The Eastern Tribes Return Home 1 UST Joshua then summoned the leaders of the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. BSB BSB: Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh
2 UST He told them,“You have done everything that Moses the servant of Yahweh, commanded you to do. You have also done what I commanded you to do. BSB BSB: and told them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and you have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you.
3 UST For a long time you have helped the other tribes to defeat their enemies. You have obeyed everything that Yahweh your God taught you and commanded you to do. BSB BSB: All this time you have not deserted your brothers, up to this very day, but have kept the charge given you by the LORD your God.
4 UST He promised to settle your fellow Israelites peacefully in this land, and he has done what he promised. So now you may go back to your homes in the land that Moses gave to you on the east side of the Jordan River. BSB BSB: And now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as He promised them, you may return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you across the Jordan.
5 UST But now you must be careful to do what Moses commanded and taught you to do. You must love Yahweh your God and live your life as he wants you to live. You must obey his commands and be loyal only to him. Do this as you worship him and serve him by everything that you think and everything that you do.” BSB BSB: But be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave 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.”
6 UST Then Joshua wished for Yahweh to do good things for them, and he sent them back to their homes. BSB BSB: So Joshua blessed them and sent them on their way, and they went to their homes.
7 UST The people Joshua sent back to the east side of the Jordan River included half of the tribe of Manasseh. Moses had given them the region of Bashan there. Joshua had given the other half of that tribe land on the west side of the Jordan River with the other Israelites. When Joshua sent them away to their homes, he wished for Yahweh to do good things for them too. BSB BSB: (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan among their brothers.) When Joshua sent them to their homes he blessed them,
8 UST He said to them,“You may take back to your homes much money, many animals, and silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many beautiful clothes. You got these things from your enemies when you defeated them. Share them with the people of your tribes back home.” BSB BSB: saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth, with immense herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many clothes. Divide with your brothers the spoil of your enemies.”
The Altar of Witness 9 UST So the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh left the other people of Israel at Shiloh in the region of Canaan. They returned home to the region of Gilead, which belonged to them because they had conquered it when Moses told them that Yahweh had said they could do that. BSB BSB: So the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to return to their own land of Gilead, which they had acquired according to the command of the LORD through Moses.
10 UST They arrived at the western bank of the Jordan River, still in the land of Canaan. There the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar. It was a very large and impressive altar. BSB BSB: And when they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan.
11 UST People from that area began to report to the other Israelites,“The people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the entrance to the land of Canaan. It is on the banks of the Jordan River, on the western side where most of the Israelites live.” BSB BSB: Then the Israelites received the report: “Behold, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the border of the land of Canaan, at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side.”
12 UST When the other Israelites heard this, they all met together at the city of Shiloh. They decided they would fight against those tribes{ to make them tear down that altar}. BSB BSB: And when they heard this, the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh to go to war against them.
13 UST But first, the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, who was the leader of all the priests, across the river to talk with the people of Reuben, Gad, and eastern Manasseh. BSB BSB: The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the land of Gilead, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
14 UST They also sent one leader from each of the ten tribes of Israel{ that had settled west of the Jordan River}. Each of those men was an important person within his own clan. BSB BSB: With him they sent ten chiefs—one family leader from each tribe of Israel, each the head of a family among the clans of Israel.
15 UST Those leaders went to the region of Gilead to talk with the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. They said, BSB BSB: They went to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and said to them,
16 UST “All the other Israelites want to know why you have been so disloyal to the God whom we Israelites worship!{ He commanded that there should only be one altar, at his sacred tent.} But you have now disobeyed Yahweh by building your own altar here in this place. You have rebelled against Yahweh! BSB BSB: “This is what the whole congregation of the LORD says: ‘What is this breach of faith you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the LORD and building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel against the LORD this day?
17 UST You are acting as if we did not disobey Yahweh badly enough at Mount Peor{, where we worshiped a false god}. We still feel very ashamed for doing that. As a punishment, Yahweh sent a deadly sickness among the Israelites, and many of them died from it. BSB BSB: Was not the sin of Peor enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day? It even brought a plague upon the congregation of the LORD.
18 UST So you should not disobey Yahweh like this! If you rebel against Yahweh like this now, soon he will severely punish all of the Israelites. BSB BSB: And now, would you turn away from the LORD? If you rebel today against the LORD, tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
19 UST { You seem to think you need your own altar, but you have built it on our side of the Jordan River.} If{ you built it there because you think} your land is ritually impure, move back to the land that belongs to Yahweh, where Yahweh’ s sacred tent is. We will share our land with you. But do not rebel against Yahweh or against us by building yourselves an altar other than the one at the sacred tent. BSB BSB: If indeed the land of your inheritance is unclean, then cross over to the land of the LORD’s possession, where the LORD’s tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.
20 UST Recall how Achan son of Zerah was so disloyal to Yahweh and kept some things from Jericho even though we were supposed to destroy everything there. This made Yahweh angry with all of us Israelites. Because of what that one man did wrong, many other Israelites died.” BSB BSB: Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel? Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin!’”
21 UST The leaders of the tribes of Reuben and Gad and of the half tribe of Manasseh replied to the Israelite clan leaders, BSB BSB: Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders of the clans of Israel:
22 UST “We affirm that Yahweh is the only true God! He knows why we built this altar, and we want all the Israelites to know why as well. If we have broken our promise to obey Yahweh, punish us by killing us right now! BSB BSB: “The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! The LORD, the Mighty One, is God! He knows, and may Israel also know. If this was in rebellion or breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today.
23 UST If we have disobeyed Yahweh’ s command by building ourselves an altar other than the one at the sacred tent, or if we have built this altar so we can offer sacrifices, grain offerings, or sacrifices to promise friendship with him, in violation of the law, Yahweh will find out what we have done and punish us. BSB BSB: If we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from Him and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice peace offerings on it, may the LORD Himself hold us accountable.
24 UST But that is not why we built this altar. We built it because we were afraid that your descendants might speak to our descendants at some future time and tell them that they had no right to worship Yahweh, the God whom Israelites worship. BSB BSB: But in fact we have done this for fear that in the future your descendants might say to ours, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?
25 UST We were afraid that they would tell our descendants that Yahweh had made the Jordan River a boundary between themselves and the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad{ and half of Manasseh}. We were afraid that your descendants would tell our descendants that they had nothing to do with Yahweh. And then they might try to stop our descendants from worshiping Yahweh. BSB BSB: For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no share in the LORD!’ So your descendants could cause ours to stop fearing the LORD.
26 UST So we decided that we should build an altar, but not for burning sacrifices or making offerings. BSB BSB: That is why we said, ‘Let us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.
27 UST Instead, we wanted it to be a monument to prove to you, to ourselves, and to all of our descendants after us that we will truly worship Yahweh. We will indeed worship him by bringing to his sacred tent our sacrifices to burn and our other sacrifices and the other offerings we make to promise friendship with him. We built this altar so your descendants would never say to our descendants in the future that they had nothing to do with Yahweh. BSB BSB: Rather, let it be a witness between us and you and the generations to come, that we will worship the LORD in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings.’ Then in the future, your descendants cannot say to ours, ‘You have no share in the LORD!’
28 UST In the future, if your descendants said that, then our descendants could tell them to look at the altar that we, their ancestors, had made. They would see that it was exactly like the altar at Yahweh’ s sacred tent. Our descendants would tell them that they do not burn sacrifices on it, but it is a monument that proves that Israelites on both sides of the Jordan River worship Yahweh. BSB BSB: Therefore we said, ‘If they ever say this to us or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the altar of the LORD that our fathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’
29 UST We certainly do not want to rebel against Yahweh or disobey him. We never intended to use this altar for burning sacrifices, making flour offerings, or making any other sacrifices. We know that there is only one true altar for Yahweh our God, and that is the one in front of the sacred tent.” BSB BSB: Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD and turn away from Him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God, which stands before His tabernacle.”
30 UST When Phinehas the priest and the clan leaders whom the Israelites had chosen when they met together heard what the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had said, they were pleased. BSB BSB: When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation—the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him—heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were satisfied.
31 UST And Phinehas said to them,“Now we recognize that Yahweh is helping all of us Israelites. We understand that you were not being disloyal to him when you built that altar. Because you have not disobeyed Yahweh, we are sure that he will not punish us.” BSB BSB: Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this breach of faith against Him. Consequently, you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the LORD.”
32 UST Then Phinehas son of Eliazar, the high priest, and the Israelite leaders who had accompanied him left the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad. They returned from the region of Gilead to Canaan, where the other Israelites were. There they told them what had happened. BSB BSB: Then Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, together with the other leaders, returned to the Israelites in the land of Canaan and brought back a report regarding the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead.
33 UST They were all pleased, and they thanked God. They did not talk anymore about fighting against the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad{ and half of Manasseh} to destroy them in the land where they lived. BSB BSB: The Israelites were satisfied with the report, and they blessed God and spoke no more about going to war against them to destroy the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived.
34 UST The other Israelites no longer planned to attack the people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad{ and Manasseh} because they had explained that the altar was a monument that proved to the eastern tribes that the western tribes also worshiped Yahweh as their God. BSB BSB: So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar Witness, for they said, “It is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.