The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 When the whole nation was finally across, God spoke to Joshua:
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And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
2 "Select twelve men from the people, a man from each tribe,
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Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
3 and tell them, 'From right here, the middle of the Jordan where the feet of the priests are standing firm, take twelve stones. Carry them across with you and set them down in the place where you camp tonight.'"
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And 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.
4 Joshua called out the twelve men whom he selected from the People of Israel, one man from each tribe.
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Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
5 Joshua directed them, "Cross to the middle of the Jordan and take your place in front of the Chest of God, your God. Each of you heft a stone to your shoulder, a stone for each of the tribes of the People of Israel,
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And 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:
6 so you'll have something later to mark the occasion. When your children ask you, 'What are these stones to you?'
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That 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?
7 you'll say, 'The flow of the Jordan was stopped in front of the Chest of the Covenant of God as it crossed the Jordan - stopped in its tracks. These stones are a permanent memorial for the People of Israel.'"
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Then 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.
8 The People of Israel did exactly as Joshua commanded: They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan - a stone for each of the twelve tribes, just as God had instructed Joshua - carried them across with them to the camp, and set them down there.
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And 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.
9 Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the middle of the Jordan that had marked the place where the priests who carried the Chest of the Covenant had stood. They are still there today.
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And 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.
10 The priests carrying the Chest continued standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything God had instructed Joshua to tell the people to do was done (confirming what Moses had instructed Joshua). The people crossed; no one dawdled.
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For 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.
11 When the crossing of all the people was complete, they watched as the Chest of the Covenant and the priests crossed over.
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And 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.
12 The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had crossed over in battle formation in front of the People of Israel, obedient to Moses' instructions.
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And 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:
13 All told, about 40,000 armed soldiers crossed over before God to the plains of Jericho, ready for battle.
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About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.
14 God made Joshua great that day in the sight of all Israel. They were in awe of him just as they had been in awe of Moses all his life.
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On 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.
15 God told Joshua,
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And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
16 "Command the priests carrying the Chest of the Testimony to come up from the Jordan."
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Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.
17 Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan."
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Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.
18 They did it. The priests carrying God's Chest of the Covenant came up from the middle of the Jordan. As soon as the soles of the priests' feet touched dry land, the Jordan's waters resumed their flow within the banks, just as before.
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And 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.
19 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. They set up camp at The Gilgal (The Circle) to the east of Jericho.
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And 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.
20 Joshua erected a monument at The Gilgal, using the twelve stones that they had taken from the Jordan.
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And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal.
21 And then he told the People of Israel, "In the days to come, when your children ask their fathers, 'What are these stones doing here?'
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And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
22 tell your children this: 'Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry ground.'
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Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.
23 "Yes, God, your God, dried up the Jordan's waters for you until you had crossed, just as God, your God, did at the Red Sea, which had dried up before us until we had crossed.
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For 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:
24 This was so that everybody on earth would recognize how strong God's rescuing hand is and so that you would hold God in solemn reverence always."
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That 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.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.