22:1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the
half-tribe of Manasseh,
22:2 And said to them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant
of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that
I commanded you:
22:3 Ye have not left your brethren these many days to this day,
but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your
God.
22:4 And now the LORD your God hath given rest to your brethren,
as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and go to your
tents, [and] to the land of your possession, which Moses the
servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of Jordan.
22:5 But take diligent heed to perform the commandment and the
law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love
the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his
commandments, and to cleave to him, and to serve him with all
your heart, and with all your soul.
22:6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away; and they went to
their tents.
22:7 Now to the [one] half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had
given [possession] in Bashan: but to the [other] half of it
gave Joshua among their brethren on this side of Jordan
westward. And when Joshua sent them away also to their tents,
then he blessed them,
22:8 And he spoke to them, saying, Return with much riches to
your tents, and with very many cattle, with silver, and with
gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much
raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.
22:9 And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and
the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the
children of Israel out of Shiloh, which [is] in the land of
Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their
possession, of which they were possessed, according to the word
of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
22:10 And when they came to the borders of Jordan, that [are] in
the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, and the children of
Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by
Jordan, a great altar to the sight.
22:11 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, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the
children of Israel.
22:12 And when the children of Israel heard [of it], the whole
congregation of the children of Israel assembled at Shiloh, to
go up to war against them.
22:13 And the children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben,
and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh
into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the
priest,
22:14 And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince
throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one [was] a head
of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.
22:15 And they came to the children of Reuben, and to the
children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land
of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,
22:16 Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What
trespass [is] this that ye have committed against the God of
Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that
ye have built you an altar, that ye might rebel this day
against the LORD?
22:17 [Is] the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we
are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in
the congregation of the LORD,
22:18 But that ye must turn away this day from following the
LORD? and it will be, [seeing] ye rebel to-day against the
LORD, that to-morrow he will be wroth with the whole
congregation of Israel.
22:19 Not withstanding, if the land of your possession [is]
unclean, [then] pass ye over to the land of the possession of
the LORD, in which the LORD'S tabernacle dwelleth, and take
possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel
against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of the
LORD our God.
22:20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the
accursed thing, and wrath fall on all the congregation of
Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.
22:21 Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and
the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and said to the heads of
the thousands of Israel,
22:22 The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth,
and Israel he shall know; if [it is] in rebellion, or if in
transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)
22:23 That we have built us an altar to turn from following the
LORD, or if to offer on it burnt-offering, or meat-offering, or
if to offer peace-offerings on it, let the LORD himself require
[it];
22:24 And if we have not [rather] done it for fear of [this]
thing, saying, In time to come your children may speak to our
children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of
Israel?
22:25 For the LORD hath made Jordan a boundary between us and
you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part
in the LORD. So shall your children make our children cease
from fearing the LORD.
22:26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an
altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice:
22:27 But [that] it [may be] a witness between us, and you, and
our generations after us, that we may do the service of the
LORD before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our
sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings; that your children
may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in
the LORD.
22:28 Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they shall [so]
say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may
say, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our
fathers made, not for burnt-offerings, nor for sacrifices; but
[it is] a witness between us and you.
22:29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD,
and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar
for burnt-offerings, for meat-offerings, or for sacrifices,
besides the altar of the LORD our God that [is] before his
tabernacle.
22:30 And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the
congregation, and heads of the thousands of Israel who [were]
with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, and the
children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased
them.
22:31 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 ye have not committed this trespass against
the LORD: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of
the hand of the LORD.
22:32 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the
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 children of Israel, and brought them word again.
22:33 And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the
children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up
against them in battle, to destroy the land in which the
children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.
22:34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called
the altar [Ed]: for it [shall be] a witness between us that the
LORD [is] God.
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