Joshua 22
- 1
- Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and
the half tribe of Manasseh,
- 2
- And said unto them, Ye have kept all that Moses the
servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I
commanded you:
- 3
- Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this
day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.
- 4
- And now the LORD your God hath given rest unto your
brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and get you unto your
tents, and unto the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the
LORD gave you on the other side Jordan.
- 5
- But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the
law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your
God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave
unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- 6
- So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they
went unto their tents.
- 7
- Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had
given possession in Bashan: but unto the other half thereof gave Joshua among
their brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away
also unto their tents, then he blessed them,
- 8
- And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches
unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and
with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of
your enemies with your brethren.
- 9
- And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and
the half tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel
out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of
Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed,
according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
- 10
- And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are
in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the
half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see
to.
- 11
- And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the
children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have
built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at
the passage of the children of Israel.
- 12
- And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole
congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh,
to go up to war against them.
- 13
- And the children of Israel sent unto the children of
Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, into
the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,
- 14
- And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince
throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of
their fathers among the thousands of Israel.
- 15
- And they came unto the children of Reuben, and to the
children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead,
and they spake with them, saying,
- 16
- Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What
trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn
away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar,
that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?
- 17
- Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we
are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the
congregation of the LORD,
- 18
- But that ye must turn away this day from following the
LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow
he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.
- 19
- Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be
unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD,
wherein the LORD's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but
rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar
beside the altar of the LORD our God.
- 20
- Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the
accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man
perished not alone in his iniquity.
- 21
- Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and
the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands
of Israel,
- 22
- The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth,
and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression
against the LORD, (save us not this day,)
- 23
- That we have built us an altar to turn from following
the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to
offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it;
- 24
- And if we have not rather done it for fear of this
thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children,
saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel?
- 25
- For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and
you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD:
so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.
- 26
- Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an
altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:
- 27
- But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and
our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him
with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace
offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye
have no part in the LORD.
- 28
- Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so
say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold
the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt
offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.
- 29
- God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and
turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings,
for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God
that is before his tabernacle.
- 30
- And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the
congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard
the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children
of Manasseh spake, it pleased them.
- 31
- And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said unto the
children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of
Manasseh, This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because ye have not
committed this trespass against the LORD: now ye have delivered the children
of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.
- 32
- And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the
princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad,
out of the land of Gilead, unto the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel,
and brought them word again.
- 33
- And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the
children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in
battle, to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.
- 34
- And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad
called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is
God.
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