Joshua
22
- Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the
Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh
- and said to them, "You have done all
that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything
I commanded.
- For a long time now--to this very day --
you have not deserted your brothers but have carried out the mission the LORD
your God gave you.
- Now that the LORD your God has given your
brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses
the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan.
- But be very careful to keep the commandment
and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD
your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him
and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul."
- Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away,
and they went to their homes.
- (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had
given land in Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land
on the west side of the Jordan with their brothers.) When Joshua sent them
home, he blessed them,
- saying, "Return to your homes with
your great wealth -- with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze
and iron, and a great quantity of clothing -- and divide with your brothers
the plunder from your enemies."
- So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe
of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their
own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the LORD
through Moses.
- When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan
in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh
built an imposing altar there by the Jordan.
- And when the Israelites heard that they
had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on
the Israelite side,
- the whole assembly of Israel gathered at
Shiloh to go to war against them.
- So the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar,
the priest, to the land of Gilead -- to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of
Manasseh.
- With him they sent ten of the chief men,
one for each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among
the Israelite clans.
- When they went to Gilead -- to Reuben, Gad
and the half-tribe of Manasseh -- they said to them:
- "The whole assembly of the LORD says:
'How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you
turn away from the LORD and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against
him now ?
- Was not the sin of Peor enough for us? Up
to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though
a plague fell on the community of the LORD !
- And are you now turning away from the LORD?
"'If you rebel against the LORD today, tomorrow he will be angry with
the whole community of Israel.
- If the land you possess is defiled, come
over to the LORD'S land, where the LORD'S tabernacle stands, and share the
land with us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building
an altar for yourselves, other than the altar of the LORD our God.
- When Achan son of Zerah acted unfaithfully
regarding the devoted things, did not wrath come upon the whole community
of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.'"
- Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh
replied to the heads of the clans of Israel:
- "The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The
Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been
in rebellion or disobedience to the LORD, do not spare us this day.
- If we have built our own altar to turn away
from the LORD and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice
fellowship offerings on it, may the LORD himself call us to account.
- "No! We did it for fear that some day
your descendants might say to ours, 'What do you have to do with the LORD,
the God of Israel ?
- The LORD has made the Jordan a boundary
between us and you -- you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the
LORD.' So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the LORD.
- "That is why we said, 'Let us get ready
and build an altar -- but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.'
- On the contrary, it is to be a witness between
us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the LORD
at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings.
Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, 'You
have no share in the LORD.'
- "And we said, 'If they ever say this
to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the LORD'S
altar, which our fathers built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but
as a witness between us and you.'
- "Far be it from us to rebel against
the LORD and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings,
grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God that
stands before his tabernacle."
- When Phinehas the priest and the leaders
of the community -- the heads of the clans of the Israelites -- heard what
Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased.
- And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest,
said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, "Today we know that the LORD is with
us, because you have not acted unfaithfully toward the LORD in this matter.
Now you have rescued the Israelites from the LORD'S hand."
- Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest,
and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites
and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites.
- They were glad to hear the report and praised
God. And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate
the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived.
- And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave
the altar this name: A Witness Between Us that the LORD is God.
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