Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

Then Joshua called the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh. "You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you," he said, "and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. You have not left your brethren these many days, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God."

The Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore now return and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan. But take diligent heed to do the commandment and law that Moses, the servant of the Lord, charged you: to love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, keep his commandments, cleave to him, and serve him with all your heart and soul.

Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. To the one half of the tribe of Manasseh, Moses had given possession in Bashan; but to the other half thereof, Joshua gave among their brethren on this side Jordan westward. When Joshua sent them away also unto their tents, he blessed them.

Return with much wealth to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing; divide the plunder of your enemies with your brothers. The children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, departing from the children of Israel at Shiloh in Canaan to go to their own land in Gilead, as the Lord had commanded them through Moses.

When they came to the Jordan River in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built a large altar there by the river. 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 opposite the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the crossing point of the children of Israel."

When the Israelites heard about it, the entire congregation of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go up against them. The children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to the half tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, along with ten princes, leaders from each major family line in Israel, one head of their ancestral house among every thousand Israelites.

They came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, and spoke with them. "If we have rebelled or committed a trespass against Jehovah by building an altar besides the altar of Jehovah our God," they said, "let Jehovah himself require it." The whole congregation of the Lord says, "What is this trespass you have committed against the God of Israel by building an altar to rebel against him today, turning away from following the Lord?"

Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord? But that you must turn away from following the Lord today, and it will be, seeing you rebel against him today, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land where the Lord's tabernacle dwells and take possession among us, but do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God.

Did not Achan, son of Zerah, commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? The children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, saying to the leaders of Israel, "We have done no wrong in what we did with our brothers. The Lord God of gods, he knows, and Israel will know; if it is in rebellion or in transgression against the Lord, do not save us from this day."

That we have built an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or meat offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the Lord himself require it. And if we have not rather done it out of reverence, lest in time to come your children might say to our children, "What share do you have with the Lord God of Israel? For the Lord has established Jordan as a boundary between us and you, children of Reuben and Gad; you have no share in the Lord, so your children will cause our children to cease from fearing the Lord.

Therefore, we decided to prepare and build an altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices. But that it may be a witness between us and you, and our generations after us, to ensure we serve the Lord with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings, so your children will not tell ours in time to come, "You have no share in the Lord." When they ask us or our descendants in time to come, we will say to them, "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, turning today from following him to build an altar for burnt offerings, meat offerings, or sacrifices alongside the altar of the Lord our God before his tabernacle. When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, along with the heads of Israel who were with him, heard the words spoken by the children of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, it pleased them.

Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, "Today we see that the Lord is among us because you have not committed this offense against him; now you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the Lord. Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, along with the leaders, returned from the land of Gilead to Canaan, bringing word again to the children of Israel.

The Israelites were pleased with the arrangement and blessed God, deciding not to go to war against their brothers who lived in the land of Reuben and Gad. The children of Reuben and the children of Gad named the altar Ed, testifying that the Lord is God.