1 Once the whole nation had crossed,
2 Yahweh said to Joshua: "Choose twelve men, one from each tribe,
3 and give them the following order: Take twelve stones from the riverbed of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests stood still. Bring them with you and put them where you will encamp tonight."
4 Joshua then called the twelve men he had chosen from the twelve tribes of Israel
5 and ordered them: "Walk to the Ark, up to the middle of the Jordan and take from there a stone for each tribe and carry it upon your shoulder.
6 They will remain with you as a sign of what happened, so that when your children ask you in the future: What do these stones mean for you?
7 you may answer: When the Ark of Yahweh crossed the Jordan, the water parted before it. So these stones shall serve as a memorial to the Israelites forever."
8 The Israelites carried out Joshua's order and picked up twelve stones from the riverbed of the Jordan, one for each tribe, just as Yahweh had ordered Joshua. They brought these to the place where they encamped and placed them there.
9 Joshua piled up twelve stones on the riverbed of the Jordan, at the spot where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant stood. They are still there to this day.
10 The priests who carried the Ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until Joshua finished saying everything that Yahweh had ordered him.
11 Then when all the people had finished crossing the river, the Ark also crossed, and the priests walked at the head of the people again.
12 The men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh went ahead armed, as Moses had ordered them to do.
13 They were about forty thousand, well-armed, and they marched before Yahweh, ready for battle, to the plains of Jericho.
14 On that day, Yahweh exalted Joshua before all Israel, and henceforth they respected him all the days of his life as they had done with Moses.
15 Yahweh said to Joshua:
16 "Command the priests who carry the Ark of the Divine Words to come up from the Jordan."
17 Joshua, therefore, ordered them to come up from the river.
18 And when these priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh came up from the middle of the Jordan, when their feet touched the banks, the waters of the Jordan returned as abundantly as on previous days and overflowed its banks.
19 It was on the tenth day of the first month when the people came up out of the Jordan and encamped in Gilgal, on the eastern border of Jericho.
20 There in Gilgal, Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the riverbed of the Jordan.
21 Then Joshua said to the Israelites: "When your children ask you in the future what these stones mean,
22 then you shall tell them that the people of Israel crossed the Jordan without getting their feet wet,
23 for Yahweh, our God, dried up the waters of the Jordan before us just as he did to the Red Sea which he also dried up before us to let us cross.
24 He did this so that the people of this land may know the power of Yahweh, our God, and that you yourselves may fear him forever."
Versículos relacionados com Joshua, 4:
Joshua chapter 4 reports the moment when the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River on foot, while the waters were dammed by the power of God. For the memory of this event to be preserved, Joshua ordered twelve men, one of each tribe, to caught a middle stone of the river and put it as a memorial in Gilgal. Below is five verses related to topics covered in Joshua 4, excluding verses from the chapter itself:
Psalm 78:13: "He made the sea from, and made them pass through his midst; and made the waters stop as in a heap." This verse refers to the moment God made the Red Sea open so that the children of Israel would walk a lean foot. As in the case of the Jordan River, this event was an act of divine power to rid the people of the Egyptian captivity.
Psalm 111:4: "He made his wonders to be remembered; godly and merciful is the Lord." This verse highlights the importance of remembering the wonders God performs, such as the opening of the Red Sea and the damage of the Jordan River, so that faith and trust in the Lord are strengthened.
Isaiah 43:16: "Thus saith the Lord, who has prepared a path in the sea, and a path in the impetuous waters;" This verse refers to the opening of the Red Sea, but can also be applied to the Jordan River crossing, showing that God has the power to open paths in impossible situations.
1 Corinthians 10:1-2: "Now, brothers, I do not want you to ignore that our parents were all under the cloud, and all passed by the sea. And they were all baptized in Moses, the cloud and in the sea." This excerpt from the New Testament recalls the episode of the Red Sea crossing, but also applies to the Jordan River crossing, emphasizing that these events were important to the identity and faith of God's people.
Hebrews 11:29: "By faith, the Red Sea passed, as by dry land; which intended the Egyptians drowned." This verse is part of the chapter of faith in Hebrews, which highlights examples of men and women who lived by faith. The reference to the passage through the Red Sea shows that faith was what allowed the children of Israel to cross the waters, not human strength.
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