| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, | 1When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, |
| 2Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, | 2“Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. |
| 3And 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. | 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.’” |
| 4Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: | 4So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. |
| 5And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children 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. |
| 6That 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? | 6We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ |
| 7Then 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. | 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.” |
| 8And 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. | 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. |
| 9And 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. | 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. |
| 10For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing 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. | 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 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. | 11And when everyone was safely on the other side, the priests crossed over with the Ark of the LORD as the people watched. |
| 12And 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: | 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 forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to 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 magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. | 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. |
| 15And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, | 15The LORD had said to Joshua, |
| 16Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan. | 16“Command the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant to come up out of the riverbed.” |
| 17Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. | 17So Joshua gave the command. |
| 18And 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. | 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. |
| 19And 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. | 19The people crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. Then they camped at Gilgal, just east of Jericho. |
| 20And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. | 20It was there at Gilgal that Joshua piled up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan River. |
| 21And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? | 21Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ |
| 22Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. | 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 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: | 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. |
| 24That 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. | 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.” |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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