Joshua 4:4-13

4So Joshua called the 12 men that he had chosen, one from each Israelite tribe.

5He said to them, ‘Go into the middle of the river, beyond the Lord's Covenant Box. Each of you must pick up a stone and put it on his shoulder. There will be one stone for each of the Israelite tribes.

6The heap of stones will help you to remember what happened today. In future years, your children will ask you, “What do these stones mean?”

7Then you will tell them that the water in the Jordan River stopped where the Lord's Covenant Box was. When the priests carried the Covenant Box into the river, the water stopped. These stones will help the people of Israel to remember this for ever.’

8So the 12 men obeyed Joshua's command. They took 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan River, as the Lord had told Joshua. There was one stone for each Israelite tribe. They carried the stones to the place where the people had put their tents. They put the stones down there.

9Joshua also made a heap of 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan River. He put them in the place where the priests with the Covenant Box had stood. Those stones are still there today.

10The priests had carried the Covenant Box into the middle of the river. They stood there while the people did everything that the Lord had told Joshua. That is what Moses had also told Joshua. The people crossed over the river quickly.

11As soon as everybody was on the other side, the priests also took the Covenant Box to the other side. The people watched them as they did this.

12The tribes of Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh led the people across. They were all ready to fight, as Moses had told them.

13About 40,000 men who had weapons crossed to the flat land near Jericho. They marched past the Lord's Covenant Box.