Joshua 22

1 At the same time Josue called the Rubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasses,

At that time Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

2 And said to them: You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you: you have also obeyed me in all things,

He said to them, “You have done everything that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you. You have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you.

3 Neither have you left your brethren this long time, until this present day, keeping the commandment of the Lord your God.

You have not deserted your brothers these many days, down to this present day, and you have fulfilled the duties required by the commandments of Yahweh your God.

4 Therefore as the Lord your God hath given your brethren rest and peace, as he promised: return, and go to your dwellings, and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan:

Now Yahweh your God has given rest to your brothers, just as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land you own, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you on the other side of the Jordan.

5 Yet so that you observe attentively, and in work fulfill the commandment and the 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 all his commandments, and cleave to him, and serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul.

Just be very careful to observe the commandments and the law that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, and to cling to him and worship him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

6 And Josue blessed them, and sent them away, and they returned to their dwellings.

So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went back to their tents.

7 Now to half the tribe of Manasses, Moses had given a possession in Basan: and therefore to the half that remained, Josue gave a lot among the rest of their brethren beyond the Jordan to the west. And when he sent them away to their dwellings and had blessed them,

Now to one-half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given an inheritance in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua gave an inheritance beside their brothers in the land west of the Jordan. Joshua sent them away to their tents; he blessed them

8 He said to them: With much substance and riches, you return to your settlements, with silver and gold, brass and iron, and variety of raiment: divide the prey of your enemies with your brethren.

and said to them, “Return to your tents with much money, and with very much livestock, and with silver and gold, and with bronze and iron, and with very many garments. Divide the plunder from your enemies with your brothers.”

9 So the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses returned, and parted from the children of Israel in Silo, which is in Chanaan, to go into Galaad the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

So the descendants of Reuben, the descendants of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh returned home, leaving the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. They left to go to the region of Gilead, to their own land, which they themselves possessed, in obedience to the commandment of Yahweh, by the hand of Moses.

10 And when they were come to the banks of the Jordan, in the land of Chanaan, they built an altar immensely great near the Jordan.

When they came to the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar beside the Jordan, a very large and prominent altar.

11 And when the children of Israel had heard of it, and certain messengers had brought them an account that the children of Ruben, and of Cad, and the half tribe of Manasses had built an altar in the land of Chanaan, upon the banks of the Jordan, over against the children of Israel:

The people of Israel heard about this and said, “Look! The people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the front of the land of Canaan, at Geliloth, in the region near the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.”

12 They all assembled in Silo, to go up and fight against them.

When the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go up to make war against them.

13 And in the mean time they sent to them into the land of Galaad, Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest,

Then the people of Israel sent messengers to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead. They also sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest,

14 And ten princes with him, one of every tribe.

and with him ten leaders, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, and every one of them was the head of a family among the clan of Israel.

15 Who came to the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses, into the land of Galaad, and said to them:

They came to the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they spoke to them:

16 Thus saith all the people of the Lord: What meaneth this transgression? Why have you forsaken the Lord the God of Israel, building a sacrilegious altar, and revolting from the worship of him?

“The whole assembly of Yahweh says this, 'What is this unfaithfulness that you have committed against the God of Israel, by turning this day from following Yahweh by building yourself an altar this day in rebellion against Yahweh?

17 Is it a small thing to you that you sinned with Beelphegor, and the stain of that crime remaineth in us to this day? and many of the people perished.

Was our sin at Peor not enough for us? Yet we have not even now cleansed ourselves from it. For that sin there came a plague on the assembly of Yahweh.

18 And you have forsaken the Lord today, and tomorrow his wrath will rage against all Israel.

Must you also turn away from following Yahweh at this present day? If you also rebel against Yahweh today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole assembly of Israel.

19 But if you think the land of your possession to be unclean, pass over to the land wherein is the tabernacle of the Lord, and dwell among us: only depart not from the Lord, and from our society, by building an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God.

If the land that you possess is defiled, then you should pass over into the land where Yahweh's tabernacle stands and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us by building an altar for yourselves other than the altar of Yahweh our God.

20 Did not Achan the son of Zare transgress the commandment of the Lord, and his wrath lay upon all the people of Israel? And he was but one man, and would to God he alone had perished in his wickedness.

Did not Achan son of Zerah break faith in the matter of those things that had been reserved for God? Did not wrath fall on all the people of Israel? That man did not perish alone for his iniquity.'”

21 And the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasses answered the princes of the embassage of Israel:

Then the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh replied in answer to the heads of the clans of Israel:

22 The Lord the most mighty God, the Lord the most mighty God, he knoweth, and Israel also shall understand: If with the design of transgression we have set up this altar, let him not save us, but punish us immediately:

“The Mighty One, God, Yahweh! The Mighty One, God, Yahweh!—He knows, and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against Yahweh, do not spare us on this day

23 And if we did it with that mind, that we might lay upon it holocausts, and sacrifice, and victims of peace offerings, let him require and judge:

for having built an altar to turn ourselves away from following Yahweh. If we built that altar in order to offer on it burnt offerings, grain offerings, or peace offerings, then let Yahweh make us pay for it.

24 And not rather with this thought and design, that we should say: Tomorrow your children will say to our children: What have you to do with the Lord the God of Israel?

No! We did it for fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, 'What have you to do with Yahweh, the God of Israel?

25 The Lord hath put the river Jordan for a border between us and you, O ye children of Ruben, and ye children of Gad: and therefore you have no part in the Lord. And by this occasion you children shall turn away our children from the fear of the Lord. We therefore thought, it best,

For Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you. You people of Reuben and people of Gad, you have nothing to do with Yahweh.' So your children might make our children cease to worship Yahweh.

26 And said: Let us build us an altar, not for holocausts, nor to offer victims,

So we said, 'Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offerings nor for any sacrifices,

27 But for a testimony between us and you, and our posterity and yours, that we may serve the Lord, and that we may have a right to offer both holocausts, and victims and sacrifices of peace offerings: and that your children tomorrow may not say to our children: You have no part in the Lord.

but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we will perform the service of Yahweh before him, with our burnt offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, so that your children will never say to our children in time to come, “You have no share in Yahweh.”'

28 And if they will say so, they shall answer them: Behold the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for holocausts, nor for sacrifice, but for a testimony between us and you.

So we said, 'If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we would say, “Look! This is a copy of the altar of Yahweh, which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.”

29 God keep us from any such wickedness that we should revolt from the Lord, and leave off following his steps, by building an altar to offer holocausts, and sacrifices, and victims, beside the altar of the Lord our God, which is erected before his tabernacle.

May it be far from us that we should rebel against Yahweh, and today turn away from following him by building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering, or for sacrifice, other than the altar of Yahweh our God that is before his tabernacle.'”

30 And when Phinees the priest, and the princes of the embassage, who were with him, had heard this, they were satisfied: and they admitted most willingly the words of the children of Ruben, and Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasses.

When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the people, that is, the heads of the clans of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh said, that it was good in their eyes.

31 And Phinees the priest the son of Eleazar said to them: Now we know that the Lord is with us, because you are not guilty of this revolt, and you have delivered the children of Israel from the hand of the Lord.

Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that Yahweh is among us, because you have not committed this breach of faith against him. Now you have rescued the people of Israel out of the hand of Yahweh.”

32 And he returned with the princes from the children of Ruben and Gad, out of the land of Galaad, into the land of Chanaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.

Then Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, and the leaders returned from the Reubenites and the Gadites, out of the land of Gilead, back to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them.

33 And the saying pleased all that heard it. And the children of Israel praised God, and they no longer said that they would go up against them, and fight, and destroy the land of their possession.

Their report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. The people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more about making war against the Reubenites and the Gadites, in order to destroy the land where they had settled.

34 And the children of Ruben, and the children of Cad called the altar which they had built, Our testimony, that the Lord is God.

The Reubenites and the Gadites named the altar “Witness,” for they said, “It is a witness between us that Yahweh is God.”