¹⁸ “At that time, I charged you as follows: ‘Although the Lord your God has given you this land to occupy, all your troops shall cross over armed as the vanguard of your Israelite kin.^(A)

²⁰ So Moses said to them, “If you do this—if you take up arms to go before the Lord for the war^{(A) 21} and all those of you who bear arms cross the Jordan before the Lord, until he has driven out his enemies from before him ²² and the land is subdued before the Lord—then after that you may return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.^{(B) 23} But if you do not do this, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. ²⁴ Build towns for your little ones and folds for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”^(C)

¹² The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the Israelites, as Moses had ordered them.^{(A) 13} About forty thousand armed for war crossed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for battle.

¹² But to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said,^{(A) 13} “Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’^{(B) 14} Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan. But all the warriors among you shall cross over armed before your kindred and shall help them, ¹⁵ until the Lord gives rest to your kindred as well as to you, and they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land and take possession of it, the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan to the east.”^(C)

The Eastern Tribes Return to Their Territory

22 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh ² and said to them, “You have observed all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and have obeyed me in all that I have commanded you;^{(A) 3} you have not forsaken your kindred these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. ⁴ And now the Lord your God has given rest to your kindred, as he promised them; therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.^{(B) 5} Take good care to observe the commandment and instruction that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, and to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”^{(C) 6} So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

⁷ Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their fellow Israelites in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their tents and blessed them,^{(D) 8} he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with a great quantity of clothing; divide the spoil of your enemies with your kindred.” ⁹ So the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the Israelites at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had taken possession by command of the Lord through Moses.^(E)