do. The people hurried over, 11 and when all the people had completed the crossing, the Ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests crossed over in front of the people. 12 The men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and the men of one of the halves of the tribe of Manasseh passed in front of the Israelites, clad in battle gear, as Moses had instructed them to do. 13 About forty thousand men clad in battle gear passed over before the Lord into the plains of Jericho to do battle. 14 That day the Lord exalted Joshua before all of Israel. They revered him as long as he lived, even as they had revered Moses.
15 The Lord then said to Joshua, 16 “Tell the priests who are carrying the Ark of Testimony[b] to come up out of the Jordan.” 17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” 18 So the priests, carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, came up out of the Jordan. As soon as the priests’ feet touched dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned back to their place, flowing at flood stage as they had before.
19 [c]The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month,[d] and they camped at Gilgal to the east of Jericho. 20 Joshua erected the twelve stones that had been taken out of the Jordan at Gilgal. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ 22 tell your children, ‘Israel crossed over the Jordan on dry land.’ 23 The Lord, your God, dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you could cross over, just as the Lord, your God, had dried up the Red Sea before us until we had crossed over it. 24 He did this so that everyone upon the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and so that you might always fear the Lord, your God.”
Footnotes
- Joshua 4:6 What is the meaning of these stones?: the Israelites were taught about God’s plan and reminded of his faithfulness by seeing the stones and repeating the stories connected to them. This continues with the question and response at the Passover meal each year.
- Joshua 4:16 Ark of Testimony: an infrequently used name for the Ark of the Covenant (see Ex 25:22; 31:7; Num 4:5), derived from the fact that the Testimony, that is, the tablets of the Decalogue, was kept in the Ark.
- Joshua 4:19 Like the deliverance from Egypt, the crossing of the Jordan shows all future generations the power God exercises in saving his people. The first great sanctuary in Palestine will preserve the sacred tradition regarding this miracle. The author places two supremely important events during the stay at Gilgal: the circumcision of the entire male population (see Gen 17) and the Feast of Passover.
- Joshua 4:19 On the tenth day of the first month: that is, a few days before Passover (see 5:10).