1And it came to pass, when all the people had finished passing over the Jordan, That the Lord said unto Joshua, as followeth,

2Take yourselves twelve men out of the people, one man each out of every tribe,

3And command ye them, saying, Take yourselves hence out of the midst of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firmly, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging-place, where ye will lodge this night.

4Then did Joshua call the twelve men, whom he had appointed out of the children of Israel, one man each out of every tribe:

5And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take yourselves up every man one stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel;

6In order that this may be a sign among you, when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

7That ye shall answer them, That the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off; and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

8And the children of Israel did so as Joshua had commanded; and they took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.

9Twelve stones also did Joshua set up in the midst of the Jordan, on the spot where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant had stood: and they have remained there unto this day.

10But the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until every thing was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua; and the people hastened and passed over.

11And it came to pass, when all the people had finished passing over, that the ark of the Lord passed over with the priests in the presence of the people.

12And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Menasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken unto them:

13About forty thousand ready armed for war, did they pass over before the Lord unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

14On that day the Lord made Joshua great in the eyes of all Israel; and they feared him, as they had feared Moses, all the days of his life.

15And the Lord said unto Joshua, as followeth,

16Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Jordan.

17And Joshua commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of the Jordan.

18And it came to pass, when the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of the Jordan, the soles of the feet of the priests were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all its banks, as on the preceding days.

19And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the extreme eastern border of Jericho.

20And those twelve stones, which they had taken out of the Jordan, did Joshua set up in Gilgal.

21And he said unto the children of Israel, thus, When your children shall ask in time to come their fathers, saying, What mean these stones?

22Then shall ye let your children know, saying, On dry land did Israel pass over this Jordan;

23That the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over;

24In order that all the nations of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty; in order that ye may fear the Lord your God all the days.