Joshua 22–23

EASTERN TRIBES RETURN HOME

22Joshua summoned the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh ²and told them, “You have done everything Moses the Lord’s servant commanded you^c and have obeyed me in everything I commanded you. ³You have not deserted your brothers even once this whole time but have carried out the requirement of the command of the Lord your God. ⁴Now that he has given your brothers rest, just as he promised them, return to your homes in your own land that Moses the Lord’s servant gave you across the Jordan. ⁵Only carefully obey the command and instruction that Moses the Lord’s servant gave you: to love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, keep his commands, be loyal to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”^d

⁶Joshua blessed them and sent them on their way,^e and they went to their homes. ⁷Moses had given territory to half the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, but Joshua had given territory to the other half,^B with their brothers, on the west side of the Jordan.^f When Joshua sent them to their homes and blessed them, ⁸he said, “Return to your homes with great wealth: a huge number of cattle, and silver, gold, bronze, iron, and a large quantity of clothing. Share the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”^g

EASTERN TRIBES BUILD AN ALTAR

⁹The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to return to their own land of Gilead,^h which they took possession of according to the Lord’s command through Moses. ¹⁰When they came to the region of^C the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh built a large, impressive altar there by the Jordan.

¹¹Then the Israelites heard it said, “Look, the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan at the region of^A the Jordan, on the Israelite side.” ¹²When the Israelites heard this, the entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh to go to war against them.ⁱ

EXPLANATION OF THE ALTAR

¹³The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead.^{j 14}They sent ten leaders with him—one family leader for each tribe of Israel. All of them were heads of their ancestral families among the clans of Israel.^{k 15}They went to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and told them, ¹⁶“This is what the Lord’s entire community says: ‘What is this treachery you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the Lord and building an altar for yourselves, so that you are in rebellion against the Lord today? ¹⁷Wasn’t the iniquity of Peor,^l which brought a plague on the Lord’s community, enough for us? We have not cleansed ourselves from it even to this day,^{m 18}and now would you turn away from the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow he will be angry with the entire community of Israel.^{n 19}But if the land you possess is defiled, cross over to the land the Lord possesses where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But don’t rebel against the Lord or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰Wasn’t Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath on the entire community of Israel? He was not the only one who perished because of his iniquity.’ ”^a

²¹The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the Israelite clans, ²²“The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord!^Bb He knows,^c and may Israel also know. Do not spare us today, if it was in rebellion or treachery against the Lord ²³that we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from him. May the Lord himself hold us accountable if we intended to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it. ²⁴We actually did this from a specific concern that in the future your descendants might say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord, the God of Israel? ²⁵For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you descendants of Reuben and Gad. You have no share in the Lord!’ So your descendants may cause our descendants to stop fearing the Lord.

²⁶“Therefore we said: Let’s take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offering or sacrifice. ²⁷Instead, it is to be a witness between us and you,^d and between the generations after us, so that we may carry out the worship of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings.^e Then in the future, your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no share in the Lord!’ ²⁸We thought that if they said this to us or to our generations in the future, we would reply: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors made, not for burnt offering or sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you. ²⁹We would never ever rebel against the Lord or turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God, which is in front of his tabernacle.”

CONFLICT RESOLVED

³⁰When the priest Phinehas and the community leaders, the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him, heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. ³¹Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against him.^f As a result, you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s power.”

³²Then the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar and the leaders returned from the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead to the Israelites in the land of Canaan and brought back a report to them. ³³The Israelites were pleased with the report, and they blessed God.^g They spoke no more about going to war against them to ravage the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived. ³⁴So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar: It^A is a witness between us that the Lord is God.

JOSHUA’S FAREWELL ADDRESS

23A long time after the Lord had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them,^h Joshua was old, advanced in age.^{i 2}So Joshua summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers,^j and said to them, “I am old, advanced in age, ³and you have seen for yourselves everything the Lord your God did to all these nations on your account, because it was the Lord your God who was fighting for you.^{k 4}See, I have allotted these remaining nations to you as an inheritance for your tribes,^l including all the nations I have destroyed, from the Jordan westward to the Mediterranean Sea. ⁵The Lord your God will force them back on your account and drive them out before you so that you can take possession of their land,^m as the Lord your God promised you.

⁶“Be very strongⁿ and continue obeying all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you do not turn from it to the right or left ⁷and so that you do not associate with these nations remaining among you. Do not call on the names of their gods or make an oath to them;^o do not serve them or bow in worship to them. ⁸Instead, be loyal to the Lord your God, as you have been to this day.^p

⁹“The Lord has driven out great and powerful nations before you,^q and no one is able to stand against you to this day.^{r 10}One of you routed a thousand^s because the Lord your God was fighting for you, as he promised.^{At 11}So diligently watch yourselves! Love the Lord your God! ¹²If you ever turn away and become loyal to the rest of these nations remaining among you,^u and if you intermarry or associate with them^v and they with you, ¹³know for certain that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out before you. They will become a snare and a trap for you,^a a sharp stick^B for your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴“I am now going the way of the whole earth,^b and you know with all your heart and all your soul that none of the good promises the Lord your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.^{c 15}Since every good thing the Lord your God promised you has come about, so he will bring on you every bad thing until he has annihilated you from this good land the Lord your God has given you.^{d 16}If you break the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow in worship to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly disappear from this good land he has given you.”