Brought … out of slavery translates the Hebrew idiom “brought … out of the house of bondage” (Revised Standard Version). The noun phrase slavery in Egypt may be expanded into a clause using a verb phrase: “out of Egypt where we were slaves” or “… where the Egyptians forced us to be their slaves.”

Our fathers and us and and we saw represent a literal rendering of the Hebrew text. Using “us” and “we” is the usual way by which the biblical writers identify their own generation as participating in the exodus from Egypt. But for readers whose linguistic and cultural understanding is different, this may seem inaccurate, especially if the miracles referred to were those done in the course of bringing the people out of Egypt. One may prefer to translate “The LORD our God brought our fathers out of Egypt where they were slaves, and we know about the miracles that he performed there.”

Wherever we went among all the nations through which we passed is somewhat complicated. The reference is to the journeys that the Israelites made on their way to the land of Canaan, and the sentence may be translated, “On our way here we traveled through the territory of many nations, but the LORD always kept us safe.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .