Then Yehoshua called the Re᾽uveni, and the Gadi, and the half tribe of Menashshe,

and said to them, You have kept all that Moshe the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:

you have not forsaken your brethren these many days, until this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God.

And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return, and go to your tents, and to the land of your possession, which Moshe the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Yarden.

But take great care to do the commandment and the Tora, which Moshe the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

So Yehoshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they went to their tents.

Now to the one half of the tribe of Menashshe, Moshe had given possession in Bashan: but to the other half of it, Yehoshua had given territory among their brethren on this side of the Yarden westward. Moreover when Yehoshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,

and he spoke to them, saying, Return with much riches to your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with copper, and with iron, and with very many garments: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.

And the children of Re᾽uven and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Menashshe returned, and departed from the children of Yisra᾽el out of Shilo, which is in the land of Kena῾an, to go to the country of Gil῾ad, to the land of their possession, of which they were possessed, according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moshe.

And when they came to the districts of the Yarden, that are in the land of Kena῾an, the children of Re᾽uven and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Menashshe built there an altar by the Yarden, a great and conspicuous altar.

And the children of Yisra᾽el heard say, Behold, the children of Re᾽uven and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Menashshe have built an altar over against the land of Kena῾an, in the districts of the Yarden, on the side of the children of Yisra᾽el.

And when the children of Yisra᾽el heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Yisra᾽el gathered themselves together at Shilo, to go up to war against them.

And the children of Yisra᾽el sent to the children of Re᾽uven, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Menashshe, into the land of Gil῾ad, Pineĥas the son of El῾azar the priest,

and with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Yisra᾽el; and each one a headman of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Yisra᾽el.

And they came to the children of Re᾽uven, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Menashshe, to the land of Gil῾ad, and they spoke with them, saying,

Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Yisra᾽el, to turn away this day from following the Lord, by building for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day against the Lord?

Is the iniquity of Pe῾or too little for us, from which we have not been cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord,

but that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? and it will be, if you rebel to day against the Lord, that to morrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Yisra᾽el.

Howbeit, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building an altar for yourselves besides the altar of the Lord our God.

Did not ῾Akhan the son of Zeraĥ commit a trespass in regard to the devoted property, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Yisra᾽el? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

Then the children of Re᾽uven and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Menashshe answered, and said to the heads of the thousands of Yisra᾽el,

The mighty One, God, the Lord, the mighty One, God, the Lord, he knows and Yisra᾽el shall know; if in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord, (save Thou us not this day,)

if we have built an altar for ourselves to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer a burnt offering or a meal offering upon it, or if to offer peace offerings upon it, let the Lord himself demand reparation;

or if we have not rather done this out of anxiety, saying, In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, What have you to do with the Lord God of Yisra᾽el?

For the Lord has made the Yarden a border between us and you, you children of Re᾽uven and children of Gad; you have no part in the Lord: so shall your children make our children cease fearing the Lord.

Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:

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, You have no part in the Lord.

Therefore we said, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may reply, 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.

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 meal offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God that is before his tabernacle.

And when Pineĥas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Yisra᾽el who were with him, heard the words that the children of Re᾽uven and the children of Gad and the children of Menashshe spoke, it pleased them.

And Pineĥas the son of El῾azar the priest said to the children of Re᾽uven, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Menashshe, This day we perceive that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this trespass against the Lord: now you have delivered the children of Yisra᾽el out of the hand of the Lord.

And Pineĥas the son of El῾azar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Re᾽uven, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gil῾ad, to the land of Kena῾an, to the children of Yisra᾽el, and brought them back word.

And the thing pleased the children of Yisra᾽el; and the children of Yisra᾽el blessed God, and spoke no more of going up against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Re᾽uven and Gad dwelt.

And the children of Re᾽uven and the children of Gad called the altar ῾Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God.