The Eastern Tribes’ Altar of Witness

10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. 11 And the people of Israel gheard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” 12 And when the people of Israel heard of it, hthe whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.

13 Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, iPhinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14 and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, jevery one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel. 15 And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day kin rebellion against the Lord? 17 Have we not had enough of lthe sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord, 18 that you too must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if kyou too rebel against the Lord today then tomorrow mhe will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord’s land nwhere the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. oOnly do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. 20 pDid not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and mwrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’ ”

21 Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, 22 “The Mighty One, qGod, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! rHe knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today 23 for building an altar to turn away from following the Lord. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself stake vengeance. 24 No, but we did it from fear that tin time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the Lord.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord. 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, 27 but to be ua witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we vdo perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.” ’ 28 And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be ua witness between us and you.” ’ 29 Far be it from us that we should wrebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord wby building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle!”

30 When xPhinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, yit was good in their eyes. 31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that zthe Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the Lord. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”

32 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad ain the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 And the report bwas good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel cblessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled. 34 The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, d“it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

Joshua’s Charge to Israel’s Leaders

23 A long time afterward, when the Lord had given erest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua fwas old and well advanced in years, 2 Joshua gsummoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. 3 And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, hfor it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. 4 Behold, iI have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5 The Lord your God jwill push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, kjust as the Lord your God promised you. 6 Therefore, lbe very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, mturning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, 7 nthat you may not mix with these nations remaining among you oor make mention of the names of their gods por swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, 8 qbut you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. 9 rFor the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, sno man has been able to stand before you to this day. 10 tOne man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God uwho fights for you, just as he promised you. 11 vBe very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. 12 For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you wand make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know for certain that xthe Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, ybut they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.

14 “And now zI am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that anot one word has failed of all the good things1 that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15 But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you ball the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the Lord your God has given you, 16 if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”

The Covenant Renewal at Shechem

24 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel cto Shechem and dsummoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And ethey presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, fyour fathers lived beyond the Euphrates,1 Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and gthey served other gods. 3 hThen I took your father Abraham from beyond the River2 and iled him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. jI gave him Isaac. 4 And to Isaac I gave kJacob and Esau. lAnd I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, mbut Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 nAnd I sent Moses and Aaron, oand I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and pafterward I brought you out.

6 “ ‘Then pI brought your fathers out of Egypt, and qyou came to the sea. rAnd the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 sAnd when they cried to the Lord, the put darkness between you and the Egyptians uand made the sea come upon them and cover them; vand your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. wAnd you lived in the wilderness a long time. 8 Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. xThey fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. 9 yThen Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. zAnd he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10 abut I would not listen to Balaam. aIndeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 bAnd you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, cand the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also cthe Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. 12 And I sent dthe hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was enot by your sword or by your bow. 13 I gave you a land …