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Joshua 22:1-34 — The Eastern Tribes Return Home

Josh.22.1-34

¹Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ²and said to them, "You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and you have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. ³You have not abandoned your brothers these many days down to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God. ⁴And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, just as he promised them. So now, turn and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan. ⁵Only be very careful to do the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." ⁶So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. ⁷Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, and to the other half Joshua gave a possession with their brothers beyond the Jordan to the west. And also when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, ⁸and he said to them, “Return to your tents with much wealth, and with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.” ⁹So the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned and departed from the sons of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had acquired according to the command of the LORD by the hand of Moses. ¹⁰And they came to Geliloth of the Jordan, which is in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance. ¹¹And the sons of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, at Geliloth of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.” ¹²When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go up against them for war. ¹³Then the sons of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the sons of Reuben, to the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, ¹⁴and ten chiefs with him, one chief for each father's house for all the tribes of Israel; and each man was the head of his father's house among the thousands of Israel. ¹⁵They came to the sons of Reuben, to the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, ¹⁶"Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD: 'What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following the LORD, by building for yourselves an altar, to rebel today against the LORD? ¹⁷Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, and for which there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD, ¹⁸that you must turn away today from following the LORD? And it will be, if you rebel today against the LORD, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. ¹⁹But if the land of your possession is unclean, cross over to the land of the LORD's possession, where the LORD's tabernacle dwells, and take a possession among us. But do not rebel against the LORD, and do not rebel against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God. ²⁰Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a breach of faith regarding the devoted things, and wrath fell upon the whole congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.'" ²¹Then the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel: ²²"The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows, and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or if in a breach of faith against the LORD, do not save us this day! ²³If we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from following the LORD, or if to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or if to make sacrifices of peace offerings on it, let the LORD himself require it. ²⁴But surely we have done this out of anxious concern for a reason, saying, 'Tomorrow your sons might say to our sons, "What do you have to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? ²⁵For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the LORD." So your sons might make our sons stop fearing the LORD.' ²⁶Therefore we said, 'Let us now prepare to build the altar for ourselves, not for burnt offering and not for sacrifice, ²⁷but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings, so that your sons may not say to our sons tomorrow, “You have no portion in the LORD.” ²⁸And we said, 'If it happens that they say this to us or to our generations tomorrow, we will say, “See the replica of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering and not for sacrifice, but it is a witness between us and you.”' ²⁹Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD and turn away today from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering, and for sacrifice, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle!" ³⁰When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes. ³¹And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben, to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the LORD. Now you have delivered the sons of Israel from the hand of the LORD.” ³²Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought back word to them. ³³And the thing was good in the eyes of the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel blessed God, and they spoke no more of going up against them for war, to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were dwelling. ³⁴And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad named the altar Witness , saying, “For it is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

Translation Notes

4/11/2026

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