Joshua 4:2

Easy-to-Read Version

"Choose twelve men, one from each tribe.

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,

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.

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,

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 all the people had crossed the Jordan River, the Lord said to Joshua, ² "Choose twelve men, one from each tribe. ³ Tell them to look in the river where the priests were standing and get twelve rocks from that place. Carry these rocks with you and put them where you stay tonight." ⁴ So Joshua chose one man from each tribe. Then he called the twelve men together. ⁵ He said to them, "Go out into the river where the Holy Box of the Lord your God is. Each of you must find one rock. There will be one rock for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Carry that rock on your shoulder. ⁶ These rocks will be a sign for you. In the future, your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean?' ⁷ You will tell them that the Lord stopped the water from flowing in the Jordan River. When the Holy Box of the Lord 's Agreement crossed the river, the water stopped flowing. These rocks will help the Israelites remember this forever." ⁸ So the Israelites obeyed Joshua. They carried twelve rocks from the middle of the Jordan River. There was one rock for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. They did this as the Lord had commanded Joshua. The men carried the rocks with them. Then they put the rocks at the place where they made their camp. ⁹ Joshua also put twelve rocks in the middle of the Jordan River. He put them at the place where the priests had stood while carrying the Holy Box. These rocks are still there today.

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 forced the man out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground he was made from.

Genesis 4:25
Adam again had sexual relations with his wife, and she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth. Eve said, "God has given me another son. Cain killed Abel, but now I have Seth."

Genesis 4:26
Seth also had a son. He named him Enosh. At that time people began to pray to the Lord .

Genesis 9:20
Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard.

Genesis 37:13
Jacob said to Joseph, "Go to Shechem. Your brothers are there with my sheep." Joseph answered, "I will go."

Genesis 47:3
Pharaoh said to the brothers, "What work do you do?" The brothers said to Pharaoh, "Sir, we are shepherds, just as our ancestors were shepherds before us."

Exodus 3:1
Moses' father-in-law was named Jethro. Jethro was a priest of Midian. Moses took care of Jethro's sheep. One day Moses led the sheep to the west side of the desert. He went to a mountain called Horeb, the mountain of God.

Psalms 127:3
Children are a gift from the Lord , a reward from a mother's womb.

Amos 7:15
I was a shepherd and the Lord took me from following the sheep. The Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'

Luke 11:51
You will be punished for the killing of Abel. And you will be punished for the killing of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the Temple. Yes, I tell you that you people will be punished for them all.

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.