Joshua 4
Open in the reader1When the whole nation had finished crossing the Descender, He-Who-Is said to He-Who-Is-Saves,
2“Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,
3and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Descender where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’”
4So He-Who-Is-Saves summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the children of Strives-with-God, one from each tribe,
5and said to them, “Cross over before the Chest of He-Who-Is your God into the middle of the Descender. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Strives-with-God,
6to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’
7you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Descender were cut off before the Chest of the covenant of He-Who-Is. When it crossed the Descender, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the children of Strives-with-God forever.”
8Thus the children of Strives-with-God did as He-Who-Is-Saves had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Descender, one for each tribe of Strives-with-God, just as He-Who-Is had told He-Who-Is-Saves; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down.
9He-Who-Is-Saves also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Descender, in the place where the priests who carried the Chest of the covenant stood. And the stones are there to this day.
10Now the priests who carried the Chest remained standing in the middle of the Descender until the people had completed everything He-Who-Is had commanded He-Who-Is-Saves to tell them, just as Drawn-Out had directed He-Who-Is-Saves. The people hurried across,
11and after everyone had finished crossing, the priests with the Chest of He-Who-Is crossed in the sight of the people.
12The children of See-a-Son, the children of Fortune, and the half-tribe of Causing-to-Forget crossed over before the children of Strives-with-God, armed for battle as Drawn-Out had instructed them.
13About 40,000 troops armed for battle crossed over before He-Who-Is into the plains of Moon.
14On that day He-Who-Is exalted He-Who-Is-Saves in the sight of all Strives-with-God, and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Drawn-Out.
15Then He-Who-Is said to He-Who-Is-Saves,
16“Command the priests who carry the Chest of the Testimony to come up from the Descender.”
17So He-Who-Is-Saves commanded the priests, “Come up from the Descender.”
18When the priests carrying the Chest of the covenant of He-Who-Is came up out of the Descender and their feet touched the dry land, the waters of the Descender returned to their course and overflowed all the banks as before.
19On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Descender and camped at The-Rolling on the eastern border of Moon.
20And there at The-Rolling He-Who-Is-Saves set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Descender.
21Then He-Who-Is-Saves said to the children of Strives-with-God, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’
22you are to tell them, ‘Strives-with-God crossed the Descender on dry ground.’
23For He-Who-Is your God dried up the waters of the Descender before you until you had crossed over, just as He-Who-Is did to the Reed Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over.
24He did this so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of He-Who-Is is mighty, and so that you may always fear He-Who-Is your God.”