Joshua 22–23

Chapter 22

Tribes beyond Jordan Return

^1aThen Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,

²and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, ^aand have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you.

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.

⁴“And now ^athe 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.

⁵“Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to ^alove the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him ^bwith all your heart and with all your soul.”

⁶So Joshua ^ablessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

⁷Now ^ato the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but ^bto 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,

⁸and said to ¹them, “Return to your tents with great riches and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and with very many clothes; ^adivide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”

⁹The 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 ^aland of Gilead, to the land of their possession which they had possessed, according to the ¹command of the Lord ²through Moses.

The Offensive Altar

¹⁰When 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.

¹¹And the sons of Israel heard it ¹said, “Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have ^abuilt an altar at the ²frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.”

¹²When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves at ^aShiloh to go up against them in war.

¹³Then 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, ^aPhinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,

¹⁴and with him ten chiefs, one chief for each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and ^aeach one of them was the head of his father’s household among the ¹thousands of Israel.

¹⁵They 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,

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 ^abuilding yourselves an altar, to rebel against the Lord this day?

¹⁷‘Is not ^athe iniquity of Peor ¹enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although a plague came on the congregation of the Lord,

¹⁸that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, ^aHe will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow.

¹⁹‘If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then ¹cross into the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle ²stands, and take possession among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us by ^abuilding an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰‘Did not ^aAchan 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.’ ”

²¹Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the ¹families of Israel.

²²“The ^aMighty One, God, the Lord, the Mighty One, God, the Lord! ^bHe 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!

²³“If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if to ^aoffer a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may the Lord Himself require it.

²⁴“But truly we have done this out of concern, ¹for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your sons may say to our ²sons, “What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?

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.’

²⁶“Therefore we said, ‘Let us ¹build an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice;

²⁷rather it shall be ^aa witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to ^bperform 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.” ’

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.” ’

²⁹“Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away from following the Lord this day, by ^abuilding an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His ¹tabernacle.”

³⁰So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, even the heads of the ¹families 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.

³¹And 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 ^aLord 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.”

³²Then 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.

³³The word pleased the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel ^ablessed 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.

³⁴The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad ^acalled the altar Witness; “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

Chapter 23

Joshua’s Farewell Address

¹Now it came about after many days, when the Lord had given ^arest to Israel from all their enemies ¹on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years,

²that ^aJoshua called for all Israel, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in years.

³“And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for ^athe Lord your God is He who has been fighting for you.

⁴“See, ^aI have apportioned to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun.

⁵“The Lord your God, He will thrust them out from before you and ^1adrive them from before you; and ^byou will possess their land, just as the Lord your God ²promised you.

⁶“^aBe very firm, then, to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,

⁷so that you will not ¹associate with these nations, these which remain among you, or ^amention the name of their gods, or ^bmake anyone swear by them, or ^cserve them, or bow down to them.

⁸“But you are to cling to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.

⁹“^aFor the Lord has ¹driven out great and strong nations from before you; and as for you, ^bno man has stood before you to this day.

¹⁰“^aOne of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is ^bHe who fights for you, just as He ¹promised you.

¹¹“So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God.

¹²“For if you ever go back and ^acling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and ^bintermarry with them, so that you ¹associate with them and they with you,

¹³know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to ¹drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a ^asnare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴“Now behold, today ^aI am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that ^bnot one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have ¹been fulfilled for you, not ²one of them has failed.

¹⁵“It shall come about that just as all the good words which the Lord your God spoke to you have come upon you, so ^athe Lord will bring upon you all the threats, until He has destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁶“^aWhen 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 burn against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you.”