Joshua 22

Revised Geneva Translation

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

² and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD Commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you.

³ “You have not forsaken your brethren this long season, until this day, but have diligently kept the Commandment of the LORD your God.

⁴ “And now, the LORD has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them. Therefore, now, return. And go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, has given you, beyond Jordan.

⁵ “But take diligent care to do the Commandment and Law which Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you: that you love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and keep His Commandments and cling to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

⁶ So Joshua blessed them and sent them away. And they went to their tents.

⁷ Now, to half of the tribe of Manasseh, Moses had given a possession in Bashan. And to half of it, Joshua gave from among their brethren on this side of Jordan, westward. Therefore, when Joshua sent them away to their tents and blessed them,

⁸ he spoke to them, saying, “Return to your tents with many riches and with a great multitude of cattle, with silver and with gold, with bronze and with iron, and with great abundance of clothing. Divide the plunder of your enemies with your brethren.”

⁹ So, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh returned and departed from the children of Israel, from Shiloh (which is in the land of Canaan) to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the Word of the LORD, by the hand of Moses.

¹⁰ And when they came to the borders of Jordan (which are in the land of Canaan), then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar there, by Jordan, a great altar to see too.

¹¹ When 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 in the front of the land of Canaan, upon the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel,”

¹² when the children of Israel heard that, then the whole Congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.

¹³ Then, the children of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the Priest, to the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead.

¹⁴ And with him went ten princes, one from each chief house, according to all the tribes of Israel. For each one was chief of their father’s household among the thousands of Israel.

¹⁵ So they went to the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to the half tribe of Manasseh to the land of Gilead and spoke with them, saying,

¹⁶ “Thus says the whole Congregation of the LORD, ‘What transgression is this that you have transgressed against the God of Israel, to turn away from the LORD this day, in that you have built yourself an altar with which to rebel against the LORD this day?

¹⁷ “Have we too little for the wickedness of Peor of which we are not cleansed to this day, though a plague came upon the Congregation of the LORD?

¹⁸ “You also have turned away from the LORD this day. And seeing that you rebel against the LORD today, tomorrow He will be angry with all the Congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ “Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, come over to the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD’s Tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against the LORD, or rebel against us, by building your own altar beside the Altar of the LORD our God.

²⁰ “Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, trespass grievously in the secluded thing, and wrath fell on all the Congregation of Israel? But it wasn’t only this one man who perished in his wickedness.”

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads over the thousands of Israel,

²² “The LORD, God of gods, the LORD, God of gods! He knows and Israel himself shall know! If by rebellion, or by transgression against the LORD, do not save us this day!

²³ “If we have built ourselves an altar to turn away from the LORD, either to offer burnt offering on it, or meat offering, or to offer peace offerings on it, let the LORD Himself require it!

²⁴ “But rather, we have done it out of fear, saying, ‘In time to come, your children might say to our children, “What have you to do with the LORD God of Israel?”’

²⁵ “For the LORD has made Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and of Gad. Therefore, you have no part in the LORD. So shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ “Therefore we said, ‘We will now go about to make ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice,

²⁷ ‘but it shall be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, to execute the service of the LORD before Him, in our Burnt Offerings and in our Sacrifices and in our Peace Offerings, and so that your children would not say to our children in time to come, “You have no part in the LORD.”’

²⁸ “Therefore we said, ‘If so be that they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, then will we answer, “Behold, the fashion of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made not for burnt offering or for sacrifice, but it is a witness between us and you.

²⁹ “Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD and turn away from the LORD this day, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meat offering, or for sacrifice, except the Altar of the LORD our God that is before His Tabernacle.”’”

³⁰ And when Phinehas the Priest and the princes of the Congregation, and heads over the thousands of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, they were well content.

³¹ And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the Priest, said to the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to the children of Manasseh, “This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because you have not done this trespass against the LORD. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.”

³² Then, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the Priest, with the princes, returned from the children of Reuben and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them answer.

³³ And the saying pleased the children of Israel. And the children of Israel blessed God and did not mind to go against them in battle, to destroy the land in which the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

³⁴ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar: Witness. “For it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.”