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Joshua said to them: “Go to the Jordan riverbed in front of the ark of the Lord, your God; lift to your shoulders one stone apiece, so that they will equal in number the tribes of the Israelites. In the future, these are to be a sign among you. When your children ask you,[a] ‘What do these stones mean to you?’(A) you shall answer them, ‘The waters of the Jordan ceased to flow before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it crossed the Jordan.’(B) Thus these stones are to serve as a perpetual memorial to the Israelites.”

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Footnotes

  1. 4:6 When your children ask you: reminiscent of the question and response at the Passover meal, Ex 12:26–27.

and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.(A) Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign(B) among you. In the future, when your children(C) ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’(D) tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off(E) before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial(F) to the people of Israel forever.”

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