| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, | 1When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, |
| 2“Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, | 2“Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. |
| 3and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” | 3Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’” |
| 4Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. | 4So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. |
| 5And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, | 5He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the LORD your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. |
| 6that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ | 6We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ |
| 7then you shall tell 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. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” | 7Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.” |
| 8And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the LORD told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. | 8So the men did as Joshua had commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the LORD had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there. |
| 9And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. | 9Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. And they are there to this day. |
| 10For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people passed over in haste. | 10The priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the river until all of the LORD’s commands that Moses had given to Joshua were carried out. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the riverbed. |
| 11And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the LORD and the priests passed over before the people. | 11And when everyone was safely on the other side, the priests crossed over with the Ark of the LORD as the people watched. |
| 12The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. | 12The armed warriors from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh led the Israelites across the Jordan, just as Moses had directed. |
| 13About 40,000 ready for war passed over before the LORD for battle, to the plains of Jericho. | 13These armed men—about 40,000 strong—were ready for battle, and the LORD was with them as they crossed over to the plains of Jericho. |
| 14On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life. | 14That day the LORD made Joshua a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites, and for the rest of his life they revered him as much as they had revered Moses. |
| 15And the LORD said to Joshua, | 15The LORD had said to Joshua, |
| 16“Command the priests bearing the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan.” | 16“Command the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant to come up out of the riverbed.” |
| 17So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” | 17So Joshua gave the command. |
| 18And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before. | 18As soon as the priests carrying the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant came up out of the riverbed and their feet were on high ground, the water of the Jordan returned and overflowed its banks as before. |
| 19The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. | 19The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. Then they camped at Gilgal, just east of Jericho. |
| 20And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. | 20It was there at Gilgal that Joshua piled up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River. |
| 21And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ | 21Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ |
| 22then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ | 22Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ |
| 23For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, | 23For the LORD your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. |
| 24so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” | 24He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the LORD’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the LORD your God forever.” |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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