Jos 22 | EngLXX | STEP | Then Joshua called together the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe ofManasse,

‏ Joshua 22

1 Then Joshua called together the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe ofManasse, 2 and said to them, You⌃ have heard all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you,and you⌃ have hearkened to my voice in all that he commanded you. 3 You⌃ have not deserted your brethren these many days: until this day you⌃ have kept thecommandment of the Lord your God. 4 And now the Lord our God has given our brethren rest, as he told them: now then returnand depart to your homes, and to the land of your possession, which Moses gave you on the other side Jordan. 5 But take great heed to do the commands and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lordcommanded you to do; to love the Lord our God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commands, and to cleaveto him, and serve him with all your mind, and with all your soul. 6 And Joshua blessed them, and dismissed them; and they went to their homes. 7 And toone half the tribe of Manasse Moses gave a portion in the land of Basan, and tothe other half Joshua gave a portion with his brethren on the other side of Jordan westward:and when Joshua sent them away to their homes, then he blessed them. 8 And they departed with much wealth to their houses, and they divided the spoil of theirenemies with their brethren; very much cattle, and silver, and gold, and iron, and much raiment. 9 So the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse, departed fromthe children of Israel in Selo in the land of Chanaan, to go away into Galaad, into the land of theirpossession, which they inherited by the command of the Lord, by the hand of Moses. 10 And they came to Galaad of Jordan, which is in the land of Chanaan: and the childrenof Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse built there an alter by Jordan, a greataltar to look at. 11 And the children of Israel heard say, Behold, the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad,and the half tribe of Manasse have built an alter at the borders of the land of Chanaan at Galaad of Jordan,on the opposite side to the children of Israel. 12 And all the children of Israel gathered together to Selo, so as to go up and fight againstthem. 13 And the children of Israel sent to the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and to thesons of the half tribe of Manasse into the land of Galaad, both Phinees the son of Eleazar the son ofAaron the priest, 14 and ten of the chiefs with him;there was one chief of every household out of all the tribes of Israel; (the heads of familiesare the captains of thousands in Israel.) 15 And they came to the sons of Ruben, and to the sons of Gad, and to the half tribe ofManasse into the land of Galaad; and they spoke to them, saying, 16 Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, Whatis this transgression that you⌃ have transgressed before the God of Israel, to turn away todayfrom the Lord, in that you⌃ have built for yourselves an alter, so that you⌃ should be apostates fromthe Lord? 17 Is the sin of Phogor too little for you, whereas we have not been cleansed from it untilthis day, though there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord? 18 And you⌃ have this day revolted from the Lord; and it shall come to pass if you⌃ revoltthis day from the Lord, that to-morrow there shall be wrath upon all Israel. 19 And now if the land of your possessionbe too little, cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the tabernacle ofthe Lord dwells, and receive you⌃ an inheritance among us; and do not become apostates from God, neitherdo you⌃ apostatize from the Lord, because of your having built an altar apart from the altar of the Lordour God. 20 Behold! did not Achar theson of Zara commit a trespasstaking of the accursed thing, and there was wrath on the whole congregation of Israel? andhe himself died alone in his own sin. 21 And the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse answered, andspoke to the captains of the thousands of Israel, saying, 22 Godeven God is the Lord, and Godeven God himself knows, and Israel he shall know; if we have transgressed before the Lord byapostasy, let him not deliver us this day. 23 And if we have built to ourselves an altar, so as to apostatize from the Lord our God,so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of whole burnt offerings, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of peace-offering,—the Lord shall require it. 24 But we have done this for the sake of precautionconcerning this thing, saying, Lest hereafter your sons should say to our sons, What have you⌃to do with the Lord God of Israel? 25 Whereas the Lord has set boundaries between us and you, even Jordan, and you⌃ have noportion in the Lord: so your sons shall alienate our sons, that they should not worship the Lord. 26 And we gave orders to do thus, to build this altar, not for burnt offerings, nor formeat-offerings; 27 but that this may be a witness between you and us, and between our posterity after us,that we may do service to the Lord before him, with our burnt offerings and our meat-offerings and ourpeace-offerings: so your sons shall not say to our sons, hereafter, You⌃ have no portion in the Lord. 28 And we said, If ever it should come to pass that they should speakso to us, or to our posterity hereafter; then shall they say, Behold the likeness of the altarof the Lord, which our fathers made, not for the sake of burnt offerings, nor for the sake of meat-offerings,but it is a witness between you and us, and between our sons. 29 Far be it from us therefore that we should turn away from the Lord this day so as toapostatize from the Lord, so as that we should build an altar for burnt offerings, and for peace-offerings,besides the altar of the Lord which is before his tabernacle. 30 And Phinees the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation of Israel who were withhim heard the words which the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manassespoke; and it pleased them. 31 And Phinees the priest said to the sons of Ruben, and to the sons of Gad, and to thehalf of the tribe of Manasse, To-day we know that the Lordis with us, because you⌃ have not trespassed grievously against the Lord, and because you⌃have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord. 32 So Phinees the priest and the princes departed from the children of Ruben, and from thechildren of Gad, and from the half tribe of Manasse out of Galaad into the land of Chanaan to the childrenof Israel; and reported the words to them. 33 And it pleased the children of Israel; and they spoke to the children of Israel, andblessed the God of the children of Israel, and told them to go up no more to war against the others todestroy the land of the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse: sothey lived upon it. 34 And Joshua gave a name to the altar of the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad,and the half tribe of Manasse; and said, It is a testimony in the midst of them, that the Lord is theirGod.