Joshua 22

1 Then Joshua called together the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse,

At the same time Josue called the Rubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasses,

2 and said to them, You have heard all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and you have listened to my voice in all that he commanded you.

And said to them: You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you: you have also obeyed me in all things,

3 You have not deserted your brethren these many days: until this day you have kept the commandment of the Lord your God.

Neither have you left your brethren this long time, until this present day, keeping the commandment of the Lord your God.

4 And now the Lord our God has given our brethren rest, as he told them: now then return and depart to your homes, and to the land of your possession, which Moses gave you on the other side Jordan.

Therefore as the Lord your God hath given your brethren rest and peace, as he promised: return, and go to your dwellings, and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan:

5 But take great heed to do the commands and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you to do; to love the Lord our God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commands, and to cleave to him, and serve him with all your mind, and with all your soul.

Yet so that you observe attentively, and in work fulfill the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you: that you love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, and keep all his commandments, and cleave to him, and serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul.

6 And Joshua blessed them, and dismissed them; and they went to their homes.

And Josue blessed them, and sent them away, and they returned to their dwellings.

7 And to [one] half the tribe of Manasse Moses gave a portion in the land of Basan, and to [the other] half Joshua gave a portion with his brethren on the other side of Jordan westward: and when Joshua sent them away to their homes, then he blessed them.

Now to half the tribe of Manasses, Moses had given a possession in Basan: and therefore to the half that remained, Josue gave a lot among the rest of their brethren beyond the Jordan to the west. And when he sent them away to their dwellings and had blessed them,

8 And they departed with much wealth to their houses, and they divided the spoil of their enemies with their brethren; very much cattle, and silver, and gold, and iron, and much raiment.

He said to them: With much substance and riches, you return to your settlements, with silver and gold, brass and iron, and variety of raiment: divide the prey of your enemies with your brethren.

9 So the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse, departed from the children of Israel in Selo in the land of Chanaan, to go away into Galaad, into the land of their possession, which they inherited by the command of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

So the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses returned, and parted from the children of Israel in Silo, which is in Chanaan, to go into Galaad the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

10 And they came to Galaad of Jordan, which is in the land of Chanaan: and the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to look at.

And when they were come to the banks of the Jordan, in the land of Chanaan, they built an altar immensely great near the Jordan.

11 And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse have built an altar at the borders of the land of Chanaan at Galaad of Jordan, on the opposite side to the children of Israel.

And when the children of Israel had heard of it, and certain messengers had brought them an account that the children of Ruben, and of Cad, and the half tribe of Manasses had built an altar in the land of Chanaan, upon the banks of the Jordan, over against the children of Israel:

12 And all the children of Israel gathered together to Selo, so as to go up and fight against them.

They all assembled in Silo, to go up and fight against them.

13 And the children of Israel sent to the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and to the sons of the half tribe of Manasse into the land of Galaad, both Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest,

And in the mean time they sent to them into the land of Galaad, Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest,

14 and ten of the chiefs with him; [there was] one chief of every household out of all the tribes of Israel; (the heads of families are the captains of thousands in Israel.)

And ten princes with him, one of every tribe.

15 And they came to the sons of Ruben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasse into the land of Galaad; and they spoke to them, saying,

Who came to the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses, into the land of Galaad, and said to them:

16 Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, What [is] this transgression that you have transgressed before the God of Israel, to turn away today from the Lord, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, so that you should be apostates from the Lord?

Thus saith all the people of the Lord: What meaneth this transgression? Why have you forsaken the Lord the God of Israel, building a sacrilegious altar, and revolting from the worship of him?

17 Is the sin of Phogor too little for you, whereas we have not been cleansed from it until this day, though there was a plague amongst the congregation of the Lord?

Is it a small thing to you that you sinned with Beelphegor, and the stain of that crime remaineth in us to this day? and many of the people perished.

18 And you have this day revolted from the Lord; and it shall come to pass if you revolt this day from the Lord, that to-morrow there shall be wrath upon all Israel.

And you have forsaken the Lord today, and tomorrow his wrath will rage against all Israel.

19 And now if the land of your possession [be too] little, cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the tabernacle of the Lord dwells, and receive you an inheritance amongst us; and do not become apostates from God, neither do you apostatize from the Lord, because of your having built an altar apart from the altar of the Lord our God.

But if you think the land of your possession to be unclean, pass over to the land wherein is the tabernacle of the Lord, and dwell among us: only depart not from the Lord, and from our society, by building an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God.

20 Behold! did not Achar the [son] of Zara commit a trespass [taking] of the accursed thing, and there was wrath on the whole congregation of Israel? and he himself died alone in his own sin.

Did not Achan the son of Zare transgress the commandment of the Lord, and his wrath lay upon all the people of Israel? And he was but one man, and would to God he alone had perished in his wickedness.

21 And the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse answered, and spoke to the captains of the thousands of Israel, saying,

And the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasses answered the princes of the embassage of Israel:

22 God [even] God is the Lord, and God [even] God himself knows, and Israel he shall know; if we have transgressed before the Lord by apostasy, let him not deliver us this day.

The Lord the most mighty God, the Lord the most mighty God, he knoweth, and Israel also shall understand: If with the design of transgression we have set up this altar, let him not save us, but punish us immediately:

23 And if we have built to ourselves an altar, so as to apostatize from the Lord our God, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of whole burnt offerings, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of peace-offering, —the Lord shall require it.

And if we did it with that mind, that we might lay upon it holocausts, and sacrifice, and victims of peace offerings, let him require and judge:

24 But we have done this for the sake of precaution [concerning this] thing, saying, Lest hereafter your sons should say to our sons, What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel?

And not rather with this thought and design, that we should say: Tomorrow your children will say to our children: What have you to do with the Lord the God of Israel?

25 Whereas the Lord has set boundaries between us and you, even Jordan, and you have no portion in the Lord: so your sons shall alienate our sons, that they should not worship the Lord.

The Lord hath put the river Jordan for a border between us and you, O ye children of Ruben, and ye children of Gad: and therefore you have no part in the Lord. And by this occasion you children shall turn away our children from the fear of the Lord. We therefore thought, it best,

26 And we gave orders to do thus, to build this altar, not for burnt offerings, nor for meat-offerings;

And said: Let us build us an altar, not for holocausts, nor to offer victims,

27 but that this may be a witness between you and us, and between our posterity after us, that we may do service to the Lord before him, with our burnt offerings and our meat-offerings and our peace-offerings: so your sons shall not say to our sons, hereafter, You have no portion in the Lord.

But for a testimony between us and you, and our posterity and yours, that we may serve the Lord, and that we may have a right to offer both holocausts, and victims and sacrifices of peace offerings: and that your children tomorrow may not say to our children: You have no part in the Lord.

28 And we said, If ever it should come to pass that they should speak [so] to us, or to our posterity hereafter; then shall they say, Behold the likeness of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for the sake of burnt offerings, nor for the sake of meat-offerings, but it is a witness between you and us, and between our sons.

And if they will say so, they shall answer them: Behold the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for holocausts, nor for sacrifice, but for a testimony between us and you.

29 Far be it from us therefore that we should turn away from the Lord this day so as to apostatize from the Lord, so as that we should build an altar for burnt offerings, and for peace-offerings, besides the altar of the Lord which is before his tabernacle.

God keep us from any such wickedness that we should revolt from the Lord, and leave off following his steps, by building an altar to offer holocausts, and sacrifices, and victims, beside the altar of the Lord our God, which is erected before his tabernacle.

30 And Phinees the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation of Israel who were with him heard the words which the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse spoke; and it pleased them.

And when Phinees the priest, and the princes of the embassage, who were with him, had heard this, they were satisfied: and they admitted most willingly the words of the children of Ruben, and Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasses.

31 And Phinees the priest said to the sons of Ruben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the half of the tribe of Manasse, To-day we know that the Lord [is] with us, because you have not trespassed grievously against the Lord, and because you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.

And Phinees the priest the son of Eleazar said to them: Now we know that the Lord is with us, because you are not guilty of this revolt, and you have delivered the children of Israel from the hand of the Lord.

32 So Phinees the priest and the princes departed from the children of Ruben, and from the children of Gad, and from the half tribe of Manasse out of Galaad into the land of Chanaan to the children of Israel; and reported the words to them.

And he returned with the princes from the children of Ruben and Gad, out of the land of Galaad, into the land of Chanaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.

33 And it pleased the children of Israel; and they spoke to the children of Israel, and blessed the God of the children of Israel, and told them to go up no more to war against the others to destroy the land of the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse: so they lived upon it.

And the saying pleased all that heard it. And the children of Israel praised God, and they no longer said that they would go up against them, and fight, and destroy the land of their possession.

34 And Joshua gave a name to the altar of the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse; and said, It is a testimony in the midst of them, that the Lord is their God.

And the children of Ruben, and the children of Cad called the altar which they had built, Our testimony, that the Lord is God.