A Stone on Each Shoulder

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan,

the Lord said to Joshua,

"Choose twelve men from among the people,

one from each tribe,

and tell them to take up twelve stones 

from the middle of the Jordan

from right where the priests stood

and to carry them over with you

and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."

So Joshua called together the twelve men

he had appointed from the Israelites,

one from each tribe,

and said to them,

"Go over before the ark of the Lord your God

into the middle of the Jordan.

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 among you.

In the future, when your children ask you,

'What do these stones mean?'

tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off

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

to the people of Israel forever."

(Joshua 4:1-7)