JOS 6:18 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) But for all of you, everything inside the city is forbidden—if any of you take anything out of the city then our camp would also then be marked for destruction and it would cause a lot of trouble.

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Ἀγγὰ ὑμεῖς φυλάξεσθε σφόδρα ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀναθέματος, μήποτε ἐνθυμηθέντες ὑμεῖς αὐτοὶ λάβητε ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀναθέματος, καὶ ποιήσητε τὴν παρεμβολὴν τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ἀνάθεμα, καὶ ἐκτρίψητε ἡμᾶς.
(Anga humeis fulaxesthe sfodra apo tou anathematos, maʸpote enthumaʸthentes humeis autoi labaʸte apo tou anathematos, kai poiaʸsaʸte taʸn parembolaʸn tōn huiōn Israaʸl anathema, kai ektripsaʸte haʸmas. )

BrTr But keep yourselves strictly from the accursed thing, lest ye set your mind upon and take of the accursed thing, and ye make the camp of the children of Israel an accursed thing, and destroy us.

ULT But only you, keep yourselves from a devoted thing, lest you are devoting and you take from the devoted thing and you make the camp of Israel into a devoted thing and trouble it.

UST But be very careful of this: Yahweh has declared that we must destroy the people, animals, and things in the city. So you certainly must not take any of the things in the city. If you take anything, you will cause Yahweh to destroy our people and cause terrible things to happen to us.

OEB As for you, hands off any of the spoil which has been dedicated. If you take any of it, that would be the ruin and undoing of the camp of Israel.

WEBBE But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET But be careful when you are setting apart the riches for the Lord. If you take any of it, you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation and cause a disaster.

LSV and surely you have kept from the devoted thing, lest you devote [yourselves], and have taken from the devoted thing, and have made the camp of Israel become a devoted thing, and have troubled it;

FBV But stay away from everything set apart for the Lord, for if you were to take anything you too would be liable to be destroyed, and you would also bring disaster on the camp of Israel.

T4T And because Yahweh has declared that everything must be destroyed [IDM], you must not take [EUP] any of the things in the city. If you take anything, you will cause Yahweh to destroy our own camp and cause terrible things to happen to us.

LEB As for you, keep away from the things[fn] devoted to destruction so that you do not take them and bring about your own destruction, making the camp of Israel an object for destruction, bringing trouble upon it.

6:18 Hebrew “thing”

BBE And as for you, keep yourselves from the cursed thing, for fear that you may get a desire for it and take some of it for yourselves, and so be the cause of a curse and great trouble on the tents of Israel.

Moff As for you, hands off any of the doomed spoil, lest you desire it and take some of it! That would be the ruin and undoing of the camp of Israel.

JPS And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed by taking of the devoted thing, so should ye make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.

ASV But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when ye have devoted it, ye take of the devoted thing; so would ye make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.

DRA But beware ye lest you touch ought of those things that are forbidden, and you be guilty of transgression, and all the camp of Israel be under sin, and be troubled.

YLT and surely ye have kept from the devoted thing, lest ye devote [yourselves], and have taken from the devoted thing, and have made the camp of Israel become a devoted thing, and have troubled it;

Drby But in any wise keep from the accursed thing, lest ye make [yourselves] accursed in taking of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

RV And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when ye have devoted it, ye take of the devoted thing; so should ye make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.
(And ye/you_all, in any wise keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when ye/you_all have devoted it, ye/you_all take of the devoted thing; so should ye/you_all make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it. )

SLT And ye, watch ye from the devoted thing lest ye shall be devoted, and ye take from the devoted thing and ye set the camp of Israel to be devoted, and ye troubled it.

Wbstr And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

KJB-1769 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.[fn][fn]
(And ye/you_all, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye/you_all make yourselves accursed, when ye/you_all take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. )

6.18 accursed: or, devoted

6.18 a curse: or, devoted

KJB-1611 And you, in any wise keepe your selues from the accursed thing, lest yee make your selues accursed, when yee take of the accursed thing, and make the campe of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
(And you, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye/you_all make yourselves accursed, when ye/you_all take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.)

Bshps And in any wyse be ye ware of the accursed thinges, lest ye make your selues accursed, & take of the accursed thynges, and make the hoast of Israel accursed, and trouble it.
(And in any wise be ye/you_all ware of the accursed things, lest ye/you_all make yourselves accursed, and take of the accursed things, and make the host/army of Israel accursed, and trouble it.)

Gnva Notwithstanding, be ye ware of the execrable thing, lest ye make your selues execrable, and in taking of the execrable thing, make also the hoste of Israel execrable, and trouble it.
(Notwithstanding, be ye/you_all ware of the execrable thing, lest ye/you_all make yourselves execrable, and in taking of the execrable thing, make also the host/army of Israel execrable, and trouble it. )

Cvdl Onely bewarre of it that is damned, lest ye damne youre selues (yf ye take ought of it which is damned) and make the hoost of Israel to be damned, and brynge it into mysfortune.
(Only beware of it that is damned, lest ye/you_all damne yourselves (if ye/you_all take ought of it which is damned) and make the host/army of Israel to be damned, and bring it into misfortune.)

Wycl Forsothe be ye war, lest ye touchen ony thing of these that ben comaundid to you, and ye ben gilti of trespassyng; and alle the castels of Israel be vndur synne, and be troblid.
(For_certain/Truly be ye/you_all war, lest ye/you_all touchen any thing of these that been commanded to you, and ye/you_all been guilty of trespassing; and all the castles of Israel be under sin, and be troubled.)

Luth Allein hütet euch vor dem Verbanneten, daß ihr euch nicht verbannet, so ihr des Verbanneten etwas nehmet und machet das Lager Israels verbannet und bringet es in Unglück.
(Alone/Only guards(v) you before/in_front_of to_him Verbanneten, that you(pl)/their/her you not banished, so you(pl)/their/her the Verbanneten something take and makes the storage Israels banished and brings/gets it in accident/misfortune/disaster.)

ClVg Vos autem cavete ne de his, quæ præcepta sunt, quippiam contingatis, et sitis prævaricationis rei, et omnia castra Israël sub peccato sint atque turbentur.
(You(pl) however cavete not from/about his, which commands(n) are, something contingatis, and thirsts transgressedonis rei, and everything camp Israel under sin let_them_be and_yet turbentur. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:13–6:27 Israel conquered Jericho by God’s power

The Israelites followed God’s instructions and marched around the wall of Jericho town. On the seventh day the wall of the town collapsed and they conquered the town. They killed everybody in it except for Rahab and her family.

Here are some other possible section headings:

The wall of Jericho fell

The conquering of Jericho

6:18a

But keep away from the things devoted to destruction,

It is important that none of you take any of the things that belong to Yahweh.
But remember: do not take any of the things that I told you to destroy as an offering to Yahweh.

But: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as But marks a contrast. In 6:17 Yahweh said that the Israelite soldiers were not to kill Rahab and her family. But they are to destroy all the other things in the town.

keep away from the things devoted to destruction: The Hebrew phrase that the BSB translates as keep away is an emphatic direct address to the Israelites. It stresses that it is important for the Israelite soldiers to obey Joshua’s (and Yahweh’s) command.

keep away: The phrase keep away means that the Israelite soldiers must be careful not to take for themselves the things that belong to Yahweh.

the things devoted to destruction: The phrase the things devoted to destruction includes the people, animals, and other things in the town that belong to Yahweh. The Israelites must offer these things to Yahweh by destroying them.

Translate 6:18a in a natural way in your language that emphasizes this command. For example:

It is important that none of you take any of the things that belong to Yahweh

But remember! You must be careful not to take for yourselves anything or any person that belongs to Yahweh

6:18b

lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these,

You^(plur) must not be overcome by greed and take what belongs to Yahweh.
Do not be tempted to take them for yourselves,

lest you yourself be set apart for destruction: There is a textual issue in the clause lest you yourself be set apart for destruction.

The Greek Septuagint reads “lest you should covet.” For example:
for fear that, moved by greed, you take something lying under the curse (NJB) (NJB, NRSV, NIV, CEV, NAB, NASB, REB)
The Hebrew text reads “lest you should devote to destruction.” For example:
lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things (ESV) (BSB, ESV, RSV, NCV, NJPS)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). There is strong support for it among English versions, and in the Septuagint, and it makes better sense of the verse.

Some versions that are based on the Hebrew (option 2) leave out the parts of the verse that are difficult to understand.

It may help to reorder the parts of this verse so that the meaning is clearer. See the General Comment at the end of 6:18.

If you take any of these: The clause take any of these is the result of coveting.

these: The word these refers to things that were mentioned in 6:18a. It may be more natural to refer to them by a pronoun. For example, you could say:

so that you are not tempted to take them for yourselves

6:18c

you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it.

If you do, you will bring disaster and destruction on Israel.
or the Israelite people will be destroyed.

you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction: The result of taking the “devoted things” is that the whole Israelite camp would also become part of what must be destroyed.

and bring disaster upon it: The Hebrew verb that the BSB translates as bring disaster can also be translated as:

bring trouble

cause a calamity

it: The pronoun it refers to the “camp of Israel” and all the Israelite people.

General Comment on 6:18

In some languages it may help to reorder the parts of this verse. For example:

^18bAnd you must beware of coveting anything that is forbidden under the ban; ^18ayou must take none of it for yourselves, ^18cor else you will put the Israelite camp itself under the ban and bring disaster on it. (REB)

^18aBe careful not to take anything, ^18bbecause of your greed, ^18athat is devoted to Yahweh for destruction. ^18cIf you do, you will also bring disaster and destruction on Israel.

Parallel JOS 6:18

Section 5:13–6:27 Israel conquered Jericho by God’s power

6:18a

6:18b

6:18c

General Comment on 6:18