22
1 Then Joshua called together the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, 2 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 Ye have not deserted your brethren these many days: until this day ye have kept the commandment of the Lord your God. 4 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 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 And Joshua blessed them, and dismissed them; and they went to their homes.
7 And to one half the tribe of Manasseh Moses gave a portion in the land of Bashan, 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 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, departed from the children of Israel in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, to go away into Gilead, into the land of their possession, which they inherited by the command of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.
10 And they came to Gilead of Jordan, which is in the land of Canaan: and 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 look at.
11 And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the borders of the land of Canaan at Gilead of Jordan, on the opposite side to the children of Israel. 12 And all the children of Israel gathered together to Shiloh, so as to go up and fight against them.
13 And the children of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and to the sons of the half tribe of Manasseh into the land of Gilead, both Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, 14 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 And they came to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh into the land of Gilead; and they spoke to them, saying, 16 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 sin of Peor 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 And ye have this day revolted from the Lord; and it shall come to pass if ye revolt this day from the Lord, that tomorrow there shall be wrath upon all Israel. 19 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 Lo! did not Achan the son of Zerah 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 And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the captains of the thousands of Israel, saying, 22 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 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 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 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 And we gave orders to do thus, to build this altar, not for burnt offerings, nor for meat offerings; 27 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 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 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 Phinehas the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation of Israel who were with him heard the words which the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh spoke; and it pleased them. 31 And Phinehas the priest said to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh, Today 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 So Phinehas the priest and the princes departed from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, and from the half tribe of Manasseh out of Gilead into the land of Canaan to the children of Israel; and reported the words to them. 33 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 Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh: so they dwelt upon it.
34 And Joshua gave a name to the altar of the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasseh; and said, It is a testimony in the midst of them, that the Lord is their God.