Yosua 22
1 Azɔ la, Yosua yɔ Ruben ƒe viwo kple Gad ƒe viwo kple Manase ƒe to la ƒe afã la ƒo ƒui.
Joshua then summoned the leaders of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh.
2 Egblɔ na wo be, “Miewɔ nu sia nu si Mose, Yehowa ƒe dɔla ɖo na mi be miawɔ, eye miewɔ nye sewo katã hã dzi.
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 Miegblẽ mia nɔvi Israelvi bubuawo ɖi kpɔ gbeɖe o togbɔ be aʋa la xɔ ɣeyiɣi didi aɖe alea hã.
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 Azɔ la, Yehowa, miaƒe Mawu la na dziɖuɖu kple dzudzɔ mí abe ale si wòdo ŋugbe ene, eya ta miyi miaƒe anyigba si Mose, Yehowa ƒe dɔla na mi le Yɔdan tɔsisi la ƒe akpa kemɛ la dzi azɔ.
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 Mikpɔ egbɔ be mieyi se siwo Mose de na mi la wɔwɔ dzi, milɔ̃ Yehowa, eye mizɔ ɖe ɖoɖo siwo wòwɔ ɖe miaƒe agbenɔnɔ ŋu la nu. Milé ɖe Yehowa miaƒe Mawu ŋu, eye miasubɔe kple miaƒe dzi blibo kple miaƒe luʋɔ blibo.”
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 Le esia megbe la, Yosua yra wo, eye wòɖo wo ɖe woƒe anyigbawo dzi.
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 Mose tsɔ anyigba na Manase ƒe to afã la ɖe Basan, eye Yosua na anyigba to la ƒe afã la ɖe Yɔdan tɔsisi la ƒe ɣetoɖoƒekpa dzi kple wo nɔviŋutsuwo. Esi Yosua ɖo wo ɖe aƒe me la, edo mɔ wo kple yayranya siawo
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 be: “Migbugbɔ yi míaƒe aƒewo me kple miaƒe kesinɔnu gbogboawo, lãha gãwo, klosalo, sika, akɔbli kple gayibɔ kple nudodo gbogboawo, eye mima afunyinu siwo mieha le míaƒe futɔwo si la kple mia nɔviŋutsuwo.”
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 Ale Ruben ƒe viwo kple Gad ƒe viwo kple Manase ƒe viwo ƒe afã la dzo le Israelviwo ƒe aʋakɔ la me le Silo, le Kanaanyigba dzi. Wotso tɔsisi la heyi woƒe anyigba dzi le Gilead.
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 Ke hafi woatso Yɔdan adzo le Kanaanyigba dzi la, wotu ŋkuɖodzikpe gã aɖe abe vɔsamlekpui ene be ame sia ame nakpɔ.
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 Ke esi Israelvi bubuawo se nu si wowɔ la,
But the other Israelis who were still at Shiloh heard about the altar that those men had built.
12 woƒo ƒu aʋawɔla aɖewo nu le Silo be yewoawɔ aʋa kple yewo nɔvi Israel ƒe to eve kple afã ma me tɔwo.
They became very angry with the men of those tribes, so they decided to fight them.
13 Gbã la, Israelviwo na Finehas, nunɔla Eleazar ƒe vi, kplɔ ame dɔdɔ aɖewo tso tɔsisi la, eye woƒo nu kple wo nɔvi Ruben ƒe viwo, Gad ƒe viwo kple Manase ƒe viwo ƒe afã la.
The Israelis sent Phinehas, who was the son of Eleazar the Supreme Priest, to [talk with] the people of those three tribes.
14 Ame dɔdɔawo nye Israel ƒe amegãwo; ame ɖeka tso to ewoawo dometɔ ɖeka ɖe sia ɖe me, eye wo dometɔ ɖe sia ɖe nye hlɔ̃ aɖe ƒe kplɔla.
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 Esi woɖo Gilead la, wogblɔ na Ruben ƒe viwo kple Gad ƒe viwo kple Manase ƒe viwo ƒe afã bena,
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 “Yehowa ƒe ameha blibo la di be yeanya nu si ta miele nu vɔ̃ wɔm ɖe Israel ƒe Mawu la ŋu, mietrɔ le eyome hetu vɔsamlekpui, eye miedze aglã ɖe Yehowa ŋu.
“All the other Israelis are asking, ‘Why have you rebelled against the God whom we Israelis [worship] by building an altar for yourselves?
17 “Ɖe nu vɔ̃ si míewɔ le Peor mesɔ gbɔ na mi oa? Míekɔ mía ɖokui ŋuti tso nu vɔ̃ ma ŋu haɖe va se ɖe egbe o, togbɔ be dɔvɔ̃ va dze Yehowa ƒe amewo dzi hã.
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 Ɖe miegale tɔtrɔm le Yehowa yome xoxoa? Elabena mienya be ne yewodze aglã ɖe Yehowa ŋu egbe la, ado dɔmedzoe ɖe mí katã ŋu etsɔ si gbɔna.
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 Ne miehiã vɔsamlekpui, elabena wogblẽ kɔ ɖo na miaƒe anyigba ta la, ekema miva kpe mí le míaƒe nɔƒe le tɔsisi la godo, afi si Yehowa le mía dome le, le eƒe Agbadɔ la me, eye míama míaƒe anyigba na mi. Ke migadze aglã ɖe Yehowa ŋu to vɔsamlekpui bubu tutu me kpe ɖe míaƒe Mawu ƒe vɔsamlekpui vavã ɖeka la ŋu o.
“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 Ɖe mieɖo ŋku edzi be esime Akan, Zera ƒe vi, wɔ nu vɔ̃ ɖe Yehowa ŋu la, wohe to na dukɔ blibo la, kpe ɖe ame ɖeka ma si wɔ nu vɔ̃ ŋu o mahã?”
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 Ruben ƒe viwo kple Gad ƒe viwo kple Manase ƒe viwo ƒe afã ɖo eŋu na Israelviwo ƒe tatɔwo be,
The [leaders of the] tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh replied,
22 “Ŋusẽtɔ lae nye Yehowa, mawuwo dzi Mawu lae nya nu si ta míetu vɔsamlekpui la, eye míedi be miawo hã mianya! Ne míedze aglã, eye míewɔ nuteƒe na Yehowa o la, ekema migana míanɔ agbe o!
“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 Ne míeda le Yehowa ƒe se dzi, eye míetu míawo ŋutɔ ƒe vɔsamlekpui be míasa numevɔ alo nuɖuvɔ loo alo ŋutifafavɔ le edzi la, ekema Yehowa ŋutɔ nahe to na mí.
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 Míewɔ nu sia, elabena míevɔ̃ be mia viwo agblɔ na mía viwo be, ‘Mɔ ka miekpɔ asubɔ Yehowa, Israel ƒe Mawu la?
“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 Yehowa wɔ Yɔdan tɔsisi la wònye liƒo le míawo kple mi Ruben ƒe viwo kple Gad ƒe viwo dome, kadodo aɖeke mele miawo kple Yehowa dome o.’ Ekema miaƒe dzidzimeviwo ana míaƒe dzidzimeviwo nadzudzɔ Yehowa subɔsubɔ,
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 eya tae míetu vɔsamlekpui aɖe, menye hena numevɔsawo alo akpedavɔsawo o,
“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 ke boŋ be wòanye dzesi anɔ míawo kple miawo siaa dome kple dzesi na dzidzime siwo ava kplɔ mí ɖo la be míesubɔa Yehowa le agbadɔ kɔkɔe sia ŋgɔ kple míaƒe nunanawo hena numevɔsawo kple ŋutifafavɔsawo. Míewɔ esia ale be miaƒe dzidzimeviwo magblɔ na míaƒe dzidzimeviwo be, ‘Kadodo aɖeke mele miawo kple Yehowa, míaƒe Mawu la dome o.’
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 Ne woagblɔ alea la, mía viwo ate ŋu aɖe wo ɖokuiwo nu be, ‘Mikpɔ Yehowa ƒe vɔsamlekpui si mía fofowo tu ɖa! Wotui ɖe Yehowa ƒe vɔsamlekpui la ƒe nɔnɔme nu. Wometui na numevɔsa kple vɔsa bubuawo o, ke boŋ wotui be wòanye kadodo anɔ míawo kple miawo dome, eye wòaganye Yehowa ƒe dzesi.’
“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 “Nede megbe xaa tso mía gbɔ be, míagbugbɔ le Yehowa yome alo atsi tsitre ɖe eŋu to vɔsamlekpuiɖiɖi me na mía ɖokui hena numevɔsa kple nuɖuvɔsa kple vɔsa bubuawo. Vɔsamlekpui si le Agbadɔ la ŋkume ko ŋu dɔ míawɔ na vɔsasa.”
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 Esi Finehas, nunɔla la kple Israelviwo ƒe tatɔwo se nya siawo tso Ruben ƒe viwo kple Gad ƒe viwo kple Manase ƒe viwo ƒe afã la nu la, wokpɔ dzidzɔ ŋutɔ.
When Phinehas the priest and the other [ten] leaders heard what they said, they were pleased.
31 Finehas si nye Eleaza vi gblɔ na wo be, “Míenya egbe be, Yehowa le mía dome, elabena míewɔ nu vɔ̃ ɖe Yehowa ŋu abe ale si míebu ene o, ke boŋ mieɖe mí tso tsɔtsrɔ̃ me!”
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 Finehas kple ame dɔdɔ ewoawo trɔ yi Israelvi bubuawo gbɔ, eye woɖe nu si dzɔ la me na wo.
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 Tete Israel blibo la tso aseye, kafu Mawu, eye womegagblɔ nya aɖeke tso aʋawɔwɔ kple Ruben ƒe viwo kple Gad ƒe viwo ŋu o.
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 Ruben ƒe viwo kple Gad ƒe viwo na ŋkɔ vɔsamlekpui la be, “Ɖaseɖiɖi ƒe Vɔsamlekpui,” elabena wogblɔ be, “Vɔsamlekpui la nye ɖaseɖiɖi le míawo kple woawo dome be Yehowae nye míaƒe Mawu.”
The people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad named their new altar ‘A reminder to us all that Yahweh is God’.
