3
Joshua

Crossing the Jordan and Memorial Stones

Joshua 3:1-4:24
1Joshua rose early in the morning, and the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan—he and all the sons of Israel—and they lodged there before they crossed. 2At the end of three days the officials passed through the camp. 3They commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God and the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4There shall be a distance of about two thousand cubits between you and it; do not come near it, so that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before." 5Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you." 6Joshua said to the priests, saying, "Take up the ark of the covenant and pass before the people." So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. 7The LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to magnify you in the eyes of all Israel, so that they may know that just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you." 8You shall command the priests who carry the ark of the covenant, saying, "When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan." 9Joshua said to the sons of Israel, "Come here and hear the words of the LORD your God." 10Joshua said, "By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will surely dispossess before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. 11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the LORD of all the earth is crossing before you into the Jordan. 12Now take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. 13When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off—the waters coming down from above—and they will stand in one heap." 14When the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went before the people. 15When the bearers of the ark came to the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark dipped in the edge of the water (the Jordan was full over all its banks throughout the days of harvest), 16the waters coming down from above stood still; they rose in one heap a great distance away at Adam, the city beside Zarethan, while the waters going down to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off; and the people crossed opposite Jericho. 17The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
Chapter 4
1When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2"Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3and command them, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the feet of the priests stood firm; carry them over with you and set them down in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.'" 4Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe. 5Joshua said to them, "Pass before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each of you take up one stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, 6so that this may be a sign among you. When your sons ask tomorrow, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' 7you shall say to them, 'The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD when it crossed the Jordan; the waters of the Jordan were cut off.' These stones shall be a memorial to the sons of Israel forever." 8The sons of Israel did just as Joshua had commanded: they took twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; they carried them over with them to the lodging place and set them down there. 9Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, beneath the place where the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. 10The priests carrying the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people was finished, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; then the people hurried and crossed. 11When all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the LORD and the priests passed before the people. 12The sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed armed before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them; 13about forty thousand armed men passed before the LORD for battle to the plains of Jericho. 14On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the eyes of all Israel, and they feared him all the days of his life just as they had feared Moses. 15The LORD said to Joshua, 16Command the priests carrying the ark of the testimony to come up from the Jordan. 17Joshua commanded the priests, saying, "Come up out of the Jordan." 18When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up from the midst of the Jordan, when the soles of the feet of the priests touched dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went over all its banks as before. 19The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern side of Jericho. 20Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones that they had taken from the Jordan. 21He said to the sons of Israel, "When your sons ask their fathers in time to come, 'What do these stones mean?' 22you shall make known to your sons, saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' 23that the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you crossed, just as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until we crossed, 24so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and so that you may fear the LORD your God all the days."
Tap a verse