| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, | 1When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, |
| 2“Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, | 2“Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. |
| 3and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’ ” | 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.’” |
| 4So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, | 4So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. |
| 5and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes 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. |
| 6to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these 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?’ |
| 7you are to tell 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 were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites 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.” |
| 8Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down. | 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. |
| 9Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood. And the stones 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. |
| 10Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until the people had completed everything the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell them, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried across, | 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 after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the ark of the LORD crossed in the sight of 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 Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over before the Israelites, armed for battle as Moses had instructed 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 troops armed for battle crossed over before the LORD into 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 revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses. | 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. |
| 15Then the LORD said to Joshua, | 15The LORD had said to Joshua, |
| 16“Command the priests who carry the ark of the Testimony to come up from 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 from the Jordan.” | 17So Joshua gave the command. |
| 18When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the Jordan and their feet touched the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their course and overflowed all the 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. |
| 19On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern 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 there at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan. | 20It was there at Gilgal that Joshua piled up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River. |
| 21Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’ | 21Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ |
| 22you are to tell them, ‘Israel crossed the 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 before you until you had crossed over, just as He did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed 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. |
| 24He did this so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, and so that you may always fear the LORD your God.” | 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.” |
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