1And it happened, when all the nation had completely passed over the Jordan, that Yehovah spoke to Joshua, saying, 2Take twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, 3and command them, saying, Take from here out of the midst of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging place, where you shall lodge this night. 4Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: 5and Joshua said to them, Pass over before the ark of Yehovah your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up every man of you a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; 6that this may be a sign among you, that, when your children ask in time to come, saying, What do you mean by these stones? 7then you shall say to them, Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yehovah; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever. 8And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as Yehovah spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. 9And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there to this day. 10For the priests who carried the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until everything was finished that Yehovah commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hurried and passed over. 11And it happened, when all the people had completely passed over, that the ark of Yehovah passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. 12And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spoke to them: 13about forty thousand ready armed for war passed over before Yehovah to battle, to the plains of Jericho. 14On that day Yehovah magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. 15And Yehovah spoke to Joshua, saying, 16Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Jordan. 17Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come up out of the Jordan. 18And it happened, when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of Yehovah had come up out of the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks, as before. 19And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho. 20And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. 21And he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What do these stones mean? 22then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. 23For Yehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until you had passed over, as Yehovah your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we had passed over; 24that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of Yehovah, that it is mighty; that you may fear Yehovah your God forever.