|
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Tribes
beyond Jordan Return |
|
|
 |
| Joshua 22:1 |
|
Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the
Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:2 |
|
and said to them, "You have kept all that Moses
the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that
I commanded you. |
| |
|
|
| Joshua 22:3 |
|
You have not forsaken your brothers these many
days to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your
God. |
| |
|
|
| Joshua 22:4 |
|
And now the LORD your God has given rest to
your brothers, as He spoke to them; therefore turn now and go to your tents, to
the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond
the Jordan. |
| |
|
|
| Joshua 22:5 |
|
Only be very careful to observe the commandment
and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD
your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him
and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." |
| |
|
|
| Joshua 22:6 |
|
So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and
they went to their tents. |
| |
|
|
| Joshua 22:7 |
|
Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses
had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua gave a possession
among their brothers westward beyond the Jordan. So when Joshua sent them away
to their tents, he blessed them, |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:8 |
|
and said to them, "Return to your tents with
great riches and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and
with very many clothes; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers." |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:9 |
|
The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the
half-tribe of Manasseh returned home and departed from the sons of Israel 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 possessed, according to the command of the LORD through
Moses. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
The
Offensive Altar |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:10 |
|
When they came to the region of the Jordan which
is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe
of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance. |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:11 |
|
And the sons of Israel heard it said, "Behold,
the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built
an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on
the side belonging to the sons of Israel." |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:12 |
|
When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole
congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves at Shiloh to go up against
them in war. |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:13 |
|
Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of
Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land
of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:14 |
|
and with him ten chiefs, one chief for each
father's household from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one of them was
the head of his father's household among the thousands of Israel. |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:15 |
|
They came to the sons of Reuben and to the sons
of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke
with them saying, |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:16 |
|
"Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD,
'What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel,
turning away from following the LORD this day, by building yourselves an altar,
to rebel against the LORD this day? |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:17 |
|
Is not the iniquity of Peor enough for us, from
which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although a plague came on the
congregation of the LORD, |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:18 |
|
that you must turn away this day from following
the LORD? If you rebel against the LORD today, He will be angry with the whole
congregation of Israel tomorrow. |
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:19 |
|
If, however, the land of your possession is
unclean, then cross into the land of the possession of the LORD, where the LORD'S
tabernacle stands, and take possession among us. Only do not rebel against the
LORD, or rebel against us by building an altar for yourselves, besides the altar
of the LORD our God. |
| |
|
|
| Joshua 22:20 |
|
Did not Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully
in the things under the ban, and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel?
And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.'" |
| |
|
|
| Joshua 22:21 |
|
Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad
and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the families
of Israel. |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:22 |
|
"The Mighty One, God, the LORD, the Mighty
One, God, the LORD! 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! |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:23 |
|
If we have built us an altar to turn away from
following the LORD, or if to offer a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or
if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may the LORD Himself require
it. |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:24 |
|
But truly we have done this out of concern,
for a reason, saying, 'In time to come your sons may say to our sons, "What have
you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:25 |
|
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.' |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:26 |
|
"Therefore we said, 'Let us build an altar,
not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:27 |
|
rather it shall be a witness between us and
you and between our generations after us, that we are to perform the service of
the LORD before Him with our burnt offerings, and with 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."' |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:28 |
|
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."' |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:29 |
|
Far be it from us that we should rebel against
the LORD and turn away from following the LORD this day, by building an altar
for burnt offering, for grain offering or for sacrifice, besides the altar of
the LORD our God which is before His tabernacle." |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:30 |
|
So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders
of the congregation, even the heads of the families of Israel who were with him,
heard the words which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh
spoke, it pleased them. |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:31 |
|
And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said
to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Manasseh, "Today
we know that the LORD is in our midst, because you have not committed this unfaithful
act against the LORD; now you have delivered the sons of Israel from the hand
of the LORD." |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:32 |
|
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. |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:33 |
|
The word pleased the sons of Israel, and the
sons of Israel blessed God; and they did not speak of going up against them in
war to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living. |
|
|
|
|
| Joshua 22:34 |
|
The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad called
the altar Witness; "For," they said, "it is a witness between us that the LORD
is God." |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
