Joshua 4:5
3 and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’”
4 So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,
and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel,
6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’
7 you are to tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will be a memorial to the Israelites forever.”
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
- and said to them, “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of Israel,
- KJV
- And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
- WEB
- Joshua said to them, “Cross before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you pick up a stone and put it on your shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel;
- ASV
- and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of Jehovah your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel;
- DARBY
- and Joshua said to them, Pass before the ark of Jehovah your God into the midst of the Jordan, and lift up each of you a stone [and put it] upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
- BLB
- And Joshua said to them, “Pass over before the face of the ark of YHWH your⁺ God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up for yourselves each man one stone on his shoulder, by the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel,
- ÅB
- Og Josva sa til dem: Gå foran Herrens, deres Guds ark ut i Jordan og ta hver sin stein opp på skulderen, etter tallet på Israels barns stammer!
- OTB
- og han sa til dem: "Gå foran Herrens, deres Guds, ark inn i midten av Jordan, og hver av dere løft en stein på skulderen, tilsvarende antallet av Israels stammer.
- B1930
- Og Josva sa til dem: Gå foran Herrens, eders Guds ark ut i Jordan og ta hver sin sten op på skulderen, efter tallet på Israels barns stammer!