Joshua 22
1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
Then Joshua called together the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse,
2 and said to them, "You have kept all that Moses the servant of YHWH commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you.
and said to them, Ye have heard all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and ye have hearkened to my voice in all that he commanded you.
3 You have not left your brothers these many days to this day, but have performed the duty of the commandment of YHWH your God.
Ye have not deserted your brethren these many days: until this day ye have kept the commandment of the Lord your God.
4 Now YHWH your God has given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to them. Therefore now return and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of YHWH gave you beyond 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 do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of YHWH commanded you, to love YHWH 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."
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 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went to their tents.
And Joshua blessed them, and dismissed them; and they went to their homes.
7 Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given inheritance in Bashan; but to the other half gave Joshua among their brothers beyond the Jordan westward. Moreover when Joshua sent them away to 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 spoke to them, saying, "Return with much wealth to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers."
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 The descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children 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, which they owned, according to the commandment of YHWH by 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 When they came to the region about the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, a great altar to look at.
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 The children of Israel heard this, "Look, the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar in the forefront of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that pertains 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 When the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered 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 The children of Israel sent to the descendants of Reuben, and to the descendants of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar 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 with him ten princes, one prince of a fathers' house for each of the tribes of Israel; and every one of them heads of ancestral houses 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 They came to the descendants of Reuben, and to the descendants of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, 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 says the whole congregation of YHWH, 'What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following YHWH, in that you have built you an altar, to rebel this day against YHWH?
Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, What [is] this transgression that ye have transgressed before the God of Israel, to turn away today from the Lord, in that ye have built for yourselves an altar, so that ye should be apostates from the Lord?
17 Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of YHWH,
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 among the congregation of the Lord?
18 that you must turn away this day from following YHWH? It will be, seeing that you rebel today against YHWH, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
And ye have this day revolted from the Lord; and it shall come to pass if ye revolt this day from the Lord, that to-morrow there shall be wrath upon all Israel.
19 However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of YHWH, in which YHWH's tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against YHWH, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than the altar of YHWH 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 ye an inheritance among us; and do not become apostates from God, neither do ye 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 Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man did not perish alone in his iniquity.'"
Lo! 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 Then the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to 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 "El, God, YHWH. El, God, YHWH. He knows; and Israel shall know. If it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against YHWH, do not save us 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 YHWH; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let YHWH 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 If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, 'In time to come your descendants might speak to our descendants, saying, "What have you to do with YHWH, 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 ye to do with the Lord God of Israel?
25 For YHWH has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you descendants of Reuben and descendants of Gad. You have no portion in YHWH."' So your children might make our children cease from fearing YHWH.
Whereas the Lord has set boundaries between us and you, even Jordan, and ye have no portion in the Lord: so your sons shall alienate our sons, that they should not worship the Lord.
26 Therefore we said, 'Let's now prepare to build ourselves an 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 will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of YHWH before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;' that your descendants may not tell our descendants in time to come, 'You have no portion in YHWH.'
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, Ye have no portion in the Lord.
28 Therefore we said, 'It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, "Look 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."'
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 YHWH, and turn away this day from following YHWH, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of YHWH our God that is before his tabernacle."
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 When Phinehas the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well.
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 Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, to the descendants of Gad, and to the descendants of Manasseh, "Today we know that YHWH is in the midst of us, because you have not committed this trespass against YHWH. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of YHWH."
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 ye have not trespassed grievously against the Lord, and because ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.
32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the leaders, returned from the descendants of Reuben, and from the descendants of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and 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 The thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and spoke no more of going up against them to war, to destroy the land in which the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad lived.
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 dwelt upon it.
34 The descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad called the altar: "A witness between us that YHWH 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.
