Joshua 22:1-9

New International Reader's Version

The Eastern Tribes Return Home

22 Joshua sent for the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh. ² He said to them, “You have done everything that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded. You have also obeyed everything I commanded. ³ For a long time now you haven’t deserted the other Israelites. Instead, you have done what the Lord your God sent you to do. You have obeyed him right up to this day. ⁴ Now the Lord your God has given the other tribes peace and rest. That’s what he promised to do. So return to your homes. They are in the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you. It’s on the east side of the Jordan River. ⁵ Be very careful to obey the law that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you. He commanded you to love the Lord your God. He told you to live exactly as the Lord wants you to. He told you to obey the Lord’s commands. He told you to remain faithful to the Lord. And he told you to serve the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul.”

⁶ Joshua gave the eastern tribes his blessing. Then he sent them home. So they went. ⁷ Moses had given land in Bashan to half of the tribe of Manasseh. Joshua had given land to the other half of the tribe. He had given it to them along with the other tribes on the west side of the Jordan River. When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them. ⁸ He said, “Return to your homes. Take your great wealth with you. Return with your large herds of livestock. Take your silver, gold, bronze and iron with you. Return with all the extra clothes you acquired. Divide up the things you have taken from your enemies. Share them with your people.”

⁹ So the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh went home. They left the other Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan. They returned to Gilead. That was their own land. They had acquired it according to the Lord’s command through Moses.