Joshua 22
Lexham English Bible
The Eastern Tribes Return
22 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 2 and he said to them, “You have observed all that Moses Yahweh’s servant commanded you, and you have listened[a] to my voice in all that I have commanded you; 3 you have not forsaken your kinsmen[b] these many days, up to this day, and you have observed the obligation of the command of Yahweh your God. 4 So then, Yahweh your God has given rest to your kinsmen,[c] just as he promised them; so then, turn and go to your tents to the land of your possession, which Moses Yahweh’s servant gave to you beyond the Jordan. 5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and law that Moses Yahweh’s servant commanded you, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”[d] 6 And Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. 7 And to the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua had given a possession with their kinsmen[e] beyond the Jordan to the west; and when Joshua sent them to their tents and blessed them, 8 he said to them, “Return to your tents with much wealth, and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, copper, iron, and with very much clothing; divide the war-booty of your enemies with your kinsmen.”[f] 9 So the descendants[g] of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home and departed with the Israelites[h] at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead to the land of their possession, which they had acquired according to the command of Yahweh[i] through the hand of Moses.
10 And they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, and the descendants[j] of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar on the Jordan, a large and imposing altar.[k] 11 And the Israelites[l] heard it said that the descendants[m] of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar next to the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the Israelites.[n] 12 When the Israelites[o] heard of it, the whole congregation of the Israelites[p] gathered at Shiloh to go up against them for battle. 13 And the Israelites[q] sent to the descendants[r] of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, Phinehas the priest son of Eleazar, 14 and ten leaders with him, one leader for each[s] family[t] from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one was the head of his family[u] among the clans of Israel.[v] 15 They came to the descendants[w] of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, 16 “Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh: ‘What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel by turning away today from following Yahweh, by building for yourselves an altar to rebel today against Yahweh? 17 Is not the sin of Peor enough for us,[x] from which we have not cleansed ourselves today, and for which a plague came to the congregation of Yahweh, 18 that you must turn today from following Yahweh? If you rebel today against Yahweh, tomorrow he will be angry with all of the congregation of Israel; 19 if, however, the land of your property is unclean, cross over to the land of Yahweh’s property, where Yahweh’s tabernacle resides,[y] and take possession among us. But you must not rebel against Yahweh or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of Yahweh our God. 20 Did not Achan son of Zerah commit treachery with devoted things,[z] and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And he alone[aa] did not perish because of his iniquity.’”
21 And the descendants[ab] of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh spoke with the heads of the clans[ac] of Israel, 22 “Yahweh, God of gods! Yahweh, God of gods knows. And let Israel itself know, if it was in rebellion or treachery against Yahweh, do not spare us this day 23 for building for ourselves an altar to turn away from Yahweh, or if it was to offer burnt offerings,[ad] grain offerings,[ae] or fellowship offerings on it, may Yahweh himself take vengeance. 24 But in fact, we have done this because of anxiety, because of a reason, saying, ‘In the future your children may say to our children, ‘What is the relationship between you and Yahweh the God of Israel?[af] 25 Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, the descendants[ag] of Reuben and Gad; you have no portion in Yahweh.’ So your children may put an end to our children worshiping[ah] Yahweh. 26 So we said, ‘Let us build immediately for ourselves an altar, not for burnt offerings[ai] or for sacrifices;[aj] 27 instead, it is a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us for performing the serving of Yahweh in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings; so that your children may not say in the future to our children, “You have no portion in Yahweh.”’ 28 And we thought, if they say to us and to our children in the future, we can say, ‘Look at this replica of the altar of Yahweh, which our ancestors[ak] made, not for burnt offerings[al] or sacrifices;[am] rather, it is a witness between us and you.’ 29 Far be it from us to rebel against Yahweh, to turn today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offerings,[an] grain offerings,[ao] or sacrifices,[ap] instead of the altar of Yahweh our God that is before his tabernacle.”
30 Phinehas the priest, the leaders of the congregation, and the heads of the clans[aq] of Israel who were with him heard the words that the descendants[ar] of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh spoke, and they were satisfied.[as] 31 Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, said to the descendants[at] of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that Yahweh is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against Yahweh. Therefore you have rescued the Israelites[au] from the hand of Yahweh.”
32 And Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, and the leaders returned from the descendants[av] of Reuben and Gad, from the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan to the Israelites,[aw] and they gave them their report.[ax] 33 The report satisfied the Israelites;[ay] they blessed God, and they did not speak of going up for battle against them to destroy the land in which the descendants[az] of Reuben and Gad were living.[ba] 34 The descendants[bb] of Reuben and Gad called the altar Witness, “Because,” they said, “it is a witness between us that Yahweh is God.”
Footnotes
- Joshua 22:2 Or “you have obeyed”
- Joshua 22:3 Or “brothers”
- Joshua 22:4 Or “brothers”
- Joshua 22:5 Or “inner self”
- Joshua 22:7 Or “brothers”
- Joshua 22:8 Or “brothers”
- Joshua 22:9 Or “sons”
- Joshua 22:9 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 22:9 Literally “on the mouth of Yahweh”
- Joshua 22:10 Or “sons”
- Joshua 22:10 Literally “a large altar to appearance”
- Joshua 22:11 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 22:11 Or “sons”
- Joshua 22:11 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 22:12 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 22:12 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 22:13 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 22:13 Or “sons”
- Joshua 22:14 Literally “one leader, one leader”
- Joshua 22:14 Literally “of the house of father”
- Joshua 22:14 Literally “house of their fathers”
- Joshua 22:14 Or “thousands of Israel”
- Joshua 22:15 Or “sons”
- Joshua 22:17 Literally “too little for us”
- Joshua 22:19 Or “stands”
- Joshua 22:20 Or “consecrated possession”
- Joshua 22:20 Literally “And he is one man that”
- Joshua 22:21 Or “sons”
- Joshua 22:21 Or “thousands”
- Joshua 22:23 Hebrew “offering”
- Joshua 22:23 Hebrew “offering”
- Joshua 22:24 Literally “What is to you and to Yahweh the God of Israel”
- Joshua 22:25 Or “sons”
- Joshua 22:25 Or “seeing”
- Joshua 22:26 Hebrew “offering”
- Joshua 22:26 Hebrew “sacrifice”
- Joshua 22:28 Or “fathers”
- Joshua 22:28 Hebrew “offering”
- Joshua 22:28 Hebrew “sacrifice”
- Joshua 22:29 Hebrew “offering”
- Joshua 22:29 Hebrew “offering”
- Joshua 22:29 Hebrew “sacrifice”
- Joshua 22:30 Or “thousands”
- Joshua 22:30 Or “sons”
- Joshua 22:30 Literally “it was good in their eyes”
- Joshua 22:31 Or “sons”
- Joshua 22:31 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 22:32 Or “sons”
- Joshua 22:32 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 22:32 Literally “they brought back a word to them”
- Joshua 22:33 Literally “The report was good in the eyes of the children of Israel”
- Joshua 22:33 Or “sons”
- Joshua 22:33 Or “dwelling”
- Joshua 22:34 Or “sons”
Joshua 22
New Living Translation
The Eastern Tribes Return Home
22 Then Joshua called together the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 2 He told them, “You have done as Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, and you have obeyed every order I have given you. 3 During all this time you have not deserted the other tribes. You have been careful to obey the commands of the Lord your God right up to the present day. 4 And now the Lord your God has given the other tribes rest, as he promised them. So go back home to the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you as your possession on the east side of the Jordan River. 5 But be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to you. Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.” 6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went home.
7 Moses had given the land of Bashan, east of the Jordan River, to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The other half of the tribe was given land west of the Jordan.) As Joshua sent them away and blessed them, 8 he said to them, “Go back to your homes with the great wealth you have taken from your enemies—the vast herds of livestock, the silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and the large supply of clothing. Share the plunder with your relatives.”
9 So the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the rest of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. They started the journey back to their own land of Gilead, the territory that belonged to them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.
The Eastern Tribes Build an Altar
10 But while they were still in Canaan, and when they came to a place called Geliloth[a] near the Jordan River, the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh stopped to build a large and imposing altar.
11 The rest of Israel heard that the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at Geliloth at the edge of the land of Canaan, on the west side of the Jordan River. 12 So the whole community of Israel gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against them. 13 First, however, they sent a delegation led by Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to talk with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 14 In this delegation were ten leaders of Israel, one from each of the ten tribes, and each the head of his family within the clans of Israel.
15 When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 16 “The whole community of the Lord demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel. How could you turn away from the Lord and build an altar for yourselves in rebellion against him? 17 Was our sin at Peor not enough? To this day we are not fully cleansed of it, even after the plague that struck the entire community of the Lord. 18 And yet today you are turning away from following the Lord. If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with all of us tomorrow.
19 “If you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled, then join us in the Lord’s land, where the Tabernacle of the Lord is situated, and share our land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar other than the one true altar of the Lord our God. 20 Didn’t divine anger fall on the entire community of Israel when Achan, a member of the clan of Zerah, sinned by stealing the things set apart for the Lord[b]? He was not the only one who died because of his sin.”
21 Then the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the clans of Israel: 22 “The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! The Lord, the Mighty One, is God! He knows the truth, and may Israel know it, too! We have not built the altar in treacherous rebellion against the Lord. If we have done so, do not spare our lives this day. 23 If we have built an altar for ourselves to turn away from the Lord or to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings, may the Lord himself punish us.
24 “The truth is, we have built this altar because we fear that in the future your descendants will say to ours, ‘What right do you have to worship the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 The Lord has placed the Jordan River as a barrier between our people and you people of Reuben and Gad. You have no claim to the Lord.’ So your descendants may prevent our descendants from worshiping the Lord.
26 “So we decided to build the altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, 27 but as a memorial. It will remind our descendants and your descendants that we, too, have the right to worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. Then your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no claim to the Lord.’
28 “If they say this, our descendants can reply, ‘Look at this copy of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors made. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; it is a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the Lord.’ 29 Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord or turn away from him by building our own altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices. Only the altar of the Lord our God that stands in front of the Tabernacle may be used for that purpose.”
30 When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of Israel—heard this from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, they were satisfied. 31 Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, replied to them, “Today we know the Lord is among us because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord as we thought. Instead, you have rescued Israel from being destroyed by the hand of the Lord.”
32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the other leaders left the tribes of Reuben and Gad in Gilead and returned to the land of Canaan to tell the Israelites what had happened. 33 And all the Israelites were satisfied and praised God and spoke no more of war against Reuben and Gad.
34 The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar “Witness,”[c] for they said, “It is a witness between us and them that the Lord is our God, too.”
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