The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 After the whole nation had finished crossing the Yarden, ADONAI said to Y'hoshua,
1
The whole nation finished crossing the Jordan River. The LORD had told Joshua,
2 "Take for yourselves from the people twelve men, a man from every tribe;
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"Choose one man from each of the 12 tribes.
3 and give them this order: 'Take twelve stones from the middle of the Yarden riverbed, where the cohanim are standing, carry them over with you and set them down in the place where you will camp tonight.'"
3
Order them to pick up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, where the priests' feet stood firmly. Take the stones along with you, and set them down where you will camp tonight."
4 Y'hoshua called the twelve men whom he had chosen from the people of Isra'el, a man from every tribe,
4
Joshua called the 12 men whom he had selected (one from each tribe).
5 and said to them, "Go on ahead of the ark of ADONAI your God into the riverbed of the Yarden. Then, each of you take a stone on his shoulder, corresponding to the number of tribes of the people of Isra'el.
5
He said to them, "Go to the middle of the Jordan River in front of the ark of the LORD your God. Each man must take a stone on his shoulder, one for each tribe of Israel.
6 This will be a sign for you. In the future, when your children ask, 'What do you mean by these stones?'
6
This will be a sign for you. In the future your children will ask, 'What do these stones mean to you?'
7 you will answer them, 'It's because the water in the Yarden was cut off before the ark for the covenant of ADONAI; when it crossed the Yarden, the water in the Yarden was cut off; and these stones are to be a reminder for the people of Isra'el forever.'"
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You should answer, 'The water of the Jordan River was cut off in front of the ark of the LORD's promise. When the ark crossed the Jordan, the river stopped flowing. These stones are a permanent reminder for the people of Israel.'"
8 The people of Isra'el did just as Y'hoshua had ordered. They took twelve stones out of the Yarden riverbed, as ADONAI had said to Y'hoshua, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the people of Isra'el, carried them over with them to the place where they were camping, and set them down there.
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The people of Israel did as Joshua had ordered. They took 12 stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel. They took them from the middle of the Jordan as the LORD had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there.
9 Y'hoshua also set up twelve stones in the Yarden River itself, in the place where the feet of the cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant had stood. They are there to this day.
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Joshua also set 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan River, where the priests who carried the ark of the promise had stood. The stones are still there today.
10 The cohanim carrying the ark stood in the Yarden riverbed until Y'hoshua had finished saying to the people everything that ADONAI had ordered him to say, in keeping with everything that Moshe had ordered Y'hoshua; then the people hurried across.
10
The priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan. They stood there until everything the LORD had ordered Joshua to tell the people had been carried out. This was as Moses had told Joshua. The people hurried to the other side.
11 When all the people had finished crossing, the ark of ADONAI passed on, and the cohanim, ahead of the people.
11
As soon as everyone had crossed, the priests with the LORD's ark crossed and went ahead of them.
12 The descendants of Re'uven, the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh went on, armed, ahead of the people of Isra'el, as Moshe had said to them;
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The men of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh did as Moses had told them. They marched across in battle formation ahead of the people of Israel .
13 some 40,000 armed soldiers ready for battle crossed in the presence of ADONAI to the plains of Yericho.
13
About 40,000 armed men crossed the river in front of the LORD to the plains of Jericho for battle.
14 That day ADONAI made Y'hoshua great in full view of all Isra'el. They were in awe of him, just as they had been in awe of Moshe all his life.
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On that day the LORD honored Joshua in the presence of all the Israelites. As long as Joshua lived, the Israelites respected him in the same way they had respected Moses.
15 ADONAI said to Y'hoshua,
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The LORD said to Joshua,
16 "Order the cohanim carrying the ark for the testimony to come up out of the Yarden."
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"Order the priests who carry the ark of the testimony to come out of the Jordan River."
17 So Y'hoshua ordered the cohanim, "Come up out of the Yarden!"
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So Joshua ordered the priests, "Come out of the Jordan."
18 The cohanim carrying the ark for the covenant of ADONAI came up from the Yarden riverbed, and as soon as the soles of the feet of the cohanim touched dry ground, the water of the Yarden returned to its place and the river overflowed its banks as it had before.
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The priests who carried the ark of the LORD's promise came out of the middle of the Jordan. When their feet stepped onto dry land, the water of the Jordan returned to its seasonal flood level.
19 The people came up out of the Yarden on the tenth day of the first month and camped at Gilgal, by the eastern boundary of Yericho.
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On the tenth day of the first month, the people came out of the Jordan River. They made their camp at Gilgal, just east of Jericho.
20 Those twelve stones which they took out of the Yarden, Y'hoshua piled up at Gilgal.
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At Gilgal Joshua set up the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan.
21 Then he said to the people of Isra'el, "In the future, when your children ask their fathers what these stones mean,
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He said to the people of Israel, "In the future when children ask their parents, 'What do these stones mean?'
22 you are to explain it to them by saying, 'Isra'el came over this Yarden on dry land.
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the children should be told that Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry ground.
23 For ADONAI your God dried up the water in the Yarden from in front of you, until you had crossed, just as ADONAI your God did to the Sea of Suf, which he dried up from in front of us, until we had crossed.
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The LORD your God dried up the Jordan ahead of you until you had crossed, as he did to the Red Sea until we had crossed.
24 From this all the peoples of the earth can know that the hand of ADONAI is strong, and you can fear ADONAI your God forever.'"
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The LORD did this so that everyone in the world would know his mighty power and that you would fear the LORD your God every day of your life."
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.