Joshua 22–23

Eastern Tribes Return Home

22Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh ²and said to them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded,^l and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. ³For a long time now—to this very day—you have not deserted your fellow Israelites but have carried out the mission the Lord your God gave you. ⁴Now that the Lord your God has given them rest^m as he promised, return to your homesⁿ in the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.^{o 5}But be very careful to keep the commandment^p and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord^q your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands,^r to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.^s”

⁶Then Joshua blessed^t them and sent them away, and they went to their homes. ⁷(To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan,^u and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west side^v of the Jordan along with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them,^{w 8}saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock,^x with silver, gold, bronze and iron,^y and a great quantity of clothing—and divide^z the plunder^a from your enemies with your fellow Israelites.”

⁹So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh^b in Canaan to return to Gilead,^c their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.

¹⁰When they came to Geliloth^d near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar^e there by the Jordan. ¹¹And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, ¹²the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh^f to go to war against them.

¹³So the Israelites sent Phinehas^g son of Eleazar,^h the priest, to the land of Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. ¹⁴With him they sent ten of the chief men, one from each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among the Israelite clans.ⁱ

¹⁵When they went to Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh—they said to them: ¹⁶“The whole assembly of the Lord says: ‘How could you break faith^j with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellion^k against him now? ¹⁷Was not the sin of Peor^l enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the Lord! ¹⁸And are you now turning away from the Lord?

“ ‘If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community^m of Israel. ¹⁹If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the Lord’s land, where the Lord’s tabernacleⁿ stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar^o for yourselves, other than the altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰When Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful in regard to the devoted things,^ap did not wrath^q come on the whole community^r of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.’ ”^s

²¹Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel: ²²“The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God,^t the Lord!^u He knows!^v And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day. ²³If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings,^w or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account.^x

²⁴“No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, ‘What do you have to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? ²⁵The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord.’ So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord.

²⁶“That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.’ ²⁷On the contrary, it is to be a witness^y between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings.^z Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’

²⁸“And we said, ‘If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar, which our ancestors built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness^a between us and you.’

²⁹“Far be it from us to rebel^b against the Lord and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle.^c”

³⁰When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites—heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. ³¹And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is with us,^d because you have not been unfaithful to the Lord in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s hand.”

³²Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites.^{e 33}They were glad to hear the report and praised God.^f And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived.

³⁴And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness^g Between Us—that the Lord is God.

Joshua’s Farewell to the Leaders

23After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest^h from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man,^{i 2}summoned all Israel—their elders,^j leaders, judges and officials^k—and said to them: “I am very old.^{l 3}You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you.^{m 4}Remember how I have allottedⁿ as an inheritance^o for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea^p in the west. ⁵The Lord your God himself will push them out^q for your sake. He will drive them out^r before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.^s

⁶“Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law^t of Moses, without turning aside^u to the right or to the left.^{v 7}Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear^w by them. You must not serve them or bow down^x to them. ⁸But you are to hold fast to the Lord^y your God, as you have until now.

⁹“The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations;^z to this day no one has been able to withstand you.^{a 10}One of you routs a thousand,^b because the Lord your God fights for you,^c just as he promised. ¹¹So be very careful^d to love the Lord^e your God.

¹²“But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them^f and associate with them,^{g 13}then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out^h these nations before you. Instead, they will become snaresⁱ and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes,^j until you perish from this good land,^k which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.^l You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise^m has been fulfilled; not one has failed.^{n 15}But just as all the good things^o the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things^p he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you^q from this good land he has given you.^{r 16}If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.^s”