|
Eastern Tribes Return Home
22:1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the
Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
22:2 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:
22:3 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.
22:4 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.
22:5 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.
22:6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away: and they
went unto their tents.
22:7 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,
22:8 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.
22:9 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.
22:10 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.
22:11 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.
22:12 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.
22:13 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,
22:14 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.
22:15 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,
22:16 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?
22:17 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,
22:18 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.
22:19 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.
22:20 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.
22:21 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,
22:22 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,)
22:23 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;
22:24 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?
22:25 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.
22:26 Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an
altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:
22:27 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.
22:28 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.
22:29 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.
22:30 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.
22:31 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.
22:32 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.
22:33 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.
22:34 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. |
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
