Josh 22
1
Then Joshua called together the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe
of Manasse,
2
and said to them, You have heard all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded
you, and you have hearkened to my voice in all that he commanded you.
3
You have not deserted your brethren these many days: until this day you have kept
the commandment of the Lord your God.
4
And now the Lord our God has given our brethren rest, as he told them: now then return
and depart to your homes, and to the land of your possession, which Moses gave you
on the other side Jordan.
5
But take great heed to do the commands and the law, which Moses the servant of the
Lord commanded you to do; to love the Lord our God, to walk in all his ways, to keep
his commands, and to cleave to him, and serve him with all your mind, and with all
your soul.
6
And Joshua blessed them, and dismissed them; and they went to their homes.
7
And to one half the tribe of Manasse Moses gave a portion in the land of Basan, and
to the other half Joshua gave a portion with his brethren on the other side of Jordan
westward: and when Joshua sent them away to their homes, then he blessed them.
8
And they departed with much wealth to their houses, and they divided the spoil of
their enemies with their brethren; very much cattle, and silver, and gold, and iron,
and much raiment.
9
So the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse, departed
from the children of Israel in Selo in the land of Chanaan, to go away into Galaad,
into the land of their possession, which they inherited by the command of the Lord,
by the hand of Moses.
10
And they came to Galaad of Jordan, which is in the land of Chanaan: and the children
of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse built there an alter
by Jordan, a great altar to look at.
11
And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad,
and the half tribe of Manasse have built an alter at the borders of the land of Chanaan
at Galaad of Jordan, on the opposite side to the children of Israel.
12
And all the children of Israel gathered together to Selo, so as to go up and fight
against them.
13
And the children of Israel sent to the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and to
the sons of the half tribe of Manasse into the land of Galaad, both Phinees the son
of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest,
14
and ten of the chiefs with him; there was one chief of every household out of all
the tribes of Israel; (the heads of families are the captains of thousands in Israel.)
15
And they came to the sons of Ruben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the Gr. halves, adj.; q. d. dimidious viros half tribe
of Manasse into the land of Galaad; and they spoke to them, saying,
16
Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, What is this transgression that you
have transgressed before the God of Israel, to turn away today from the Lord, in that
you have built for yourselves an alter, so that you should be apostates from the Lord?
17
Is the sin of Phogor too little for you, whereas we have not been cleansed from it
until this day, though there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord?
18
And you have this day revolted from the Lord; and it shall come to pass if you revolt
this day from the Lord, that to-morrow there shall be anger upon all Israel.
19
And now if the land of your possession be too little, cross over to the land of the
possession of the Lord, where the tabernacle of the Lord dwells, and receive you an
inheritance among us; and do not become apostates from God, neither do you apostatize
from the Lord, because of your having built an altar apart from the altar of the Lord
our God.
20
Behold! did not Achar the son of Zara commit a trespass taking of the accursed thing,
and there was anger on the whole congregation of Israel? and he himself died alone
in his own sin.
21
And the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse answered,
and spoke to the captains of the thousands of Israel, saying,
22
God even God is the Lord, and God even God himself knows, and Israel he shall know;
if we have transgressed before the Lord by apostasy, let him not deliver us this day.
23
And if we have built to ourselves an altar, so as to apostatize from the Lord our
God, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of whole-burnt-offerings, so as to offer upon
it a sacrifice of peace-offering, —the Lord shall require it.
24
But we have done this for the sake of precaution concerning this thing, saying, Lest
Gr. tomorrow hereafter your sons should say to our sons, What have you to do with the Lord God
of Israel?
25
Whereas the Lord has set boundaries between us and you, even Jordan, and you have
no portion Gr. of in the Lord: so your sons shall alienate our sons, that they should not worship the
Lord.
26
And we Gr. spoke gave orders to do thus, to build this altar, not for burnt-offerings, nor for meat-offerings;
27
but that this may be a witness between you and us, and between our posterity after
us, that we may do service to the Lord before him, with our burnt-offerings and our
meat-offerings and our peace-offerings: so your sons shall not say to our sons, Gr. tomorrow hereafter, You have no portion
Gr. of in the Lord.
28
And we said, If ever it should come to pass that they should speak so to us, or to
our posterity hereafter; then shall they say, Behold the likeness of the altar of
the Lord, which our fathers made, not for the sake of burnt-offerings, nor for the
sake of meat-offerings, but it is a witness between you and us, and between our sons.
29
Far be it from us therefore that we should turn away from the Lord this day so as
to apostatize from the Lord, so as that we should build an altar for burnt-offerings,
and for A double translation in Greek peace-offerings, besides the altar of the Lord which is before his tabernacle.
30
And Phinees the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation of Israel who were with
him Gr. having heard heard the words which the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half
tribe of Manasse spoke; and it pleased them.
31
And Phinees the priest said to the sons of Ruben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the
half of the tribe of Manasse, To-day we know that the Lord is with us, because you
have not trespassed grievously against the Lord, and because you have delivered the
children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.
32
So Phinees the priest and the princes departed from the children of Ruben, and from
the children of Gad, and from the half tribe of Manasse out of Galaad into the land
of Chanaan to the children of Israel; and reported the words to them.
33
And it pleased the children of Israel; and they spoke to the children of Israel, and
blessed the God of the children of Israel, and told them to go up no more to war against
Gr. them the others to destroy the land of the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad,
and the half tribe of Manasse: so they dwelt upon it.
34
And Joshua gave a name to the altar of the children of Ruben, and the children of
Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse; and said, It is a testimony in the midst of them,
that the Lord is their God.