Joshua 22

1 Then, called Joshua—for the Reubenites, and for the Gadites, —and for the half tribe of Manasseh;

Then Joshua summoned the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

2 and said unto them, Ye, have observed all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, —and have hearkened unto my voice, in all that I commanded you:

He told them, “You have done everything that Moses, the servant of the Lord, told you to do, and you have followed all the commands I gave you.

3 ye have not forsaken your brethren, these many days, unto this day, —but have kept the charge of the commandment of Yahweh your God.

You have never abandoned your brothers all this time, right up to the present day. You have carefully followed what the Lord your God ordered you to do.

4 Now, therefore, that Yahweh your God hath given rest unto your brethren, according as he spake unto them, —now, therefore, turn ye and get you to your homes within the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave unto you, over the Jordan.

Now that the Lord your God has given peace to your brothers, as he promised, go back home to your land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on the other side of the Jordan.

5 Only, take ye diligent heed, to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you—to love Yahweh 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 make sure you keep the commandments and the law as Moses instructed you. Love the Lord your God, follow all his ways, keep his commandments, stay close to him, and serve him with your whole being.”

6 So Joshua blessed them, —and sent them away, and they took their journey unto their homes.

Joshua blessed them, sent them on their way, and they went home.

7 Now, unto the [one] half tribe of Manesseh, had Moses given a possession in Bashan, and, unto the [other] half, did Joshua give possession with their brethren, over the Jordan, westward, —moreover also, when Joshua sent them away unto their homes, he blessed them,

Moses had given to the half-tribe of Manasseh the land of Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe Joshua had given land west of the Jordan. Joshua blessed them and sent them home.

8 and spake unto them, saying—With much wealth, return ye unto your homes, even with very much cattle, with silver and with gold, and with copper and with iron, and with very much raiment, —divide ye the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.

He told them, “Take all the wealth you have gained back home: the great herds of livestock, the things made of gold, silver, copper, and iron, the huge quantity of clothes. Share all this plunder with your brothers.”

9 So the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. returned and departed from the sons of Israel, from Shiloh, which was in the land of Canaan, —to go unto the land of Gilead, unto the land of their possession, wherein they had received their possessions, at the bidding of Yahweh by the hand of Moses.

So the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the rest of the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and went home to their land in Gilead that they had received at the Lord's command through Moses.

10 And, when they came into the circles of the Jordan, which were in the land of Canaan, —then did the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh build there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of large dimensions,

When they approached the Jordan region, still in the land of Canaan, the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built a large and impressive altar beside the Jordan River.

11 And the sons of Israel heard say, —Lo! the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar in front of the land of Canaan, in the circles of the Jordan, in the region opposite the sons of Israel.

The Israelites were told, “Look, the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar in the Jordan region of the land of Canaan, on the side belonging to the Israelities.”

12 And, when the sons of Israel heard, all the assembly of the sons of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war.

The Israelites gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.

13 And the sons of Israel sent unto the sons of Reuben and unto the sons of Gad and unto the half tribe of Manasseh, within the land of Gilead, —Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest;

Before they did so, they sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead.

14 and ten princes with him, one prince of an ancestral house for each of the tribes of Israel, —they being, severally heads of their ancestral houses, among the thousands of Israel.

Ten leaders went with him, one from each of the ten tribes of Israel, and each the head of his family.

15 So they came in unto the sons of Reuben and unto the sons of Gad and unto the half tribe of Manasseh, within the land of Gilead, —and spake with them, saying:

After they arrived they told the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,

16 Thus, say all the assembly of Yahweh—What is this act of treachery which ye have committed against the God of Israel, that ye should turn back, to-day, from following Yahweh, —in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel, to-day, against Yahweh?

“This is what all of the Lord's people say, ‘What is this disloyal act you have committed against the God of Israel by building an altar for yourselves? How could you turn away from him now in such rebellion?

17 Too little for us, was the iniquity of Peor, from which we have not cleansed ourselves, unto this day, —although the plague came upon the assembly of Yahweh;

Wasn't our sin at Peor enough? Even now we're still not clean from the plague that attacked the Lord's people.

18 but that, ye, must turn back to-day from following Yahweh, —though it must needs be that, if, ye, rebel to-day against Yahweh, then, to-morrow, with all the assembly of Israel, will he be wroth?

So why are you turning away from the Lord now? If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with all of us tomorrow!

19 Howbeit, if, unclean, be the land of your possession, do ye on your part come over into the land of the possession of Yahweh, where abideth the habitation of Yahweh, and take your possession in our midst, —but, against Yahweh, do not rebel, nor, against us, rebel, by building yourselves an altar apart from the altar of Yahweh our God.

But if you think your land is tainted then come over to the land of the Lord where the Tabernacle of the Lord is located and share some of our land with us. Just don't rebel against the Lord, or against us, by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God.

20 Did not, Achan son of Zerah, commit an act of treachery, with a devoted thing, and, upon all the assembly of Israel, came wrath, —so that not, he—one man alone, died in his iniquity.

When Achan, son of Zerah, acted disloyally in taking consecrated things, didn't the whole of Israel suffer punishment? He wasn't the only one who died because of his sin!”

21 Then responded the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, —and spake unto the heads of the thousands of Israel:

Then the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the Israelite leaders,

22 El-Elohim-Yahweh, El-Elohim-Yahweh, he knoweth, and, Israel, he, shall know, —if in rebellion, or if in treachery, against Yahweh, do not save us this day:

“The Lord is God of gods, the Lord is God of gods, and he knows! May Israel also know! If we're in rebellion against God or being disloyal to him then kill us right now!

23 that we should build for ourselves an altar, to turn back from following Yahweh, —or, if that we might cause to go up thereon ascending-sacrifice or meal-offering, or if that we might offer thereon peace-offerings, let Yahweh himself require it;

If our action of building an altar was to turn away from the Lord, or to use the altar to make burnt offerings or grain offerings or friendship offerings, then may the Lord punish us.

24 if, indeed, we have not, rather, out of anxiety and of purpose, done this thing, saying, —. In time to come, your sons might speak to our sons, saying, What have ye to do with Yahweh, God of Israel;

We did this because we were worried that in the future your descendants might say to ours, ‘What have you got to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?

25 seeing that, a boundary, hath Yahweh put between us and you, ye sons of Reuben and ye sons of Gad—even the Jordan, ye have no portion in Yahweh, —so might your sons cause our sons, to cease from revering Yahweh.

The Lord put a border—the Jordan River—between us and you, descendants of Reuben and Gad. You don't belong to the Lord.’ So your descendants might stop our descendants from worshiping the Lord.

26 We said, therefore, Let us prepare, we pray you, to build us an altar, —not for ascending-offering, nor for sacrifice;

So we said to ourselves, ‘Let's build an altar, not for burnt offerings or for sacrifices,

27 but that, a witness, it may be between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we are to do the service of Yahweh, before him, with our ascending-offerings and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings, —that your sons may not say, in time to come, to our sons, Ye have no portion in Yahweh.

but as a witness between us and you, and for the generations that come after us, that we will come to worship the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and friendship offerings.’ Then your descendants will not be able to say to ours in the future, ‘You don't belong to the Lord.’

28 Therefore said we, And it shall be, when they [so] say to us, or to our generations, in time to come, —that we will say—Behold ye the pattern of the altar of Yahweh, which our fathers made, not for ascending-offerings nor for sacrifice, but that, a witness, it might be between us and you.

If they were to do so in the future, our descendants could reply, ‘Look at this copy of the Lord's altar which our forefathers made, not for burnt offerings or for sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’

29 Far be it from us—that we should rebel against Yahweh, or turn back, to-day, from following Yahweh, by building an altar, for ascending-offering, or meal-offering or for sacrifice, —other than the altar of Yahweh our God, which is before his habitation.

We would never think to rebel against the Lord or to turn away from him now by building an altar to make burnt offerings or grain offerings or sacrifices. The only altar of the Lord our God is the one stands in front of his Tabernacle.”

30 And, when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the assembly, even the heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spake, then was it well-pleasing in their eyes.

When Phinehas and the Israelite leaders heard this from the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh they were delighted.

31 And Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said unto the sons of Reuben and unto the sons of Gad and unto the sons of Manasseh—To-day, we know that, in our midst, is Yahweh, in that ye have not committed, against Yahweh, this act of treachery, —now, have ye rescued the sons of Israel out of the hand of Yahweh.

Phinehas replied to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is with us because you have not acted disloyally in doing this. Now you have saved the Israelites from being punished by the Lord.”

32 So Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest and the princes returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, unto the sons of Israel, —and brought them back word.

Then Phinehas and the Israelite leaders left the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and returned to the land of Canaan to explain the situation to the Israelites.

33 And the thing was well-pleasing in the eyes of the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel blessed God, —and spake not of going up against them, to war, to lay waste the land, wherein the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad dwelt.

The Israelites were pleased with the report and God blessed them. They didn't talk about going to war any more to destroy the land where the tribes of Reuben and Gad were living.

34 So the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad named the altar [a Witness]: A witness, it is between us, That, Yahweh, is God.

The tribes of Reuben and Gad called the altar, “Witness,” because they said, “It is a witness between us that the Lord is also our God.”