Joshua 22:21-23:16

New American Standard Bible

²¹ Then the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the ^[a]families of Israel. ²² “The ^(A)Mighty One, God, the Lord, the Mighty One, God, the Lord! ^(B)He knows, and may Israel itself know. If it was in rebellion, or if in an unfaithful act against the Lord, do not save us this day! ²³ If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if to ^(C)offer a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may the Lord Himself ^[b]demand it. ²⁴ But truly we have done this out of concern, ^[c]for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your sons may say to our ^[d]sons, “What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? ²⁵ For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the Lord.” So your sons may make our sons stop fearing the Lord.’

²⁶ “Therefore we said, ‘Let’s ^[e]build an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; ²⁷ rather, it shall be ^(D)a witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to ^(E)perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings, so that your sons will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’ ²⁸ Therefore we said, ‘It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather, it is a witness between us and you.”’ ²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away from following the Lord this day, by ^(F)building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His ^[f]tabernacle.”

³⁰ So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, that is, the heads of the ^[g]families of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. ³¹ And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that the ^(G)Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this unfaithful act against the Lord; now you have saved the sons of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”

³² Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought back word to them. ³³ The word pleased the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel ^(H)blessed God; and they did not speak of going up against them in battle to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living. ³⁴ And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad ^(I)called the altar Witness; “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

Joshua’s Farewell Address

23 Now it came about after many days, when the Lord had given ^(J)rest to Israel from all their enemies on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years, ² that ^(K)Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, their heads, their judges, and their officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in years. ³ And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for ^(L)the Lord your God is He who has been fighting for you. ⁴ See, ^(M)I have apportioned to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have eliminated, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the ^[h]west. ⁵ And the Lord your God, He will thrust them away from you and ^[i](N)drive them from you; and ^(O)you will take possession of their land, just as the Lord your God ^[j]promised you. ^6 (P)Be very determined, then, to keep and do everything that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, so that you will not turn aside from it to the right or to the left, ⁷ so that you will not ^[k]associate with these nations, these which remain with you, or ^(Q)mention the name of their gods, or ^(R)make anyone swear by them, or ^(S)serve them, or bow down to them. ⁸ But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. ^9 (T)For the Lord has ^[l]driven out great and mighty nations from before you; and as for you, ^(U)no one has stood against you to this day. ^10 (V)One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is ^(W)He who fights for you, just as He ^[m]promised you. ¹¹ So take great care for yourselves that you love the Lord your God. ¹² For if you ever go back and ^(X)cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain with you, and ^(Y)intermarry with them, so that you ^[n]associate with them and they with you, ¹³ know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to ^[o]drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a ^(Z)snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴ “Now behold, today ^(AA)I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that ^(AB)not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed; they all have ^[p]been fulfilled for you, not ^[q]one of them has failed. ¹⁵ But it will come about that just as all the good words which the Lord your God spoke to you have come upon you, so ^(AC)the Lord will bring upon you ^[r]all the warnings, until He has eliminated you from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. ^16 (AD)When you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”