Joshua 22:28 — Compare Translations

28 translations compared side by side

English (YLT) 1898 Young's Literal Translation by Robert Young

`And we say, And it hath been, when they say [so] unto us, and unto our generations hereafter, that we have said, See the pattern of the altar of Jehovah, which our fathers made -- not for burnt-offering nor for sacrifice -- but a witness it [is] between us and you.

English ASV

Therefore said we, It shall be, when they so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we shall say, Behold the pattern of the altar of Jehovah, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.

English Amplified

So we thought, if that should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we can reply, Behold the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but to be a witness between us and you.

English Amplified Classic Bible 1987

English Berean Standard Bible (BSB) 2025

Therefore we said, ‘If they ever say this to us or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the altar of the Lord that our fathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’

English CSB 2017 - Christian Standard Bible

We thought that if they said this to us or to our generations in the future, we would reply: Look at the replica of the LORD’s altar that our fathers made, not for burnt offering or sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you.

English Darby 1890 : Public Domain

And we said, If it shall be that in future they so say to us and to our generations, we will say, Behold the pattern of the altar of Jehovah which our fathers made, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you.

English EASY 2024

If they say that to us, we will reply, “Look at this altar that our ancestors built. It is a copy of the Lord 's true altar. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices. They built it so that we would remember that we all belong to the Lord.”

English ERV 2006 - Only For Website

In the future, if it happens that your children say that we don't belong to Israel, then our children can say, 'Look, our fathers who lived before us made an altar. That altar is exactly like the Lord's altar {at the Holy Tent}. We don't use this altar for sacrifices—this altar is proof that we are part of Israel.'

And we thought, If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, 'Behold, the copy of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.'

English GNT (Good News Translation)

It was our idea that, if this should ever happen, our descendants could say, ‘Look! Our ancestors made an altar just like the Lord 's altar. It was not for burning offerings or for sacrifice, but as a sign for our people and yours.’

English God's Word - GW 1995

So we thought, if this statement is made to us or to our descendants in the future, we will answer, 'Look at the model of the Lord's altar our ancestors made. They didn't make it for burnt offerings or sacrifices but to stand as a witness between us.'

English HCSB 2004 - Copyrighted Only For Website

We thought that if they said this to us or to our generations in the future, we would reply: Look at the replica of the LORD's altar that our fathers made, not for burnt offering or sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you.

English KJV 1611

Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.

English LSB

Therefore we said, ‘It will also be that if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of Yahweh which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather it is a witness between us and you.”’

English MEV 2014 (Modern English Version)

“Therefore we said, ‘In the future, if they say this to us or to our descendants, we will say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between you and us.” ’

English NASB (New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995)

"Therefore we said, 'It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, "See the copy of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather it is a witness between us and you."'

English NASU 1989 - New American Standard Update - Only for Website

Our thought was, that if in the future they should speak thus to us or to our descendants, we could answer: 'Look at the model of the altar of the LORD which our fathers made, not for holocausts or for sacrifices, but to witness between you and us.'

English NET Bible - 2005 (New English Translation)

We said, ‘If in the future they say such a thing to us or to our descendants, we will reply, “See the model of the LORD’s altar that our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a reminder to us and you.”’

English NIRV 1996 - Copyrighted only for Website

"So we said to ourselves, 'Suppose they say that to us sometime. Or suppose they say it to our children after us. Then we'll answer, "Look at this altar. It's exactly like the Lord's altar. Our people built it. They didn't build it to offer burnt offerings and sacrifices on it. Instead, they built it to be a witness between us and you." '

English NIV

"And we said, 'If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the LORD's altar, which our fathers built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.'

English NKJ 1982

Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, ‘Here is the replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.’

English NLT

If they say this, our descendants can reply, `Look at this copy of the LORD's altar that our ancestors made. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; it is a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the LORD.'

English NRSV 1989 - Only for website

And we thought, If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we could say, 'Look at this copy of the altar of the LORD, which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.'

English Passion Translation Bible 2020

We have decided among us that if that day should ever come, our descendants would reply: ‘See the replica of the altar of Yahweh, which our fathers made here at the border between us —not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness that we both serve the same God.’

English RSV (Revised Standard Version)

And we thought, If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, ‘Behold the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.’

English TL (The Living Bible) (1971)

If they say this, our children can reply, 'Look at the altar of the Lord that our fathers made, patterned after the altar of Jehovah. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices but is a symbol of the relationship with God that both of us have.'

English Tyndale 1537

And we thought if they should so say to us, or to our generations in time to come, that we would say again: Behold the fashion of the altar which our fathers made, neither for burntofferings nor sacrifices, but that it should be a witness between us and you.