'Stones' in the Bible

And he came to a certain place and stayed overnight there because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down there [to sleep].

Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a mound [of stones], and they ate [a ceremonial meal together] there on the mound [of stones].

onyx stones and setting stones for the [priest’s] ephod and for the breastpiece.

You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the [twelve] sons of Israel,

With the work of a jeweler, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel. You shall have them set in filigree [settings] of gold.

You shall put the two stones on the [two] shoulder pieces of the ephod [of the high priest], as memorial stones for Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names on his two shoulders as a memorial before the Lord.

You shall mount on it four rows of stones: the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald;

The [engraved] stones shall be twelve, according to the names of [the twelve tribes of] the sons of Israel; they shall be like the engravings of a signet, each with its name for the twelve tribes.

and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship.

and onyx stones and other stones to be set for the ephod and the breastpiece.

The leaders brought onyx stones and other stones to be put in settings for the ephod and for the breastpiece,

and in the cutting of stones for setting and in the carving of wood, for work in every skilled craft.

They made the onyx stones, set in settings of gold filigree; they were engraved as signets are engraved, with the names of [the twelve tribes of] the sons of Israel.

And he put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be memorial stones (a remembrance) for the sons of Israel (Jacob), just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

And they mounted four rows of stones on it. The first row was a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald;

The stones corresponded to the names of the sons of Israel; they were twelve [in all], corresponding to their names, engraved like a signet, each with its name, for the twelve tribes.

he shall order them to tear out the contaminated stones and throw them into an unclean place outside the city.

Then they shall take new stones and replace the [contaminated] stones, and he shall take plaster and replaster the house.

“If, however, the mark breaks out again in the house after he has removed the stones and has scraped and replastered the house,

He shall tear down the house—its stones and its timber and all the plaster of the house—and shall take everything outside the city to an unclean place.

“Moreover, you shall say to the children of Israel,‘Any Israelite or any stranger residing in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech (the god of the Ammonites) [as a human sacrifice] shall most certainly be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

‘A man or woman who is a medium [who pretends to consult the dead] or who is a spiritist shall most certainly be put to death, and be stoned with stones; their blood is on them.’”

Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they brought the one who had cursed [the Lord] outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

But all the congregation said to stone Joshua and Caleb with stones. But the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) before all the sons of Israel.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall certainly be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”

So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you and destroy all their sculpted images, and destroy all their cast idols and completely eliminate all their [idolatrous] high places,

a land where you will eat bread without shortage, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

So you shall stone him to death with stones, because he has tried to draw you away from the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to [enter] the land which the Lord your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with plaster (lime, whitewash).

Now when you cross the Jordan you shall set up these stones on Mount Ebal, just as I am commanding you today and coat them with plaster.

There you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you shall not use an iron tool on them.

You shall build the altar of the Lord your God with whole [uncut] stones, and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God;

And you shall write very clearly on the stones all the words of this law.”

and command them, ‘Pick up for yourselves twelve stones [one each] from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm; carry them over with you and lay them down at the place where you will spend the night tonight.’”

so that this may be a sign among you; when your children ask later, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’

then you shall say to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall become a memorial for Israel forever.”

So the [twelve men chosen from the] sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had spoken to Joshua; and they carried them over with them to the place where they were spending the night and put them down there.

Then Joshua set up [a second monument of] twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.

And those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal.

He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’

Joshua said, “Why have you brought disaster on us? The Lord will bring you disaster this day.” Then all Israel stoned them [to death] with stones; afterward they burned their bodies in the fire.

Then they piled up over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Achor (Disaster) to this day.

He hanged [the body of] the king of Ai on a tree [leaving it there] until evening; at sunset Joshua gave a command and they took the body down from the tree and dumped it at the entrance of the city gate, and piled a great heap of stones over it that stands to this day.

just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no one has wielded an iron tool; and they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings.

And there, in the presence of the sons of Israel, Joshua wrote on the stones a copy of the Law of Moses which Moses had written.

As they fled before Israel, while they were at the descent of Beth-horon, the Lord threw down large stones [of hail] from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. More [Amorites] died because of the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave, and assign men by it to guard them,

At sunset Joshua gave a command, and they took the bodies down from the trees and threw them into the cave where the kings had hidden themselves, and placed large stones over the mouth of the cave, [where they remain] to this very day.

But Ehud himself turned back from the sculptured stones at Gilgal, [and he returned to Eglon] and said [to him], “I have a secret message for you, O king.” Eglon said “Keep silence.” And all who attended him left him.

Now Ehud escaped while they lingered, and he passed beyond the sculptured stones and escaped to Seirah.

and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this mountain stronghold [with stones laid down] in an orderly way. Then take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice using the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.”

Then he took his [shepherd’s] staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the stream bed, and put them in his shepherd’s bag which he had, that is, in his shepherd’s pouch. With his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

As soon as the boy was gone, David got up from the south side [beside the mound of stones] and fell on his face to the ground [in submission and respect], and bowed three times. Then they kissed one another and wept together, but David wept more.

And he took the crown of their king from his head; it weighed a talent of gold, and [set in it was] a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought the spoil out of the city in great amounts.

He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; yet all the people and all the warriors remained on his right and on his left.

So David and his men went on the road; and Shimei went along on the hillside close beside David and cursed as he went and threw stones and dust at him.

They took [down the body of] Absalom and threw him into a deep pit in the forest and set up a huge mound of stones over him. Then all Israel fled, everyone to his own tent.

The king gave orders, and they quarried great stones, valuable stones, to lay the foundation of the house (temple) with cut stones.

So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of Gebal cut and chiseled the stones, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house (temple).

All these were of expensive stones, of stone cut according to measure, sawed with saws, inside and outside; even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great courtyard.

The foundation was of expensive stones, large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.

And above [the foundation] were expensive stones, stones cut according to measure, and cedar.

So she came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan (entourage), with camels carrying spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything that was on her mind [to discover the extent of his wisdom].

She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again did such an abundance of spices come in [to Israel] as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

Also the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a great quantity of almug wood (sandalwood) and precious stones.

The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as plentiful as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland.

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor [to represent him], and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to escape to Jerusalem.

Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah—none was exempt—and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had built [the fortifications]. And King Asa built with them [border fortresses at] Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

Then Elijah took twelve stones in accordance with the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”

So with the stones Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord. He made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed.

Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood, and even the stones and the dust; it also licked up the water in the trench.

You shall strike every fortified city and every choice (principal) city, and cut down every good tree and stop up all sources of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.’”

They destroyed the [walls of the] cities, and each man threw a stone on every piece of good land, covering it [with stones]. And they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees, until they left nothing in Kir-hareseth [Moab’s capital city] but its stones. Then the [stone] slingers surrounded the city and destroyed it.

Further, the altar that was at Bethel, the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah.

David took the crown of their king from his head and found that it weighed a talent of gold and that there was a precious stone in it; so it was set on David’s head. He also brought a very great amount of spoil (plunder) out of the city [of Rabbah].

So David gave orders to gather the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, and he assigned stonecutters to hew out stones to build the house of God.

So with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, silver for the things of silver, bronze for the things of bronze, iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, as well as onyx stones and stones to be inlaid, stones of antimony (a brittle, silvery-white metal) and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance.

Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite.

The king made silver and gold as plentiful and common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore-fig trees in the lowland.

And he adorned the house with precious stones; and the gold was gold from Parvaim.

When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with riddles. She was accompanied by a very large number of attendants, with camels bearing spices (balsam oil) and a large amount of gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was on her mind.

Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, a very large amount of spices (balsam oil) and precious stones; there was no such spice [anywhere] like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

The servants of Huram and those of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought almug trees and precious stones.

The king made silver in Jerusalem as common as stones, and cedar wood as plentiful as the sycamore-fig trees that are in the lowland.

Then King Asa brought all Judah, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber with which Baasha had been building, and with them he fortified Geba and Mizpah.

Moreover, Uzziah prepared shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and sling stones for the entire army.

In Jerusalem he made machines of war invented by skillful men to be put on the towers and on the [corner] battlements for the purpose of shooting arrows and large stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.

Now Hezekiah had immense wealth and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of delightful articles,

Let it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, with beams laid in the walls; and this work goes on with diligence and care and is succeeding in their hands.

with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury.

He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the heaps of dust and rubbish, even the ones that have been burned?”

There were curtains (draperies) of fine white and violet linen fastened with cords of fine purple linen to silver rings and marble columns. The couches of gold and silver rested on a mosaic floor of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and precious colored stones.

“For you will be in harmony with the stones of the field,And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

“Is my strength and endurance that of stones,Or is my flesh made of bronze?

Water wears away the stones,Its floods and torrents wash away the soil of the earth,So You [O Lord] destroy the hope of man.

And place your gold in the dust,And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks [considering it of little value],

“Its stones are the bed of sapphires;It holds dust of gold.

For Your servants find [melancholy] pleasure in the stones [of her ruins]And feel pity for her dust.

A time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones;A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.