Joshua 4:2

Contemporary English Version

Tell one man from each of the twelve tribes to pick up a large rock from where the priests are standing. Then have the men set up those rocks as a monument at the place where you camp tonight.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Choose twelve men from the people, one man for each tribe,

Hebrew Names Version
Take twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

King James Version
Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

Lexham English Bible
"Take twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe,

English Standard Version
"Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man,

New Century Version
"Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe.

New English Translation
"Select for yourselves twelve men from the people, one per tribe.

Amplified Bible
"Take for yourselves the twelve men [chosen] from among the people, one man from each tribe,

New American Standard Bible
"Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe,

Geneva Bible (1587)
Take you twelue me out of the people, out of euery tribe a man,

Legacy Standard Bible
"Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe,

Complete Jewish Bible
"Take for yourselves from the people twelve men, a man from every tribe;

Darby Translation
Take you twelve men out of the people, one man out of every tribe,

Easy-to-Read Version
"Choose twelve men, one from each tribe.

George Lamsa Translation
Take twelve men from the people, a man out of every tribe,

Good News Translation
"Choose twelve men, one from each tribe,

Literal Translation
Take twelve men for you out of the people, one man of each tribe.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Take vp twolue stones out of Iordane,

American Standard Version
Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

Bible in Basic English
Take twelve men from the people, a man for every tribe,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Take you twelue men out of the people, out of euery tribe a man,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
'Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

King James Version (1611)
Take you twelue men out of the people, out of euery tribe a man,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Take men from the people, one of each tribe,

English Revised Version
Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

Berean Standard Bible
"Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Chese thou twelue men,

Young's Literal Translation
`Take for you out of the people twelve men, one man -- one man out of a tribe;

Update Bible Version
Take for yourselves twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe one man,

Webster's Bible Translation
Take you twelve men from the people, from every tribe a man,

World English Bible
Take twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

New King James Version
"Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe,

New Living Translation
"Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe.

New Life Bible
"Choose twelve men from the people, one man from each family.

New Revised Standard
"Select twelve men from the people, one from each tribe,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Take unto you, from among the people, twelve men, one man severally from each tribe;

Douay-Rheims Bible
Choose twelve men, one of every tribe:

Revised Standard Version
"Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe,

Contextual Overview

¹ After Israel had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua: ²Tell one man from each of the twelve tribes to pick up a large rock from where the priests are standing. Then have the men set up those rocks as a monument at the place where you camp tonight. ⁴ Joshua chose twelve men; he called them together, ⁵ and told them: Go to the middle of the riverbed where the sacred chest is, and pick up a large rock. Carry it on your shoulder to our camp. There are twelve of you, so there will be one rock for each tribe. ⁶Someday your children will ask, "Why are these rocks here?" Then you can tell them how the water stopped flowing when the chest was being carried across the river. These rocks will always remind our people of what happened here today. ⁸ The men followed the instructions that the Lord had given Joshua. They picked up twelve rocks, one for each tribe, and carried them to the camp, where they put them down. ⁹ Joshua had some other men set up a monument next to the place where the priests were standing. This monument was also made of twelve large rocks, and it is still there in the middle of the river.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

twelve men: Joshua 3:12, Numbers 1:4-15, Numbers 13:2, Numbers 34:18, Deuteronomy 1:23, 1 Kings 18:31, Matthew 10:1-5

Reciprocal: Exodus 24:4 - according Joshua 4:4 - prepared Joshua 4:8 - did so as Joshua Joshua 18:4 - three

Cross-References

Genesis 3:23
So the Lord God sent them out of the Garden of Eden, where they would have to work the ground from which the man had been made.

Genesis 4:25
Adam and his wife had another son. They named him Seth, because they said, "God has given us a son to take the place of Abel, who was killed by his brother Cain."

Genesis 4:26
Later, Seth had a son and named him Enosh. About this time people started worshiping the Lord .

Genesis 9:20
Noah farmed the land and was the first to plant a vineyard.

Genesis 37:13
his father Jacob said to him, "I want you to go to your brothers. They are with the sheep near Shechem." "Yes, sir," Joseph answered.

Genesis 47:3
who asked them, "What do you do for a living?" "Sir, we are shepherds," was their answer. "Our families have always raised sheep.

Exodus 3:1
One day, Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and Moses decided to lead them across the desert to Sinai, the holy mountain.

Psalms 127:3
Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord .

Amos 7:15
But the Lord told me to leave my herds and preach to the people of Israel.

Luke 11:51
This includes every prophet from the time of Abel to the time of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the temple. You people will certainly be punished for all of this.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Take you twelve men out of the people,.... Joshua had before this ordered twelve men to be taken from among them, which seems to have been done of himself; and now he has a direction from God for it, and what to employ them in:

out of every tribe a man; so that what they did was in the name of the several tribes, and as representing them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Take you twelve men - The order is given in the plural, because no doubt the tribes themselves were to choose their own representatives, the choice being approved by Joshua Joshua 4:4. These twelve would be left with Joshua on the hither bank of the river, waiting to receive his orders after the rest of the people had made their way across Joshua 3:17; Joshua 4:1.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 4:2. Take you twelve men — From Joshua 3:12, it appears that the twelve men had been before appointed, one taken out of each of the twelve tribes; and now they are employed for that purpose for which they had been before selected.