New King James Version

Joshua 4:9-21 New King James Version (NKJV)

9. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.

10. So the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished 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 over.

11. Then it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over, that the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.

12. And the men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them.

13. About forty thousand prepared for war crossed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho.

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

15. Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

16. “Command the priests who bear the ark of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan.”

17. Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.”

18. And it came to pass, when the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet touched the dry land, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks as before.

19. Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho.

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

21. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’