Joshua 22-24

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

III. Return of the Transjordan Tribes and Joshua’s Farewell

Chapter 22

The Eastern Tribes Dismissed. ¹ At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh ² and said to them:^(A) “You have observed all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, and have listened to my voice in everything I commanded you. ³ For many years now, even until today, you have not abandoned your allies, but have taken care to observe the commands of the Lord, your God. ⁴ Now that the Lord, your God, has settled your allies as he promised them, you may return to your tents, to your own land, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you, across the Jordan.^{(B) 5} But be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you: love the Lord, your God,^(C) follow him in all his ways, keep his commandments, hold fast to him, and serve him with your whole heart and your whole self.” ⁶ Joshua then blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

⁷ (For, to half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had assigned land in Bashan;^(D) and to the other half Joshua had given a portion along with their allies west of the Jordan.) When Joshua sent them away to their tents and blessed them, ⁸ he said, “Now that you are returning to your own tents with great wealth, with abundant livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and with a very large supply of clothing, divide these spoils of your enemies with your allies there.”^{(E) 9} So the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the other Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and returned to the land of Gilead, their own land, which they had received according to the Lord’s command through Moses.^(F)

The Altar Beside the Jordan. ¹⁰ When the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh came to the region of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, they built an altar there at the Jordan, an impressively large altar. ¹¹ The other Israelites heard the report:^(G) “The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar” in the region of the Jordan facing the land of Canaan,^[a] across from the Israelites. ¹² When the Israelites heard this, they assembled at Shiloh, as the entire Israelite community to take military action against them.^[b]

Accusation of the Western Tribes. ¹³ The Israelites sent Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead,^{(H) 14} and with him ten leaders, one from each tribe of Israel, each one the head of an ancestral house among the clans of Israel. ¹⁵ When these came to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, they said to them: ¹⁶ “Thus says the whole community of the Lord: What act of treachery is this you have committed against the God of Israel? This day you have turned from following the Lord; by building an altar of your own you have rebelled against the Lord this day. ¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor not enough, by which we made ourselves impure, even to this day, and a plague came upon the community of the Lord?^{(I) 18} If today you turn away from following the Lord, and rebel against the Lord, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel! ¹⁹ If you consider the land you now possess unclean,^[c] cross over to the land the Lord possesses, where the tabernacle of the Lord stands, and share that with us. But do not rebel against the Lord, nor involve us in rebellion, by building an altar of your own in addition to the altar of the Lord, our God. ²⁰ When Achan, son of Zerah,^(J) acted treacherously by violating the ban, was it not upon the entire community of Israel that wrath fell? Though he was but a single man, he did not perish alone^[d] for his guilt!”

Reply of the Eastern Tribes. ²¹ The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the Israelite clans: ²² “The Lord is the God of gods. The Lord, the God of gods,^[e] knows and Israel shall know. If now we have acted out of rebellion or treachery against the Lord, our God, do not try to save us this day, ²³ and if we have built an altar of our own to turn from following the Lord, or to sacrifice burnt offerings, grain offerings, or communion sacrifices upon it, the Lord himself will exact the penalty. ²⁴ We did it rather out of our anxious concern lest in the future your children should say to our children: ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? ²⁵ For the Lord has placed the Jordan as a boundary between you and us, you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no share in the Lord.’ Thus your children would prevent ours from revering the Lord. ²⁶ So we thought, ‘Let us act for ourselves by building this altar of our own’—not for burnt offerings or sacrifice, ^27 (K)but as witness between us and you and our descendants, that we have the right to provide for the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and communion sacrifices. Now in the future your children cannot say to our children, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’ ²⁸ Our thought was that, if in the future they should speak thus to us or to our descendants, we could answer: ‘Look at the copy of the altar of the Lord which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or for sacrifices, but to witness^[f] between you and us.’ ²⁹ Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord or to turn now from following the Lord by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice in addition to the altar of the Lord, our God, which stands before his tabernacle.”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community, the heads of the Israelite clans, heard what the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassites had to say, they were satisfied. ³¹ Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassites, “Today we know that the Lord is in our midst. Since you have not rebelled against the Lord by this act of treachery, you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the Lord.”

³² Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, and the leaders returned from the Reubenites and the Gadites in the land of Gilead to the Israelites in the land of Canaan, and reported the matter to them. ³³ The report satisfied the Israelites, who blessed God and decided not to take military action against the Reubenites and Gadites nor to ravage the land where they lived.

³⁴ The Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar its name^[g] as a witness among them that the Lord is God.

Chapter 23

Joshua’s Final Plea. ¹ Many years later, after the Lord had given the Israelites rest from all their enemies round about them, and when Joshua was old and advanced in years,^{(L) 2} he summoned all Israel, including their elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and said to them: “I am old and advanced in years.^{(M) 3} You have seen all that the Lord, your God, has done for you against all these nations; for it has been the Lord, your God, who fought for you. ^4 (N)See, I have apportioned among your tribes as their heritage the nations that survive, as well as those I destroyed, between the Jordan and the Great Sea in the west. ⁵ The Lord, your God, will drive them out and dispossess them at your approach, so that you will take possession of their land as the Lord, your God, promised you. ⁶ Therefore be strong and be careful to observe all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, never turning from it right or left,^{(O) 7} or mingling with these nations that survive among you. You must not invoke their gods by name, or swear by them, or serve them, or bow down to them,^{(P) 8} but you must hold fast to the Lord, your God, as you have done up to this day. ⁹ At your approach the Lord has dispossessed great and strong nations; not one has withstood you up to this day. ¹⁰ One of you puts to flight a thousand, because it is the Lord, your God, himself who fights for you,^(Q) as he promised you. ¹¹ As for you, take great care to love the Lord, your God. ¹² For if you ever turn away from him and join with the remnant of these nations that survive among you, by intermarrying and intermingling with them,^{(R) 13} know for certain that the Lord, your God, will no longer dispossess these nations at your approach. Instead they will be a snare and a trap for you, a scourge for your sides and thorns for your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord, your God, has given you.^(S)

¹⁴ “Today, as you see, I am going the way of all the earth.^[h] So now acknowledge with your whole heart and soul that not one of all the promises the Lord, your God, made concerning you has failed. Every one has come true for you; not one has failed. ^15 (T)But just as every promise the Lord, your God, made to you has come true for you, so will he bring upon you every threat,^[i] even so far as to exterminate you from this good land which the Lord, your God, has given you. ¹⁶ If you transgress the covenant of the Lord, your God, which he enjoined on you, to go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the anger of the Lord will flare up against you and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.”

Chapter 24

Covenant Ceremony. ^1 (U)Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, summoning the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel. When they stood in ranks before God, ² Joshua addressed all the people: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: In times past your ancestors, down to Terah,^(V) father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River^[j] and served other gods. ³ But I brought your father Abraham from the region beyond the River and led him through the entire land of Canaan.^(W) I made his descendants numerous, and gave him Isaac. ⁴ To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau.^(X) To Esau I assigned the mountain region of Seir to possess, while Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

⁵ “Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and struck Egypt with the plagues and wonders that I wrought in her midst.^(Y) Afterward I led you out. ⁶ And when I led your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors to the Red Sea with chariots and charioteers.^{(Z) 7} When they cried out to the Lord,^(AA) he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, upon whom he brought the sea so that it covered them. Your eyes saw what I did to Egypt. After you dwelt a long time in the wilderness, ^8 (AB)I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I delivered them into your power. You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them at your approach. ^9 (AC)Then Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, prepared to war against Israel. He summoned Balaam, son of Beor, to curse you, ^10 (AD)but I would not listen to Balaam. Instead, he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his power. ¹¹ Once you crossed the Jordan^(AE) and came to Jericho, the citizens of Jericho fought against you, but I delivered them also into your power. ¹² And I sent the hornets^[k] ahead of you which drove them—the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites—out of your way; it was not your sword or your bow.^{(AF) 13} I gave you a land you did not till and cities you did not build, to dwell in; you ate of vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.^(AG)

^14 (AH)“Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ^15 (AI)If it is displeasing to you to serve the Lord, choose today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

¹⁶ But the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods. ¹⁷ For it was the Lord, our God, who brought us and our ancestors up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. He performed those great signs before our very eyes and protected us along our entire journey and among all the peoples through whom we passed. ¹⁸ At our approach the Lord drove out all the peoples, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

¹⁹ Joshua in turn said to the people, “You may not be able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God; he is a passionate God^(AJ) who will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. ²⁰ If you forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, he will then do evil to you and destroy you, after having done you good.”

²¹ But the people answered Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.” ²² Joshua therefore said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.” They replied, “We are witnesses!” ²³ “Now, therefore, put away the foreign gods that are among you and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” ²⁴ Then the people promised Joshua, “We will serve the Lord, our God, and will listen to his voice.”

²⁵ So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem. ²⁶ Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the terebinth that was in the sanctuary of the Lord.^{(AK) 27} And Joshua said to all the people, “This stone shall be our witness,^(AL) for it has heard all the words which the Lord spoke to us. It shall be a witness against you, should you wish to deny your God.” ²⁸ Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to their own heritage.^(AM)

Death of Joshua. ^29 (AN)After these events, Joshua, son of Nun, servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten, ³⁰ and they buried him within the borders of his heritage at Timnath-serah^(AO) in the mountain region of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.^{[l] 31} Israel served the Lord during the entire lifetime of Joshua, and of those elders who outlived Joshua and who knew all the work the Lord had done for Israel. ^32 (AP)The bones of Joseph,^[m] which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried in Shechem in the plot of ground Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of money. This was a heritage of the descendants of Joseph. ³³ When Eleazar, son of Aaron, also died, he was buried on the hill which had been given to his son Phinehas^(AQ) in the mountain region of Ephraim.