Joshua 4:6

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Joshua 4:4–8 · Berean Standard Bible

4 So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,

5 and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel,

6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

7 you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”

8 Thus the Israelites did as Joshua had commanded them. They took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each tribe of Israel, just as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them to the camp, where they set them down.

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Joshua 22:27

Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD!’

Exodus 12:14

And this day will be a memorial for you, and you are to celebrate it as a feast to the LORD, as a permanent statute for the generations to come.

Exodus 13:9

It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.

Exodus 31:13

“Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

Numbers 16:38

As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”

Isaiah 55:13

Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will spring up; they will make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”

Ezekiel 20:12

I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Ezekiel 20:20

Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’

Joshua 4:21

Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’

Exodus 12:26

When your children ask you, ‘What does this service mean to you?’

Exodus 12:27

you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck down the Egyptians and spared our homes.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.

Exodus 13:14

In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Deuteronomy 6:20

In the future, when your son asks, “What is the meaning of the decrees and statutes and ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?”

Deuteronomy 6:21

then you are to tell him, “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

Deuteronomy 11:19

Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Psalms 44:1

We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.

Psalms 71:18

Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

Psalms 78:3

that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.

Psalms 78:4

We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might, and the wonders He has performed.

Psalms 78:5

For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,

Psalms 78:6

that the coming generation would know them— even children yet to be born— to arise and tell their own children

Psalms 78:7

that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments.

Psalms 78:8

Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Isaiah 38:19

The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.

Acts 2:39

This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”