* | bible | * | 6. joshua | 22      <   > 

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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 Jehovah commanded you, and have hearkened to my voice in all  that I commanded you.
 
3.    Ye have not left your brethren these many days unto this  day, and ye have kept the charge of the commandment of Jehovah  your God.
 
4.    And now Jehovah your God hath given rest to your brethren,  as he said unto them; and now return, and get you unto your  tents, unto the land of your possession, which Moses the  servant of Jehovah gave you beyond the Jordan.
 
5.    Only, take great heed to do the commandment and the law,  which Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, to love  Jehovah 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.    And Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went  to their tents.
 
7.    And to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given  inheritance in Bashan, and to the other half thereof had  Joshua given among their brethren on this side the Jordan  westward. And when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he  blessed them also,
 
8.    and spoke to them, saying, Return unto your tents with much  wealth and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold,  and with copper, and with iron, and with clothing, in very  great quantity; 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  to the country of Gilead, into the land of their possession, of  which they had become possessed, according to the word of  Jehovah through Moses.
 
10.    And they came to the districts of the Jordan that are in  the land of Canaan; and the children of Reuben and the children  of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by  the Jordan, an altar of grand appearance.
 
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 districts of the Jordan, separately from the children of  Israel.
 
12.    And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole  assembly of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh,  to go up against them to war.
 
13.    And the children of Israel sent to 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 father`s house a prince,  out of all the tribes of Israel; and each of them was head of a  father`s house, of the thousands of Israel.
 
15.    And they came to the children of Reuben, and to the  children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh, to the land  of Gilead, and spoke with them, saying,
 
16.    Thus saith the whole assembly of Jehovah: What wickedness  is this which ye have committed against the God of Israel, to  turn away this day from following Jehovah, in that ye have  built yourselves an altar, rebelling this day against Jehovah?
 
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 assembly of Jehovah.
 
18.    And ye turn away this day from following Jehovah; and it  will be, that since ye rebel this day against Jehovah,  to-morrow he will be wroth with the whole assembly of Israel.
 
19.    Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession is  unclean, come over into the land of the possession of Jehovah,  where Jehovah`s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession  amongst us; but rebel not against Jehovah, and rebel not  against us, in building for yourselves an altar besides the  altar of Jehovah our God.
 
20.    Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the  accursed thing? and wrath fell on all the assembly of Israel,  and he perished not alone in his iniquity.
 
21.    And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the  half tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the  thousands of Israel,
 
22.    The łGod of gods, Jehovah, the łGod of gods, Jehovah, he  knoweth, and Israel he shall know it; if it is in rebellion,  or if in trespass against Jehovah, -- save us not this day!
 
23.    -- that we have built for ourselves an altar to turn from  following Jehovah, and if it is to offer up burnt-offering and  oblation on it, and if to offer peace-offerings thereon, let  Jehovah himself require it from us;
 
24.    and if we have not done it from fear of this thing,  saying, In future your children will speak to our children,  saying, What have ye to do with Jehovah the God of Israel?
 
25.    Jehovah hath made the Jordan a border between us and you,  ye children of Reuben and children of Gad, ye have no portion  in Jehovah! And so shall your children make our children cease  from fearing Jehovah.
 
26.    And we said, Let us now set to work to build an altar, not  for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice,
 
27.    but to be a witness between us and you, and between our  generations after us, that we might do service to Jehovah  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 future, Ye have no portion in Jehovah.
 
28.    And we said, If it shall be that in future they so say to  us and to our generations, we will say, Behold the pattern of  the altar of Jehovah which our fathers made, not for  burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice, but as a witness between us  and you.
 
29.    Far be it from us that we should rebel against Jehovah,  and turn this day from following Jehovah, in building an altar  for burnt-offering, for oblation, and for sacrifice, besides  the altar of Jehovah our God that is before his tabernacle.
 
30.    And when Phinehas the priest and the princes of the  assembly and the heads of the thousands of Israel that were  with him heard the words that the children of Reuben and the  children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it was good  in their sight.
 
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 Jehovah is  among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against  Jehovah: now have ye delivered the children of Israel out of  the hand of Jehovah.
 
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, to the land of  Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.
 
33.    And the thing was good in the sight of the children of  Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God, and no more  said that they would go up in warfare against them, to destroy  the land in which the children of Reuben and the children of  Gad dwelt.
 
34.    And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad gave a  name to the altar; for it is a witness between us that Jehovah  is God.