Paragraph 16:12–14

16:12a

sixth: This refers to the next item after five other things. If counted, this item would be counted as number six. See how you translated this word in 6:12 or 9:13.

great river Euphrates: The Euphrates River flows through today’s nations of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. The word great indicates that the river was important. The river provided many people with water in the dry regions of Syria and Iraq. See how you spelled the name Euphrates in 9:14.

16:12b

its water was dried up: This clause indicates that the water in the river was gone. There was only a dry river bed.

The clause is passive. Some languages must use an active or intransitive clause. For example:

⌊the plague⌋ caused the river to dry up
-or-
The river dried up (Good News Translation)
-or-
the river became dry

Your translation should indicate or imply that the plague caused the river to dry up.

to prepare the way: With the Euphrates River dry, the kings could easily cross the river. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

to provide a way (Good News Translation)
-or-
so that a way was made (New Jerusalem Bible)

In some languages a verb must be used to indicate what was prepared. For example:

to prepare the way for the kings from the east to come (New Century Version)
-or-
to make the way ready for the kings from the East ⌊to cross it⌋

of the East: The Greek phrase is literally “the rising of the sun.” This phrase is probably a poetic way to refer to the east. See how you translated this phrase in 7:2.

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