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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Joshua 4 New American Bible</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/joshua/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcc/joshua/4-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com/catholic">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NABRE</a> > Joshua 4</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../joshua/3.htm" title="Joshua 3">◄</a> Joshua 4 <a href="../joshua/5.htm" title="Joshua 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New American Bible Revised Edition</td><td width="1%" valign="top"></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><section id="ch06004" class="chapter"> <h1 id="cn06004" class="cn"></h1> <p class="pf"><span class="hemb">Memorial Stones.</span> <span id="v06004001" class="ver">1</span>After the entire nation had completed the crossing of the Jordan, <span id="v06004002" class="ver">2</span>the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> said to Joshua: Choose twelve men<a id="ren06004002-a" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en06004002-a">a</a> from the people, one from each tribe, <span id="v06004003" class="ver">3</span>and command them, “Take up twelve stones from this spot in the Jordan riverbed where the priests have been standing.<a id="ren06004003-b" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en06004003-b">b</a> Carry them over with you, and place them where you are to stay tonight.”</p> <p><span id="v06004004" class="ver">4</span>Summoning the twelve men he had selected from among the Israelites, one from each tribe, <span id="v06004005" class="ver">5</span>Joshua said to them: “Go to the Jordan riverbed in front of the ark of the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, your God; lift to your shoulders one stone apiece, so that they will equal in number the tribes of the Israelites. <span id="v06004006" class="ver">6</span>In the future, these are to be a sign among you. When your children ask you,<a id="rfn06004006-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn06004006-1">*</a> ‘What do these stones mean to you?’<a id="ren06004006-c" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en06004006-c">c</a> <span id="v06004007" class="ver">7</span>you shall answer them, ‘The waters of the Jordan ceased to flow before the ark of the covenant of the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> when it crossed the Jordan.’<a id="ren06004007-d" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en06004007-d">d</a> Thus these stones are to serve as a perpetual memorial to the Israelites.” <span id="v06004008" class="ver">8</span>The twelve Israelites did as Joshua had commanded: they took up twelve stones from the Jordan riverbed as the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> had said to Joshua, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites. They carried them along to the camp site, and there they placed them. <span id="v06004009" class="ver">9</span>Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the Jordan riverbed on the spot where the priests stood who were carrying the ark of the covenant. They are there to this day.</p> <p><span id="v06004010" class="ver">10</span><a id="rfn06004010-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn06004010-1">*</a> The priests carrying the ark stood in the Jordan riverbed until everything had been done that the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> had commanded Joshua to tell the people, just as Moses had commanded Joshua. The people crossed over quickly, <span id="v06004011" class="ver">11</span>and when all the people had completed the crossing, the ark of the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> also crossed; and the priests were now in front of them. <span id="v06004012" class="ver">12</span>The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh, armed, marched in the vanguard of the Israelites, as Moses had ordered. <span id="v06004013" class="ver">13</span>About forty thousand troops, equipped for battle, crossed over before the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> to the plains of Jericho for war.</p> <p><span id="v06004014" class="ver">14</span>That day the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel,<a id="ren06004014-e" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en06004014-e">e</a> and so during his whole life they feared him as they had feared Moses.</p> <p><span id="v06004015" class="ver">15</span>Then the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> said to Joshua: <span id="v06004016" class="ver">16</span>Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant to come up from the Jordan. <span id="v06004017" class="ver">17</span>Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up from the Jordan,” <span id="v06004018" class="ver">18</span>and when the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> had come up from the Jordan riverbed, as the soles of their feet regained the dry ground, the waters of the Jordan resumed their course and as before overflowed all its banks.</p> <p><span id="v06004019" class="ver">19</span>The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and camped in Gilgal on the eastern limits of Jericho.<a id="ren06004019-f" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en06004019-f">f</a> <span id="v06004020" class="ver">20</span>At Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been taken from the Jordan, <span id="v06004021" class="ver">21</span>saying to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ <span id="v06004022" class="ver">22</span>you shall inform them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan here on dry ground.’ <span id="v06004023" class="ver">23</span>For the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, your God, dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of you until you crossed over, just as the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, your God, had done at the Red Sea, drying it up in front of us until we crossed over,<a id="ren06004023-g" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en06004023-g">g</a> <span id="v06004024" class="ver">24</span>in order that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the <span class="tetr">Lord</span> is mighty, and that you may fear the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, your God, forever.”<a id="ren06004024-h" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en06004024-h">h</a></p> </section> <br /><h1 class="cn"><a class="xref" href="intro.htm"><span class="ac">Book Introduction</span></a></h1><h1 class="cn"><a class="xref" href="footnotes.htm"><span class="ac">Footnotes</span></a></h1></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the <i>New American Bible, revised edition</i> © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. 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