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1 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
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2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
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3 And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
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4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
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5 And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
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6 That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
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7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
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8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
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9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.
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10 For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
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11 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people.
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12 And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them:
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13 About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.
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14 On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.
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15 And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
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16 Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.
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17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.
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18 And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.
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19 And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.
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20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
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21 And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
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22 Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
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23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of 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:
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24 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.
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- 1 Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,
- 2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe,
- 3 and command them, saying, 'Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.'”
- 4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe;
- 5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel.
- 6 “Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?'
- 7 then you shall say to them, 'Because 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.' So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”
- 8 Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and put them down there.
- 9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.
- 10 For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the LORD had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed;
- 11 and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the LORD and the priests crossed before the people.
- 12 The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle array before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them;
- 13 about 40,000 equipped for war, crossed for battle before the LORD to the desert plains of Jericho.
- 14 On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; so that they revered him, just as they had revered Moses all the days of his life.
- 15 Now the LORD said to Joshua,
- 16 “Command the priests who carry the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan.”
- 17 So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.”
- 18 It came about when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD had come up from the middle 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.
- 19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho.
- 20 Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal.
- 21 He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?'
- 22 then you shall inform your children, saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.'
- 23 “For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed;
- 24 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”
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