Joshua 22–23

The Eastern Tribes Return

22Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ²and 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; ³you 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. ⁴So 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. ⁵Only 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. ⁷And 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, ⁸he 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 Yahwehⁱ through the hand of Moses.

¹⁰And 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. ¹³And 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, ¹⁴and 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? ¹⁷Is 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, ¹⁸that 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; ¹⁹if, 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. ²⁰Did not Achan son of Zerah commit treachery with devoted things,^z and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And he alone^a did not perish because of his iniquity.’ ”

²¹And the descendants^b of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh spoke with the heads of the clans^c 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 ²³for building for ourselves an altar to turn away from Yahweh, or if it was to offer burnt offerings,^d grain offerings,^e or fellowship offerings on it, may Yahweh himself take vengeance. ²⁴But 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?^{f 25}Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, the descendants^g of Reuben and Gad; you have no portion in Yahweh.’ So your children may put an end to our children worshiping^h Yahweh. ²⁶So we said, ‘Let us build immediately for ourselves an altar, not for burnt offeringsⁱ or for sacrifices;^{j 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.” ’ ²⁸And 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^k made, not for burnt offerings^l or sacrifices;^m rather, it is a witness between us and you.’ ²⁹Far be it from us to rebel against Yahweh, to turn today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offerings,ⁿ grain offerings,^o or sacrifices,^p instead of the altar of Yahweh our God that is before his tabernacle.”

³⁰Phinehas the priest, the leaders of the congregation, and the heads of the clans^q of Israel who were with him heard the words that the descendants^r of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh spoke, and they were satisfied.^{s 31}Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, said to the descendants^t 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^u from the hand of Yahweh.”

³²And Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, and the leaders returned from the descendants^v of Reuben and Gad, from the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan to the Israelites,^w and they gave them their report.^{x 33}The report satisfied the Israelites;^y they blessed God, and they did not speak of going up for battle against them to destroy the land in which the descendants^z of Reuben and Gad were living.^{a 34}The descendants^b of Reuben and Gad called the altar Witness, “Because,” they said, “it is a witness between us that Yahweh is God.”

Joshua’s Farewell Address

23And it happened, after a long time,^a after Yahweh had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and after Joshua was old and well-advanced in years,^{b 2}Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders, heads, judges, and officials, and he said to them, “I am old and well-advanced in years,^{c 3}and you have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations for your sake,^d for Yahweh your God is fighting for you. ⁴Look! I have allotted to you these remaining nations as an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, to the Great Sea^e in the west.^{f 5}And Yahweh your God will push them back before you^g and drive them out of your sight,^h and you will possess their land, just as Yahweh your God promised to you. ⁶Be very strong to observe carefully all that is written in the scroll of the law of Moses so as not to turn aside from it, to the right or left, ⁷so as not to go among these remaining nations with you; do not professⁱ the name of their gods, and do not swear by them, serve them, or bow down to them.^{j 8}But hold fast to Yahweh your God, just as you have done up to this day. ⁹Yahweh has driven out before you great and strong nations; and as for you, nobody has withstood^k you to this day. ¹⁰One of your men put to flight a thousand, for Yahweh your God is fighting for you, just as he promised you. ¹¹Take utmost care for the sake of your life to love Yahweh your God, ¹²for if indeed you turn back and join these remaining nations among you,^l and you intermarry with them, marrying their women and they yours,^{m 13}know for certain that Yahweh your God will not continue to drive outⁿ these nations from before you; they will be for you a snare and a trap, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that Yahweh your God has given to you.

¹⁴Look! I am about to die,^o and you know in all your hearts^p and souls^q that not one thing failed^r from all the good things that Yahweh your God promised concerning you; everything has been fulfilled;^s not one thing failed.^{t 15}But just as all the good things^u came to you that Yahweh your God promised, so will Yahweh bring to you all the bad things^v until he has destroyed you from this good land that Yahweh your God has given to you. ¹⁶If you transgress the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he commanded to you, and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, Yahweh’s anger will be kindled^w against you, and you will perish quickly from the good land that he has given to you.”