Joshua 22

CHAPTER 22

Joshua Charges Israel to Guard the Commandments

1Then Joshua called together the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. 2And he said to them, You have heard the whole, as much as [⁵gave charge ⁶to you ¹Moses ²the ³servant ⁴of the lord], and you heeded   my voice according to all as much as I gave charge to you. 3And you have not abandoned   your brethren these   [²days   ¹many]; until the day   of today you guarded the commandment of the lord    our God. 4And now [³rested ¹the lord    ²our God]   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 [⁴gave ⁵to you ¹Moses ²the bondman ³of the lord] on the other side of the Jordan. 5But guard exceedingly to do the commandments and the law, which [⁵gave charge ⁶to you ¹Moses ²the ³servant ⁴of the lord] -- 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 [²entire   ³soul ¹your]. 6And [²blessed ³them ¹Joshua], and sent them, and they went unto   their houses. 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 [²sent ³them ¹Joshua] unto   their houses, then he blessed them saying, 8With [²things ¹many] they went forth unto   their houses, and with  [³cattle ²much ¹exceedingly], and silver, and gold, and brass, and iron tools, and clothes [²much ¹exceedingly]; and they divided the spoils   of their enemies with   their brethren. 9And [⁴returned ⁵and ⁶went ¹the ²sons ³of Reuben], 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.

The Shrine at Gilead

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; [²shrine ¹a great]   to behold. 11And [⁴heard ¹the ²sons ³of Israel], 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. 12And [⁴heard ¹the ²sons ³of Israel], and [⁵gathered together ¹all ²the ³sons ⁴of Israel] in Shiloh, for their ascending to wage war. 13And [⁴sent ¹the ²sons ³of Israel] 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, 14and ten of the rulers of the ones with him; [²ruler ¹one] 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. 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, 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, [³defectors ²to become ¹for you] today from the lord? 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? 18And you were turned away today from the lord, and tomorrow [³upon ⁴all ⁵Israel ¹there will be ²anger]. 19And now, if [⁴be small ¹the ²land   ³of your possession], pass over into the land of the possession of the lord! where [⁴encamps ⁵there ¹the ²tent ³of the lord]; and inherit among us, and [⁴from ⁵the lord  ²not ³defectors ¹be]! and [³from ⁴us ¹do not ²separate]! on account of   your building a shrine outside the altar of the lord    our God. 20Behold did not Achan the son of  Zara [²a trespass ¹trespass] 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. 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, 22God, the [³God ¹ lord  ²is]. And   God,   the lord God himself knows, and Israel itself shall know; if [²by ³defection ¹we trespassed] before the lord, may he not rescue us in   this day. 23And if we built [²for ourselves ¹a shrine], 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. 24But [⁴because of ⁵veneration ³thing ¹we did ²this], saying that, Should tomorrow [²say   ¹your children] to  our children, saying, What is it to you and to the lord    God of Israel? 25And [²a border ¹the lord put] between us and you, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad -- the Jordan; and there is no [²to you ¹portion] of the lord. And [²shall separate   ¹your sons]   from our sons, that they should not worship the lord. 26And we said to do thus,   to build   this shrine, not because of yield offerings, nor because of sacrifices, 27but that [²might be ¹this testimony] 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  [²shall not say   ¹your children] tomorrow to  our children, There is no portion to you of the lord. 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 [²made   ¹our fathers]. It is not for yield offerings, nor for sacrifices, but it is a testimony between you, and between us, and between   our sons. 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. 30And [⁴heard ¹Phinehas ²the ³priest], 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. 31And [⁶said ¹Phinehas ²son ³of Eleazar ⁴the ⁵priest] to the sons of Reuben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Manasseh, Today we know that [²is with ³us ¹the lord], 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. 32And [⁹returned ¹Phinehas ²son ³of Eleazar ⁴the ⁵priest ⁶and ⁷the ⁸rulers] 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. 33And [³was pleasing ¹the ²word] 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. 34And he named   [³for Reuben ⁴and   ⁵for Gad ¹the ²shrine]. And they said that, It is a testimony in the midst of them, that the lord  he [²their God ¹is].