22Later, Joshua called together the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of ManassehH3091H7121H7206H1425H2677H4294H45192and told them, "You have done everything that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and you have listened to me in everything that I commanded you.H559H8104H4872H5650H3068H6680H8085H6963H66803You haven't abandoned your relatives these past days to the present, and you have met the obligation contained in the commands of the Lord your God.H5800H251H7227H3117H3117H8104H4931H4687H3068H4304Now the Lord has given peace to your relatives, just as he told them. Therefore, proceed to your tents - to the land that is yours to possess - that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan River.H3068H430H5117H251H1696H6437H3212H168H776H272H4872H5650H3068H5414H5676H33835Only be very careful to keep the commands and the Law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you - that is, to love the Lord your God, to follow in all of his ways, to keep his commands, to stay close to him, and to serve him with all your heart and soul."H3966H8104H6213H4687H8451H4872H5650H3068H6680H157H3068H430H3212H1870H8104H4687H1692H5647H3824H53156That's how Joshua blessed them. Then he sent them on their way and they returned to their tents.4H3091H1288H7971H3212H1687Now Moses had made an allotment in Bashan to one half-tribe of Manasseh, but Joshua made an allotment west of the Jordan River to the other half-tribe of their relatives. So when Joshua sent them on their way back to their tents, he also blessed them by sayingH2677H7626H4519H4872H5414H1316H2677H5414H3091H5973H251H5676H3383H3220H3091H7971H168H12888"Return to your tents with great wealth, plenty of livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron, and lots of clothing. Divide the spoil from your enemies among your relatives."H559H559H7725H7227H5233H168H3966H7227H4735H3701H2091H5178H1270H3966H7235H8008H2505H7998H341H2519The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh went back to the land of Gilead, leaving the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, for their territorial possession that they had inherited in accordance with the command of the Lord given through Moses.H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H7725H3212H1121H3478H7887H776H3667H3212H776H1568H776H272H270H6310H3068H3027H487210After they arrived at an area of the Jordan River that is in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh constructed an altar there by the Jordan River, and it was very large.H935H1552H3383H776H3667H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H1129H4196H3383H1419H4196H475811When the Israelites heard about it, they announced, "Look here, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have constructed an altar in Canaan's frontier district of the Jordan River, on the side apportioned to the Israelites."H1121H3478H8085H559H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H1129H4196H4136H776H3667H1552H3383H5676H1121H347812When the Israelites heard that announcement, the entire community of the Israelites gathered together at Shiloh in preparation for war.11H1121H3478H8085H5712H1121H3478H6950H7887H5927H663513Then the Israelites sent a delegation to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead. They sent Eleazar's son Phinehas the priest,H1121H3478H7971H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H776H1568H6372H1121H499H354814and ten officials with him (one for each of the tribal families of Israel, each one of them a family leader among the clans of Israel).H6235H5387H259H259H5387H5387H1004H1H4294H3478H376H7218H1004H1H505H347815They approached the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and said to them:H935H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H776H1568H1696H55916"This is what the entire community of the Lord has to say: 'What is this treacherous act by which you have acted deceitfully against the God of Israel by turning away from following the Lord today, and by building yourselves an altar today, so you can rebel against the Lord?H559H5712H3068H4604H4603H430H3478H7725H3117H310H3068H1129H4196H4775H3117H306817Isn't the evil that happened at Peor enough for us, from which we have yet to be completely cleansed even to this point, and because of which a plague came upon the community of the Lord?H5771H6465H4592H2891H3117H5063H5712H306818Now then, are you turning away from following the Lord today?If you rebel against the Lord today, by tomorrow he will be angry with the entire community of Israel.H7725H3117H310H3068H4775H3117H3068H4279H7107H5712H347819If the land of your inheritance remains unclean, then cross back over into the land that the Lord possesses, and receive an inheritance among us. Don't rebel against the Lord and against us by constructing an altar for yourselves besides the altar of the Lord our God.H389H776H272H2931H5674H776H272H3068H3068H4908H7931H270H8432H4775H3068H408H4775H1129H4196H1107H4196H3068H43020Didn't Zerach's son Achan act treacherously with respect to the things banned by God, and as a result God became angry at the entire community of Israel?And that man was not the only one to die because of his iniquity.'"H5912H1121H2226H4603H4604H2764H7110H1961H5712H3478H376H1478H259H577121The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the officials of the clans of Israel,H1121H7205H1121H1410H2677H7626H4519H6030H1696H7218H505H347822"The God of gods, the Lord, the God of gods, the Lord is the One who knows! And may Israel itself be aware that if this was an act of rebellion or an act of treachery against the Lord, may he not deliver us today!H3068H410H430H3068H410H430H3045H3478H3045H4777H4604H3068H3467H311723If we have built an altar for ourselves intended to turn us away from following the Lord, or to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself demand an accounting from us!H1129H4196H7725H310H3068H5927H5930H4503H6213H8002H2077H3068H124524But we did this because we were concerned for a reason, since we thought, 'Some time in the future your descendants may say to our descendants, "What do you have in common with the Lord, the God of Israel?H6213H1674H1697H559H4279H1121H559H1121H559H3068H430H347825The Lord has established the Jordan River to be a territorial border between us and you. Reubenites and Gadites have no allotment from the Lord." So your descendants may cause our descendants to stop fearing the Lord.'H3068H5414H3383H1366H1121H7205H1121H1410H2506H3068H1121H7673H1121H7673H1115H3372H306826"That's why we said, 'Let's build an altar for ourselves, not for burnt offerings or sacrifice,H559H6213H1129H4196H5930H207727but instead it will serve as a reminder between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to serve the Lord with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. That way your descendants will not say to our descendants in the future, "You have no allotment from the Lord."'H5707H1755H310H5647H5656H3068H6440H5930H2077H8002H1121H559H1121H4279H2506H306828"That's also why we said, 'It may be if they say these things to us and to our descendants in the future, so we will respond, "Look at this replica of the altar of the Lord that our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifice, but rather as a reminder between us and you.H559H559H1755H4279H559H7200H8403H4196H3068H1H6213H5930H2077H570729May we never rebel against the Lord today by building an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifice to replace the altar of the Lord our God which stands before his Tabernacle."'"H2486H4775H3068H7725H3117H310H3068H1129H4196H5930H4503H2077H4196H3068H430H6440H490830When Phinehas the priest, the leaders of the community, and the heads of the families of Israel who were with him heard what the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassites said, they were pleased.H6372H3548H5387H5712H7218H505H3478H8085H1697H1121H7205H1121H1410H1121H4519H1696H3190H586931So Eleazar's son Phinehas the priest replied to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassites, "Today we've demonstrated that the Lord is among us, because you have not acted treacherously against the Lord. Now you have delivered the Israelites from the anger of the Lord."H6372H1121H499H3548H559H1121H7205H1121H1410H1121H4519H3117H3045H3068H8432H4603H4604H3068H227H5337H1121H3478H3027H306832So Eleazar's son Phinehas the priest and the leaders returned from the Reubenites, the Gadites, and from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan and to the people of Israel, bringing back word to them.H6372H1121H499H3548H5387H7725H1121H7205H1121H1410H776H1568H776H3667H1121H3478H7725H1697H772533What they said pleased the people of Israel, so they blessed God and said no more about going up to attack them in war and to destroy the land where the Reubenites and the Gadites were living.H1697H3190H5869H1121H3478H1121H3478H1288H430H559H5927H6635H7843H776H1121H7205H1410H342734The Reubenites and the Gadites named the altar "Witness," because they claimed, "It stands as a witness between us that the Lord is God."2232H1121H7205H1121H1410H7121H4196H5707H3068H430