Joshua 22

1Then Joshua called together the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,

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2and said to them, 'You heard everything the servant of the Lord Moses commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in everything I commanded you.

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3You have not left your brethren these many days, for until this day you have kept the commandment of the Lord your God.

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4Now then, the Lord our God gave our brethren rest, as he said to them; now therefore, return and depart to your homes and to the land of your inheritance, which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan.

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5But be very careful to do the commandments and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to adhere to Him, and to serve Him with all your mind and with all your soul.'

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6So Joshua blessed them and sent them forth; and they went to their homes.

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7Now to the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses gave a possession in Bashan, and to the other half, Joshua gave a possession among his brethren on the other side of the Jordan toward the sea. Indeed, when Joshua sent them forth to their homes, he blessed them,

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8and they departed with much wealth to their homes, and with a great quantity of cattle, silver, gold, and iron, and with a great quantity of clothing; and they divided the spoils of the enemy with their brethren.

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9So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of the children of Manasseh went forth from the children of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they obtained through the ordinance of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

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10Then they came to Gilgal at the Jordan, which is in the land of Canaan, and the children of Gad, the children of Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, an altar great to see.

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11Now the children of Israel heard them saying, 'Behold, the children of Gad, the children of Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the borders of the land of Canaan, at Gilead by the Jordan, on the opposite side of the children of Israel.'

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12So all the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go up to war against them.

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13Then the children of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the high priest, to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead,

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14and ten rulers with him, one ruler each from the paternal house of all the tribes of Israel; and they were the rulers of the paternal houses, the heads of a thousand, of Israel.

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15They came to the children of Gad, the children of Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and spoke to them, saying,

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16'Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, 'What trespass have you committed against the God of Israel, turning away this day from the Lord, building an altar for yourselves, and becoming rebels against the Lord?

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17Is Peor's sin too little for you? For we have not been cleansed from it to this day, and there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord.

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18Will you turn away from the Lord today? If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow there shall be wrath upon all Israel.

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19Now if the land of your possession is too small for you, cross over to the land of the Lord's possession, where the tabernacle of the Lord dwells, and take possession among us; but do not become rebels against God, and do not rebel against the Lord by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the Lord our God.

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20Behold, did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in regard to the accursed thing, and bring wrath upon all the congregation of Israel? But he was only one man, and he alone died in his sin.' '

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21Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the captains of the thousands of Israel, saying,

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22'God, even God is the Lord, and God, even God the Lord Himself knows, and Israel himself shall know, that if we transgressed against the Lord in rebellion, may He not deliver us in this.

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23If we have built ourselves an altar so as to depart from the Lord our God, and to offer upon it a sacrifice of whole burnt offerings, or a sacrifice of peace offering, then the Lord will require it.

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24But we have done this thing as a matter of reverence, saying, 'Lest hereafter your children may say to our children, 'What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel?

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25The Lord made the Jordan a border between us and you, and there is no portion of the Lord for you.' Thus your sons shall alienate our sons, so they should not worship the Lord.'

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26So we told them to build this altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices,

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27but as a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do service to the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings and sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; so your children shall not say to our children hereafter, 'There is no portion of the Lord for you.'

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28Therefore we said, 'If ever it shall come to pass that they should speak to us and to our generations hereafter, they shall say, 'Come and see the likeness of the Lord's altar which our fathers made, not for the sake of burnt offerings or for sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you, and between our children.'

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29May we not therefore turn away from the Lord in these days and revolt from the Lord, to build ourselves an altar for burnt offerings, for peace offerings, and for the sacrifice of peace, besides the altar of the Lord, which is before His tabernacle.' '

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30Now when Phinehas the priest and all the rulers of the congregation of Israel who were with him heard the words spoken by the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, it pleased them.

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31Then Phinehas the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 'Today we know that the Lord is with us, because you have not transgressed grievously against the Lord, and because you have delivered the children of Israel out of the Lord's hand.'

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32After this, Phinehas the priest and the rulers returned from the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and reported to them these words;

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33and it pleased the children of Israel. They spoke to the children of Israel and blessed the God of the children of Israel. So they spoke no more about going up against them in battle in order to utterly destroy the land where the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh dwelt.

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34Then Joshua named the altar of the children of Reuben, of Gad, and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said that it is a witness in their midst, that the Lord is their God.

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