Joshua 22
22:1Then Joshua called together the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.
22:2And he said to them, You have heard the whole, as much as Moses the servant of the lord gave charge to you, and you heeded my voice according to all as much as I gave charge to you.
22:3And you have not abandoned your brethren these many days; until the day of today you guarded the commandment of the lord our God.
22:4And now the lord our God rested our brethren in which manner he spoke to them. Now then in returning you go forth to your houses, and to the land of your possession which Moses the bondman of the lord gave to you on the other side of the Jordan.
22:5But guard exceedingly to do the commandments and the law, which Moses the servant of the lord gave charge to you -- to love the lord your God, and to go by all his ways, to guard his commandments, and to lie near to them, and to serve him in all your thought, and of your entire soul.
22:6And Joshua blessed them, and sent them, and they went unto their houses.
22:7And to the halves of the tribe Moses gave a portion in the Bashan area; and to the halves Joshua gave a portion with his brethren on the other side of the Jordan towards the west. And when Joshua sent them unto their houses, then he blessed them saying,
22:8With many things they went forth unto their houses, and with exceedingly much cattle, and silver, and gold, and brass, and iron tools, and clothes exceedingly much; and they divided the spoils of their enemies with their brethren.
22:9And the sons of Reuben returned and went, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh from the sons of Israel from Shiloh in the land of Canaan, to go forth into land of Gilead, into the land of their possession which they inherited it, through the order of the lord by the hand of Moses.
22:10And they came into Galeloth of Jordan, which is in the land of Canaan; and they built (the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh) there a shrine upon the Jordan; a great shrine to behold.
22:11And the sons of Israel heard, saying, Behold, they built (the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh) a shrine upon the border of the land of Canaan, at Gilead of Jordan, on the other side of the sons of Israel.
22:12And the sons of Israel heard, and all the sons of Israel gathered together in Shiloh, for their ascending to wage war.
22:13And 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, both Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest,
22:14and ten of the rulers of the ones with him; one ruler from a house of family, from all of the tribes of Israel, men rulers of the houses of the families -- they are commanders of thousands in Israel.
22:15And they came to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the halves of the tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead; and they spoke to them, saying,
22:16Thus says all the congregation of the lord, What is this trespass which you trespass before the God of Israel, to turn away today from behind the lord by building for yourselves a shrine, for you to become defectors today from the lord?
22:17Is it a small thing to you, the sin of Peor, that we were not cleansed from it unto this day, and there became the calamity in the congregation of the lord?
22:18And you were turned away today from the lord, and tomorrow there will be anger upon all Israel.
22:19And now, if the land of your possession be small, pass over into the land of the possession of the lord! where the tent of the lord encamps there; and inherit among us, and be not defectors from the lord! and do not separate from us! on account of your building a shrine outside the altar of the lord our God.
22:20Behold did not Achan the son of Zara trespass a trespass from the offering for consumption, and upon all the congregation became anger? And this one only sinned, but not this one alone died for his sin.
22:21And they answered (the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh,) and said to the commanders of thousands of Israel, saying,
22:22God, the lord is God. And God, the lord God himself knows, and Israel itself shall know; if we trespassed by defection before the lord, may he not rescue us in this day.
22:23And if we built a shrine for ourselves, so as to depart from the lord, or so as to haul up on it a sacrifice of whole burnt-offerings, or so as to make upon it a sacrifice of deliverance, the lord himself shall inquire.
22:24But we did this thing because of veneration, saying that, Should tomorrow your children say to our children, saying, What is it to you and to the lord God of Israel?
22:25And the lord put a border between us and you, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad -- the Jordan; and there is no portion to you of the lord. And your sons shall separate from our sons, that they should not worship the lord.
22:26And we said to do thus, to build this shrine, not because of yield offerings, nor because of sacrifices,
22:27but that this testimony might be between us and between you, and between our generations after us, to serve the service of the lord before him in our yield offerings, and in our sacrifices, and in the sacrifices of our deliverances; and so that your children shall not say tomorrow to our children, There is no portion to you of the lord.
22:28And we said, If it comes to pass at some time or other, and they shall speak to us or to our generations tomorrow, then we shall say, Behold! it is a representation of the altar of the lord which our fathers made. It is not for yield offerings, nor for sacrifices, but it is a testimony between you, and between us, and between our sons.
22:29May it not be then for us to leave from the lord, so as to turn away in today's days from the lord, so as to build us an altar for the yield offerings, and the sacrifices, and the sacrifice of deliverance, except for the altar of the lord our God which is before his tent.
22:30And Phinehas the priest heard, and all the rulers of the congregation, and the commanders of Israel, the ones who were with him, the words which they spoke, the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh, and it pleased them.
22:31And Phinehas 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 lord is with us, for you did not trespass before the lord this trespass, and that you rescued the sons of Israel from out of the hand of the lord.
22:32And Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest and the rulers returned from the sons of Reuben, and from the sons of Gad, from out of Gilead unto the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel; and they answered to them with these words.
22:33And the word was pleasing to the sons of Israel; and they blessed the God of the sons of Israel. And no longer they spoke to ascend to them for war, to utterly destroy the land of the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad which they dwelt upon it.
22:34And he named the shrine for Reuben and for Gad. And they said that, It is a testimony in the midst of them, that the lord he is their God.