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Then
Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites,
and the half tribe of Manasseh,
02 And said unto them, Ye have kept all that
Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and
have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:
03 Ye have not left your brethren these many days
unto this day, but have kept the charge of the
commandment of the Lord your God.
04 And now the Lord your God hath given rest unto
your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now
return ye, and get you unto your tents, and unto
the land of your possession, which Moses the
servant of the Lord gave you on the other side
Jordan.
05 But take diligent heed to do the commandment
and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord
charged you, to love the Lord 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.
06 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away:
and they went unto their tents.
07 Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh
Moses had given possession in Bashan: but unto
the other half thereof gave Joshua among their
brethren on this side Jordan westward. And when
Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, then
he blessed them,
08 And he spake unto them, saying, Return with
much riches unto your tents, and with very much
cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with
brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment:
divide the spoil of your enemies with your
brethren.
09 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
unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their
possession, whereof they were possessed,
according to the word of the Lord by the hand of
Moses.
10 And when they came unto the borders of Jordan,
that are in the land of Canaan, the children of
Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe
of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a
great altar to see to.
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
borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children
of Israel.
12 And when the children of Israel heard of it,
the whole congregation of the children of Israel
gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up
to war against them.
13 And the children of Israel sent unto 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 chief house
a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and
each one was an head of the house of their
fathers among the thousands of Israel.
15 And they came unto the children of Reuben, and
to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of
Manasseh, unto the land of Gilead, and they spake
with them, saying,
16 Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord,
What trespass is this that ye have committed
against the God of Israel, to turn away this day
from following the Lord, in that ye have builded
you an altar, that ye might rebel this day
against the Lord?
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 congregation
of the Lord,
18 But that ye must turn away this day from
following the Lord? and it will be, seeing ye
rebel to day against the Lord, that to-morrow he
will be wroth with the whole congregation of
Israel.
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19 Notwithstanding, if the land of your
possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the
land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the
Lord's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession
among us: but rebel not against the Lord, nor
rebel against us, in building you an altar beside
the altar of the Lord our God.
20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a
trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on
all the congregation of Israel? and that man
perished not alone in his iniquity.
21 Then the children of Reuben and the children
of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered,
and said unto the heads of the thousands of
Israel,
22 The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he
knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in
rebellion, or if in transgression against the
Lord, (save us not this day,)
23 That we have built us an altar to turn from
following the Lord, or if to offer thereon burnt
offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace
offerings thereon, let the Lord himself require
it;
24 And if we have not rather done it for fear of
this thing, saying, In time to come your children
might speak unto our children, saying, What have
ye to do with the Lord God of Israel?
25 For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between
us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of
Gad; ye have no part in the Lord: so shall your
children make our children cease from fearing the
Lord.
26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build
us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for
sacrifice:
27 But that it may be a witness between us, and
you, and our generations after us, that we might
do the service of the Lord 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 time to come, Ye have
no part in the Lord.
28 Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they
should so say to us or to our generations in time
to come, that we may say again, Behold the
pattern of the altar of the Lord, which our
fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for
sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and
you.
29 God forbid that we should rebel against the
Lord, and turn this day from following the Lord,
to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat
offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of
the Lord our God that is before his tabernacle.
30 And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes
of the congregation and heads of the thousands of
Israel which were with him, heard the words that
the children of Reuben and the children of Gad
and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased
them.
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 the Lord is among us,
because ye have not committed this trespass
against the Lord: now ye have delivered the
children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.
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, unto the land of Canaan, to the
children of Israel, and brought them word again.
33 And the thing pleased the children of Israel;
and the children of Israel blessed God, and did
not intend to go up against them in battle, to
destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben
and Gad dwelt.
34 And the children of Reuben and the children of
Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a
witness between us that the Lord is God.
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