Joshua 22

1 Then Joshua calls for the Reubenite, and for the Gadite, and for the half-tribe of Manasseh,

Joshua then summoned the leaders of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh.

2 and says to them, “You have kept the whole of that which Moses, servant of YHWH, commanded you, and you listen to my voice, to all that I have commanded you;

He said to them, “You have done everything that Moses, who served Yahweh [well], told you to do. You have also done what I told you to do.

3 you have not left your brothers these many days to this day, and have kept the charge—the command of your God YHWH.

For a long time you have helped the other tribes [to defeat their enemies]. You have obeyed everything that Yahweh your God commanded you to do.

4 And now, your God YHWH has given rest to your brothers, as He spoke to them; and now, turn, and go for yourselves to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses, servant of YHWH, has given to you beyond the Jordan.

He promised to give peace to us Israelis, and he has done what he promised. So now you may go back to your homes, to the land that Moses gave to you, on the east side of the Jordan [River].

5 Only, be very watchful to do the command and the Law which Moses, servant of YHWH, commanded you, to love your God YHWH, and to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commands, and to cleave to Him, and to serve Him, with all your heart, and with all your soul.”

Moses also commanded you to love Yahweh your God and to obey his commands, and to continue to worship him and serve him by everything that you think and everything that you do.”

6 And Joshua blesses them, and sends them away, and they go to their tents.

Then Joshua blessed them and said goodbye to them, and they [prepared to] leave and return to their homes [on the east side of the Jordan River].

7 And to the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses has given, in Bashan, and to its [other] half Joshua has given with their brothers beyond the Jordan westward; and also when Joshua has sent them away to their tents, then he blesses them,

Moses had given the Bashan region to half the tribe of Manasseh, and land on the west side of the Jordan [River] to the other half of the tribe. Before they left, he [asked God to] bless them.

8 and speaks to them, saying, “Turn back to your tents with great riches, and with very much livestock, with silver, and with gold, and with bronze, and with iron, and with very much raiment; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”

He said, “Go back to your homes and to all the things that you have taken from your enemies—the many animals and silver and gold and [things made of] bronze and iron, and many beautiful clothes. But you should share some of those things with other people of your tribe.”

9 And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, turn back and go from the sons of Israel out of Shiloh, which [is] in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, in which they have possession, according to the command of YHWH, by the hand of Moses;

So the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh left the other Israelis at Shiloh in Canaan land, to return to their homes in the Gilead region. That was the area that belonged to them. It had been allotted to them by Moses as Yahweh had commanded.

10 and they come to the districts of the Jordan, which [are] in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, build an altar there by the Jordan—a great altar in appearance.

The people from those three tribes arrived near the western side of the Jordan River, at a town called Geliloth. There they built a large altar. [Then they crossed the Jordan River to the Gilead region].

11 And the sons of Israel hear, saying, “Behold, the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the districts of the Jordan, at the passage of the sons of Israel.”

But the other Israelis who were still at Shiloh heard about the altar that those men had built.

12 And the sons of Israel hear, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel is assembled at Shiloh, to go up against them to war;

They became very angry with the men of those tribes, so they decided to fight them.

13 and the sons of Israel send to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh—to the land of Gilead—Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest,

The Israelis sent Phinehas, who was the son of Eleazar the Supreme Priest, to [talk with] the people of those three tribes.

14 and ten princes with him, one prince—one prince for a house of a father, for all the tribes of Israel, and each of them a head of a house of their fathers, for the thousands of Israel.

They also sent one leader from each of the ten tribes that were still at Shiloh. Each of them was a leader of his clan.

15 And they come to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and speak with them, saying,

Those leaders went to the Gilead region to talk to the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. They said,

16 “Thus said all the congregation of YHWH: What [is] this trespass which you have trespassed against the God of Israel, to turn back today from after YHWH, by your building an altar for yourselves, for your rebelling today against YHWH?

“All the other Israelis are asking, ‘Why have you rebelled against the God whom we Israelis [worship] by building an altar for yourselves?

17 Is the iniquity of Peor little to us, from which we have not been cleansed until this day—and the plague is in the congregation of YHWH,

Have you forgotten what happened at Peor, [when some Israelis sinned by worshiping the god that the Moab people-group worship]? Many Israelis became very sick and died because of that sin, and we are still suffering because of their sin.

18 that you turn back today from after YHWH? And it has been [that] you rebel against YHWH today, and tomorrow He is angry against all the congregation of Israel.

Are you now turning away from obeying Yahweh and refusing to do what he wants? If you do not stop rebelling against Yahweh today, he will be angry with all of us Israelis tomorrow.’

19 And surely, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over for yourselves to the land of the possession of YHWH, where the Dwelling Place of YHWH has dwelt, and have possession in our midst; and do not rebel against YHWH, and do not rebel against us, by your building an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of our God YHWH.

“If [you think that Yahweh considers] that your land here is not suitable for worshiping him, come back to our land where Yahweh’s Sacred Tent is. We can share our land with you. But do not rebel against Yahweh and against us by building another altar for Yahweh our God.

20 Did Achan son of Zerah not commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and there was wrath on all the congregation of Israel? And he alone did not expire in his iniquity.”

Do you remember what happened when Zerah’s son Achan refused to obey [Yahweh’s command to destroy everything in Jericho]? That one man disobeyed God’s command, but many [HYP] other Israelis were punished. Achan died because of his sin, but other Israelis also died.”

21 And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, answer and speak with the heads of the thousands of Israel:

The [leaders of the] tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh replied,

22 “The God of gods—YHWH, the God of gods—YHWH, He is knowing, and Israel—he knows, if [we are] in rebellion, and if in trespass against YHWH, do not save us this day!

“Yahweh, the Almighty God, knows [why we did that], and we want you to know, too. If we have done something wrong [against Yahweh], you may kill us.

23 [If we] are building an altar for ourselves to turn back from after YHWH, and if to cause burnt-offering and present to go up on it, and if to make peace-offerings on it—YHWH Himself requires [it].

If we have disobeyed one of Yahweh’s laws, we request that he should punish us. We did not build that new altar to completely burn animals as sacrifices to Yahweh, or to offer on it sacrifices of grain or sacrifices to maintain fellowship with God.

24 And nevertheless, we have done it from fear of [this] thing, saying, Hereafter your sons speak to our sons, saying, And what have you to [do with] YHWH God of Israel?

“This is the reason that we built that altar: We were afraid/worried that some day your descendants would say that our descendants are not true Israelis. We were afraid that then they would say, ‘You are not allowed to worship Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship].

25 For YHWH has put a border between us and you, O sons of Reuben, and sons of Gad—Jordan; you have no portion in YHWH—and your sons have caused our sons to cease, not to fear YHWH.

Yahweh caused the Jordan River to be a boundary between us and you people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad. So you are not allowed to worship Yahweh.’ We were worried that your descendants would force our descendants to stop worshiping Yahweh.

26 And we say, Now let us prepare to build the altar for ourselves—not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice—

“That is the reason that we decided to build that [new] altar. But it is not an altar for completely burning sacrifices of animals and [burning other] sacrifices.

27 but it [is] a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, to do the service of YHWH before Him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings, and your sons do not say hereafter to our sons, You have no portion in YHWH.

We built that new altar to prove/show to you and to us and to all of our descendants that we worship Yahweh by completely burning animal sacrifices and offerings of grain and offerings to maintain fellowship with Yahweh [only at the place Yahweh chooses]. We do not want your descendants to say to our descendants, ‘You do not belong to Yahweh.’

28 And we say, And it has been, when they say [so] to us, and to our generations hereafter, that we have said, See the pattern of the altar of YHWH, which our fathers made—not for burnt-offering nor for sacrifice—but it [is] a witness between us and you.

“In the future, if your descendants say that, our descendants can say, ‘Look at the altar that our ancestors made! It is exactly like Yahweh’s altar [that our ancestors built], but we do not burn sacrifices on it. It only shows that we are Israelis!’

29 Far be it from us to rebel against YHWH, and to turn back from after YHWH today, to build an altar for burnt-offering, for present, and for sacrifice, apart from the altar of our God YHWH, which [is] before His Dwelling Place.”

We certainly do not want to rebel against Yahweh or stop doing what he desires, by building an altar for completely burning some sacrifices and burning grain offerings and making [other] sacrifices. [We know that] there is only one true altar for Yahweh our God, and it is in front of the Sacred Tent [at Shiloh].”

30 And Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, and the heads of the thousands of Israel, who [are] with him, hear the words which the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh have spoken, and it is good in their eyes.

When Phinehas the priest and the other [ten] leaders heard what they said, they were pleased.

31 And Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest says to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we have known that YHWH [is] in our midst, because you have not committed this trespass against YHWH—then you have delivered the sons of Israel out of the hand of YHWH.”

So Phinehas said to them, “Now we know that Yahweh is with all of us Israelis, and that you were not rebelling against him [when you built that altar]. And we know that Yahweh will not punish us Israelis [because of your having done that].”

32 And Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, turn back from the sons of Reuben, and from the sons of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and bring them back word;

Then Phinehas and the Israeli leaders left the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad in the Gilead region, and returned to Canaan. There they told the other Israelis what had happened.

33 and the thing is good in the eyes of the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel bless God, and have not spoken to go up against them to war, to destroy the land which the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, are dwelling in.

They were pleased, and they thanked God. And they did not talk any more about fighting against the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and destroying everything in their land.

34 And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad proclaim concerning the altar, that, “[It is] a witness between us that YHWH [is] God.”

The people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad named their new altar ‘A reminder to us all that Yahweh is God’.