Joshua 22

1 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh

Then did Joshua call the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Menasseh,

2 and told them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and you have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you.

And he said unto them, Ye have indeed kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and ye have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:

3 All this time you have not deserted your brothers, up to this very day, but have kept the charge given you by the LORD your God.

Ye have not forsaken your brethren these many days, until this day; but ye have kept the obligation of the commandment of the Lord your God.

4 And now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as He promised them, you may return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you across the Jordan.

And now the Lord your God hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them; therefore now turn yourselves, and get you unto your tents, unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave unto you on the other side of the Jordan.

5 But be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Only take diligent heed to practise the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord hath commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them on their way, and they went to their homes.

And Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went unto their tents.

7 (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan among their brothers.) When Joshua sent them to their homes he blessed them,

Now to the one half of the tribe of Menasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan; but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua with their brethren on this side of the Jordan westward; and when Joshua sent them also away unto their tents, he blessed them;

8 saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth, with immense herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many clothes. Divide with your brothers the spoil of your enemies.”

And he said unto them, as followeth, With much riches return unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with copper, and with iron, and with very many garments: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.

9 So the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to return to their own land of Gilead, which they had acquired according to the command of the LORD through Moses.

And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Menasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel from Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gil'ad, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the order of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

10 And when they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan.

And when they came unto the districts of the Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Menasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, a great altar for a show.

11 Then the Israelites received the report: “Behold, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the border of the land of Canaan, at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side.”

And the children of Israel heard, as followeth, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Menasseh have built an altar in the front of the land of Canaan, in the districts of the Jordan, at the side belonging to the children of Israel.

12 And when they heard this, the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh to go to war against them.

And when the children of Israel heard it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war.

13 The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the land of Gilead, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Menasseh, into the land of Gil'ad, Phinehas the son of Elazar the priest.

14 With him they sent ten chiefs—one family leader from each tribe of Israel, each the head of a family among the clans of Israel.

And ten princes with him, one prince each for every division of all the tribes of Israel; and each one was a head of their family divisions among the thousands of Israel.

15 They went to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and said to them,

And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Menasseh, unto the land of Gil'ad, and they spoke with them, saying:

16 “This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ‘What is this breach of faith you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel against the LORD this day?

Thus have said the whole congregation of the Lord, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that ye have built yourselves an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the Lord?

17 Was not the sin of Peor enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day? It even brought a plague upon the congregation of the LORD.

Have we had too little in the iniquity of Peor, —from which we are not yet cleansed until this day, —when there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord?

18 And now, would you turn away from the LORD? If you rebel today against the LORD, tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

And will ye turn away this day from following the Lord? and it will be, that when ye will rebel this day against the Lord, tomorrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

19 If indeed the land of your inheritance is unclean, then cross over to the land of the LORD’s possession, where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.

But, notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein dwelleth the tabernacle of the Lord, and take possession in the midst of us; but rebel not against the Lord and against us do not rebel, in building yourselves an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God.

20 Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel? Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin!’”

Did not 'Achan the son of Zerach commit a trespass on the devoted things, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and he, though but one man, perished not alone in his iniquity.

21 Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders of the clans of Israel:

But the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Menasseh answered, and they spoke unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,

22 “The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today.

The God of gods, the Eternal, the God of gods, the Eternal, he knoweth, and Israel also shall know: if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord, [aid us not this day, ]

23 If we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from Him and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the LORD Himself hold us accountable.

That we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord; or if to offer thereon burnt-offering or meat-offering, or if to offer thereon peace-offerings, may the Lord himself require it;

24 But in fact we have done this for fear that in the future your descendants might say to ours, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?

Or whether we have not done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might say unto our children, as followeth, What have ye to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?

25 For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no share in the LORD!’ So your descendants could cause ours to stop fearing the LORD.

For the Lord hath made a boundary between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad, —the Jordan; ye have no part in the Lord: thus might your children make our children cease so as not to fear the Lord.

26 That is why we said, ‘Let us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.

Wherefore we said, Let us now act for ourselves to build this altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice;

27 Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD!’

But it shall be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the Lord before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our, peace-offerings; and that your children may not say in time to come to our children, Ye have no portion in the Lord.

28 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.’

And we said, that it shall be! when they should say this to us and to our generations in time to come, that we may say, Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.

29 Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD and turn away from Him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God, which stands before His tabernacle.”

Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn away this day from following the Lord, to build an altar for burnt-offering, for meat-offering, or for sacrifice, beside the altar of the Lord our God that is before his dwelling.

30 When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation—the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him—heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were satisfied.

And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and the heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Menasseh had spoken, it was pleasing in their eyes.

31 Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this breach of faith against Him. Consequently, you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the LORD.”

And Phinehas the son of Elazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Menasseh, This day do we know that the Lord is in our midst, because ye have not committed this trespass against the Lord: now have ye delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.

32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, together with the other leaders, returned to the Israelites in the land of Canaan and brought back a report regarding the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead.

And Phinehas the son of Elazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gil'ad, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and they brought them word again.

33 The Israelites were satisfied with the report, and they blessed God and spoke no more about going to war against them to destroy the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived.

And the thing was pleasing in the eyes of the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God; and they did not speak any more to go up against them to battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

34 So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar Witness, for they said, “It is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar [“'Ed”]; for [they said] it is a witness between us that the Eternal is God.