Joshua 22
1 Then did Joshua call the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Menasseh,
Then Joshua called together the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse,
2 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:
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.
3 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.
You have not deserted your brethren these many days: until this day you have kept the commandment of the Lord your God.
4 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.
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.
5 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.
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.
6 And Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went unto their tents.
And Joshua blessed them, and dismissed them; and they went to their homes.
7 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;
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.
8 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.
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.
9 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.
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.
10 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.
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.
11 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.
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.
12 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.
And all the children of Israel gathered together to Selo, so as to go up and fight against them.
13 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.
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,
14 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.
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.)
15 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:
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,
16 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?
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?
17 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?
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?
18 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.
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.
19 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.
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.
20 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.
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.
21 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,
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,
22 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, ]
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.
23 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;
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.
24 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?
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?
25 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.
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.
26 Wherefore we said, Let us now act for ourselves to build this altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice;
And we gave orders to do thus, to build this altar, not for burnt offerings, nor for meat-offerings;
27 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.
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.
28 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.
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.
29 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.
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.
30 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.
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.
31 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.
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.
32 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.
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.
33 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.
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.
34 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.
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.
