Joshua 22

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

Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,

2 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.

And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of YHWH commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:

3 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.

Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of YHWH your Elohim.

4 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].

And now YHWH your Elohim hath given rest unto your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your tents, [and] unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of YHWH gave you on the other side Jordan.

5 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.”

But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of YHWH charged you, to love YHWH your Elohim, 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.

6 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].

So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went unto their tents.

7 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.

Now to the [one] half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given [possession] in Bashan: but unto the [other] half thereof gave Joshua among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then he blessed them,

8 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.”

And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.

9 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.

And the children of Reuben and the children 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 unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the word of YHWH by the hand of Moses.

10 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].

And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that [are] in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to.

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

And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel.

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

And when the children of Israel heard [of it], the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.

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

And the children of Israel sent unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,

14 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.

And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one [was] an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel. (chief...: Heb. house of the father)

15 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,

And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake with them, saying,

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

Thus saith the whole congregation of YHWH, What trespass [is] this that ye have committed against the Elohim of Israel, to turn away this day from following YHWH, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against YHWH?

17 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.

[Is] the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of YHWH,

18 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.’

But that ye must turn away this day from following YHWH? and it will be, [seeing] ye rebel to day against YHWH, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

19 “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.

Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession [be] unclean, [then] pass ye over unto the land of the possession of YHWH, wherein YHWH 'S tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against YHWH, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of YHWH our Elohim.

20 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.”

Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

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

Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,

22 “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.

YHWH El of elohim, YHWH El of elohim, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if [it be] in rebellion, or if in transgression against YHWH, (save us not this day, )

23 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.

That we have built us an altar to turn from following YHWH, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let YHWH HWH himself require [it];

24 “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].

And if we have not [rather] done it for fear of [this] thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with YHWH Elohim of Israel? (In time...: Heb. To morrow)

25 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.

For YHWH hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in YHWH: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing YHWH.

26 “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.

Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:

27 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.’

But [that] it [may be] a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of YHWH before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in YHWH.

28 “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!’

Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should [so] say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say [again], Behold the pattern of the altar of YHWH, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it [is] a witness between us and you.

29 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].”

Far be it from us to rebel against YHWH, and turn this day from following YHWH, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of YHWH our Elohim that [is] before his tabernacle.

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

And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which [were] with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them. (pleased...: Heb. was good in their eyes)

31 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].”

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that YHWH [is] among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against YHWH: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of YHWH. (now: Heb. then)

32 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.

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.

33 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.

And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed Elohim, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

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

And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar [Ed]: for it [shall be] a witness between us that YHWH [is] Elohim.