Yehoshua, starting at chapter 22
{22:1} Then Yehoshua called the Re'uveni, and the Gadi, and the
half-tribe of Menashsheh, {22:2} and said to them, You have kept all
that Moshe the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have listened to
my voice in all that I commanded you: {22:3} you have not left your
brothers these many days to this day, but have kept the charge of the
[1>]mitzvah[<1] of the LORD your God. {22:4} Now the LORD your God has
given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to them: therefore now turn
you, and get you to your tents, to the land of your possession, which
Moshe the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Yarden. {22:5} Only
take diligent heed to do the [2>]mitzvah[<2] and the law 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 [3>]mitzvot[<3], and to
cleave to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your
soul. {22:6} So Yehoshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they
went to their tents. {22:7} Now to the one half-tribe of Menashsheh
Moshe had given [inheritance] in Bashan; but to the other half gave
Yehoshua among their brothers beyond the Yarden westward; moreover
when Yehoshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, {22:8}
and spoke to them, saying, Return with much wealth to your tents, and
with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and
with iron, and with very much clothing: divide the spoil of your
enemies with your brothers. {22:9} The children of Re'uven and the
children of Gad and the half-tribe of Menashsheh returned, and
departed from the children of Yisra'el out of Shiloh, which is in the
land of Kana`an, to go to the land of Gil`ad, to the land of their
possession, whereof they were possessed, according to the
[4>]mitzvah[<4] of the LORD by Moshe. {22:10} When they came to the
region about the Yarden, that is in the land of Kana`an, the children
of Re'uven and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Menashsheh
built there an altar by the Yarden, a great altar to look on. {22:11}
The children of Yisra'el heard say, Behold, the children of Re'uven
and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Menashsheh have built an
altar in the forefront of the land of Kana`an, in the region about the
Yarden, on the side that pertains to the children of Yisra'el. {22:12}
When the children of Yisra'el heard of it, the whole congregation of
the children of Yisra'el gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go
up against them to war. {22:13} The children of Yisra'el sent to the
children of Re'uven, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe
of Menashsheh, into the land of Gil`ad, Pinechas the son of El`azar
the [5>]Kohen[<5], {22:14} and with him ten princes, one prince of a
fathers' house for each of the tribes of Yisra'el; and they were
everyone of them head of their fathers' houses among the thousands of
Yisra'el. {22:15} They came to the children of Re'uven, and to the
children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Menashsheh, to the land of
Gil`ad, and they spoke with them, saying, {22:16} 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, in that you have built you an altar, to rebel this
day against the LORD? {22:17} Is the iniquity of Pe`or too little for
us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although
there came a plague on the congregation of the LORD, {22:18} that you
must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be,
seeing you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be
angry with the whole congregation of Yisra'el. {22:19} However, if the
land of your possession be unclean, then pass over to the land of the
possession of the LORD, in which the LORD's tent dwells, and take
possession among us: but don't rebel against the LORD, nor rebel
against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of the LORD our
God. {22:20} Didn't `Akhan the son of Zerach commit a trespass in the
devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Yisra'el? and
that man didn't perish alone in his iniquity. {22:21} Then the
children of Re'uven and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of
Menashsheh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of
Yisra'el, {22:22} The Mighty One, God, the LORD, the Mighty One, God,
the LORD, he knows; and Yisra'el he shall know: if it be in rebellion,
or if in trespass against the LORD (don't save us this day,) {22:23}
that we have built us an altar to turn away from following the LORD;
or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meal-offering, or if to offer
sacrifices of peace-offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require
it; {22:24} and if we have not [rather] out of carefulness done this,
[and] of purpose, saying, In time to come your children might speak to
our children, saying, What have you to do with the LORD, the God of
Yisra'el? {22:25} 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
portion in the LORD: so might 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 it shall be a witness between us and you, and between our
generations after us, that we may 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 tell our children in time
to come, You have no portion in the LORD. {22:28} Therefore said we,
It shall be, when they so tell us or to our generations in time to
come, that we shall say, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD,
which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but
it is a witness between us and you. {22:29} Far be it from us that we
should rebel against the LORD, and turn away this day from following
the LORD, to build an altar for burnt-offering, for meal-offering, or
for sacrifice, besides the altar of the LORD our God that is before
his tent. {22:30} When Pinechas the [6>]Kohen[<6], and the princes of
the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Yisra'el that
were with him, heard the words that the children of Re'uven and the
children of Gad and the children of Menashsheh spoke, it pleased them
well. {22:31} Pinechas the son of El`azar the [7>]Kohen[<7] said to
the children of Re'uven, and to the children of Gad, and to the
children of Menashsheh, This day we know that the LORD is in the midst
of us, because you have not committed this trespass against the LORD:
now have you delivered the children of Yisra'el out of the hand of the
LORD. {22:32} Pinechas the son of El`azar the [8>]Kohen[<8], 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 Kana`an, to the
children of Yisra'el, and brought them word again. {22:33} 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 to war, to destroy the
land in which the children of Re'uven and the children of Gad lived.
{22:34} The children of Re'uven and the children of Gad called the
altar [`Ed]: For, [said they], it is a witness between us that the
LORD is God.
{23:1} It happened after many days, when the LORD had given rest to
Yisra'el from all their enemies round about, and Yehoshua was old and
well stricken in years; {23:2} that Yehoshua called for all Yisra'el,
for their Zakenim and for their heads, and for their judges and for
their officers, and said to them, I am old and well stricken in years:
{23:3} and you have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all
these nations because of you; for the LORD your God, he it is that has
fought for you. {23:4} Behold, I have allotted to you these nations
that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Yarden,
with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward
the going down of the sun. {23:5} The LORD your God, he will thrust
them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and
you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God spoke to you.
{23:6} Therefore be you very courageous to keep and to do all that is
written in the book of the law of Moshe, that you not turn aside from
it to the right hand or to the left; {23:7} that you not come among
these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of
the name of their gods, nor cause to swear [by them], neither serve
them, nor bow down yourselves to them; {23:8} but cleave to the LORD
your God, as you have done to this day. {23:9} For the LORD has driven
out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man
has stood before you to this day. {23:10} One man of you shall chase a
thousand; for the LORD your God, he it is who fights for you, as he
spoke to you. {23:11} Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you
love the LORD your God. {23:12} Else if you do at all go back, and
cleave to the remnant of these nations, even these who remain among
you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you;
{23:13} know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive
these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a
trap to you, and a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes,
until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has
given you. {23:14} Behold, this day I am going the way of all the
[1>]eretz[<1]: and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls,
that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD
your God spoke concerning you; all are happen to you, not one thing
has failed of it. {23:15} It shall happen, that as all the good things
are come on you of which the LORD your God spoke to you, so will the
LORD bring on you all the evil things, until he have destroyed you
from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you. {23:16}
When you disobey the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded
you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them;
then will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and you shall
perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you.
{24:1} Yehoshua gathered all the tribes of Yisra'el to Shekhem, and
called for the Zakenim of Yisra'el, and for their heads, and for their
judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before
God. {24:2} Yehoshua said to all the people, Thus says the LORD, the
God of Yisra'el, Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even
Terach, the father of Avraham, and the father of Nachor: and they
served other gods. {24:3} I took your father Avraham from beyond the
River, and led him throughout all the land of Kana`an, and multiplied
his seed, and gave him Yitzchak. {24:4} I gave to Yitzchak Ya`akov and
Esav: and I gave to Esav Mount Se`ir, to possess it: and Ya`akov and
his children went down into Mitzrayim. {24:5} I sent Moshe and Aharon,
and I plagued Mitzrayim, according to that which I did in the midst of
it: and afterward I brought you out. {24:6} I brought your fathers out
of Mitzrayim: and you came to the sea; and the Mitzrim pursued after
your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Sea of Suf. {24:7}
When they cried out to the LORD, he put darkness between you and the
Mitzrim, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes
saw what I did in Mitzrayim: and you lived in the wilderness many
days. {24:8} I brought you into the land of the Amori, that lived
beyond the Yarden: and they fought with you; and I gave them into your
hand, and you possessed their land; and I destroyed them from before
you. {24:9} Then Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo'av, arose and
fought against Yisra'el: and he sent and called Bil`am the son of
Be'or to curse you; {24:10} but I would not listen to Bil`am;
therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.
{24:11} You went over the Yarden, and came to Yericho: and the men of
Yericho fought against you, the Amori, and the Perizzi, and the
Kana`ani, and the Hittite, and the Girgashi, the Hivvi, and the
Yevusi; and I delivered them into your hand. {24:12} I sent the hornet
before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings
of the Amori; not with your sword, nor with your bow. {24:13} I gave
you a land whereon you had not labored, and cities which you didn't
build, and you dwell therein; of vineyards and olive groves which you
didn't plant do you eat. {24:14} Now therefore fear the LORD, and
serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your
fathers served beyond the River, and in Mitzrayim; and serve you the
LORD. {24:15} If it seem evil to you to serve the LORD, choose you
this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers
served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amori, in whose
land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
{24:16} The people answered, Far be it from us that we should forsake
the LORD, to serve other gods; {24:17} for the LORD our God, he it is
who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Mitzrayim, from
the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and
preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the
peoples through the midst of whom we passed; {24:18} and the LORD
drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amori who lived in
the land: therefore we also will serve the LORD; for he is our God.
{24:19} Yehoshua said to the people, You can't serve the LORD; for he
is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your
disobedience nor your sins. {24:20} If you forsake the LORD, and serve
foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you,
after that he has done you good. {24:21} The people said to Yehoshua,
No; but we will serve the LORD. {24:22} Yehoshua said to the people,
You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen you the
LORD, to serve him. They said, We are witnesses. {24:23} Now therefore
put away, [said he], the foreign gods which are among you, and incline
your heart to the LORD, the God of Yisra'el. {24:24} The people said
to Yehoshua, the LORD our God will we serve, and to his voice will we
listen. {24:25} So Yehoshua made a covenant with the people that day,
and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shekhem. {24:26} Yehoshua
wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great
stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of
the LORD. {24:27} Yehoshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone
shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of the
LORD which he spoke to us: it shall be therefore a witness against
you, lest you deny your God. {24:28} So Yehoshua sent the people away,
every man to his inheritance. {24:29} It happened after these things,
that Yehoshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one
hundred ten years old. {24:30} They buried him in the border of his
inheritance in Timnat-Serach, which is in the hill-country of Efrayim,
on the north of the mountain of Ga`ash. {24:31} Yisra'el served the
LORD all the days of Yehoshua, and all the days of the Zakenim who
outlived Yehoshua, and had known all the work of the LORD, that he had
worked for Yisra'el. {24:32} The bones of Yosef, which the children of
Yisra'el brought up out of Mitzrayim, buried they in Shekhem, in the
parcel of ground which Ya`akov bought of the sons of Hamor the father
of Shekhem for a hundred pieces of money: and they became the
inheritance of the children of Yosef. {24:33} El`azar the son of
Aharon died; and they buried him in the hill of Pinechas his son,
which was given him in the hill-country of Efrayim.
________________________________________________________________________
Footnotes:
[1] {22:3} commandment
[2] {22:5} commandment
[3] {22:5} commandments
[4] {22:9} commandment
[5] {22:13} priest
[6] {22:30} priest
[7] {22:31} priest
[8] {22:32} priest
[1] {23:14} earth
________________________________________________________________________
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