CHAPTER 22

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

2 And said to them, you have kept all things which Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, and you have obeyed my voice in all things which I have commanded you.

3 You have not deserted your brethren now for many days, even to this day, but you have carefully observed the command of Jehovah your God.

4 And now Jehovah your God has given rest to your brethren, as he had said to them; now, therefore, return and set out to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Jehovah gave you beyond the Jordan.

5 Only observe carefully to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, to love Jehovah your God, and walk in all his ways, and observe his precepts, and adhere to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.

6 And Joshua blessed them, and discharged them, and they went away to their tents.

7 Now, to the half tribe of Manasseh Moses had given (an inheritance) in Basan; and to the other half, Joshua gave (an inheritance) with their brethren beyond Jordan on the west. And also when Joshua was dismissing them to their tents, and had blessed them,

8 Then he spoke to them, saying, Return with much riches to your tents, and with very much property, with silver, and gold, and brass, and iron, and very much raiment; divide the spoils of your enemies with your brethren.

9 Accordingly, both the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and went away from the children of Israel, from Silo, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, in which they had received a possession, according to the word of Jehovah, by the hand of Moses.

10 And they came to the limits of the Jordan, which were 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 near the Jordan, an altar of conspicuous appearance.

11 And the children of Israel heard it said, 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, on the confines of the Jordan, at the crossing of the children of Israel.

12 The children of Israel, I say, heard, and the whole body of the children of Israel assembled in Silo, to go up against them to battle.

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

14 And ten princes with him, a single prince for each house, selected from all the tribes of Israel; for there were single princes of the families of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.

15 They came, therefore, to the children of Reuben, and 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 Jehovah, What falsehood is this which you have devised against the God of Israel, in turning away this day from going after Jehovah, by building an altar for yourselves to rebel this day against Jehovah?

17 Is it little for us to have been involved in the iniquity of Peor, from which we are not yet cleansed even at the present day, and yet there was a plague in the congregation of Jehovah?

18 Now you are turning aside this day from going after Jehovah, and it will be that you will rebel this day against Jehovah, and to-morrow he will be wroth against the whole congregation of Israel;

19 And, indeed, if the land of your possession is impure, pass over to the land of the possession of Jehovah, in which the tabernacle of Jehovah dwells, and receive possessions in the midst of us, and rebel not against Jehovah, nor revolt from us by building an altar for yourselves besides the altar of Jehovah our God.

20 Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, sin grossly in the anathema, and was (there not) anger against the whole congregation of Israel? That man did not die alone on account of his iniquity.

21 And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke with the princes of the thousands of Israel.

22 Jehovah, God of gods, Jehovah, God of gods, himself knoweth, and Israel will know; if it be through rebellion, if it be through falsehood, against Jehovah, save us not this day.

23 If we have thought to build for us an altar, to turn away from going after Jehovah; if to sacrifice upon it burnt-offerings and sacrifice; and if to make upon it sacrifices of prosperity, let Jehovah himself inquire:

24 And if we have not rather done it from a fear of this thing, saying, Your children will to-morrow speak unto our children, saying, What have you to do with Jehovah the God of Israel?

25 For Jehovah has put the Jordan as a boundary between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad; you have no portion in Jehovah; and your children will make our children desist from fearing Jehovah.

26 And we said, Let us now give our endeavor to build an altar, neither for burnt-offerings nor for sacrifice;

27 But that it may be a witness betwixt us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may diligently serve Jehovah before him in our burnt-offerings, and our sacrifices, and our offerings of prosperity; and lest your children may to-morrow say to our children, You have no part in Jehovah.

28 We said therefore, And it shall be, if they say to us or to our generations to-morrow, then shall we say, You see the likeness of an altar to Jehovah, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.

29 Far be it from us to rebel against Jehovah, and to turn away this day from going after Jehovah, by building an altar for a burnt-offering, for oblation, and for sacrifice, beyond the altar of Jehovah our God, which is before his tabernacle.

30 Moreover, when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, and the heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him, had heard the words which the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh had spoken, it was pleasing in their eyes.

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 know that Jehovah is in the midst of us, in that you have not sinned that sin against Jehovah; then you have freed the children of Israel from the hand of Jehovah.

32 Therefore Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, and those princes returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the other children of Israel, and reported the matter to them.

33 And the thing was pleasing in the eyes of the children of Israel, and the sons of Israel blessed God, and did not determine to go up against them to battle, to destroy the land in which the children of Reuben and the children of Gad were dwelling.

34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Hed, saying, For it will be a witness between us that Jehovah is God.