Joshua 22

1 Then, called Joshua—for the Reubenites, and for the Gadites, —and for 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 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:

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, unto this day, —but have kept the charge of the commandment of Yahweh 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 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.

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 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 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 took their journey unto their homes.

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

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,

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 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.

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 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 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 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,

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 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.

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 sons of Israel heard, all the assembly of the sons 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 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;

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 of an ancestral house for each of the tribes of Israel, —they being, severally heads of their 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 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:

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, 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?

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 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;

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 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?

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 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.

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 among 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 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.

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 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:

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-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:

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 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;

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, 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;

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 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.

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 We said, therefore, Let us prepare, we pray you, to build us an altar, —not for ascending-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 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 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.