Bible Compass
Log inGet started
Back to the chapter

Joshua 3:4

Guidance and decisionsGod's presence

2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;

3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.

Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

Read the whole chapter

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between yourselves and the ark. Do not go near it, so that you can see the way to go, since you have never traveled this way before.”
KJV
Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
WEB
Yet there shall be a space between you and it of about two thousand cubits by measure—don’t come closer to it—that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before.”
ASV
Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
DARBY
yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Ye shall not come near it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; for ye have not passed this way heretofore.
BLB
Yet there shall be a space between you⁺ and between it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near to it, so that you⁺ may know the way that you⁺ must go, for you⁺ have not passed by this way from yesterday and the day before yesterday.”
ÅB
- dog skal det være en avstand mellom dere og den, omkring to tusen alen; dere må ikke komme den for nær - så dere kan vite hva vei dere skal gå; for dere har ikke draget den vei før.
OTB
Men det skal være en avstand på omkring to tusen alen mellom dere og den. Gå ikke nær den, så dere kan vite hvilken vei dere skal gå, for dere har ikke gått denne veien før.”
B1930
- dog skal det være en avstand mellem eder og den, omkring to tusen alen; I må ikke komme den for nær - så I kan vite hvad vei I skal gå; for I har ikke draget den vei før.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Psalms 89:7

    God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

    Read in context

  • Exodus 3:5

    And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

    Read in context

  • Hebrews 12:28–29

    Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

    Read in context

  • Exodus 19:12

    And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:

    Read in context

  • 1 Chronicles 11:2

    And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel.

    Read in context

  • Exodus 4:10

    And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

    Read in context

  • Genesis 31:2

    And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.

    Read in context