Parallel Bible results for "joshua 22"

Joshua 22

The Message Bible MSG

1 Then Joshua called together the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

2 He said: "You have carried out everything Moses the servant of God commanded you, and you have obediently done everything I have commanded you.

3 All this time and right down to this very day you have not abandoned your brothers; you've shouldered the task laid on you by God, your God.

4 And now God, your God, has given rest to your brothers just as he promised them. You're now free to go back to your homes, the country of your inheritance that Moses the servant of God gave you on the other side of the Jordan.

5 Only this: Be vigilant in keeping the Commandment and The Revelation that Moses the servant of God laid on you: Love God, your God, walk in all his ways, do what he's commanded, embrace him, serve him with everything you are and have."

6 Then Joshua blessed them and sent them on their way. They went home.

7 (To the half-tribe of Manasseh, Moses had assigned a share in Bashan. To the other half, Joshua assigned land with their brothers west of the Jordan.)

8 He said: "Go home. You're going home rich - great herds of cattle, silver and gold, bronze and iron, huge piles of clothing. Share the wealth with your friends and families - all this plunder from your enemies!"

9 The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the People of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to return to Gilead, the land of their possession, which they had taken under the command of Moses as ordered by God.

10 They arrived at Geliloth on the Jordan (touching on Canaanite land). There the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar on the banks of the Jordan - a huge altar!

11 The People of Israel heard of it: "What's this? The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar facing the land of Canaan at Geliloth on the Jordan, across from the People of Israel!"

12 When the People of Israel heard this, the entire congregation mustered at Shiloh to go to war against them.

13 They sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (that is, to the land of Gilead).

14 Accompanying him were ten chiefs, one chief for each of the ten tribes, each the head of his ancestral family. They represented the military divisions of Israel.

15 They went to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh and spoke to them:

16 "The entire congregation of God wants to know: What is this violation against the God of Israel that you have committed, turning your back on God and building your own altar - a blatant act of rebellion against God?

17 Wasn't the crime of Peor enough for us? Why, to this day we aren't rid of it, still living with the fallout of the plague on the congregation of God!

18 Look at you - turning your back on God! If you rebel against God today, tomorrow he'll vent his anger on all of us, the entire congregation of Israel.

19 "If you think the land of your possession isn't holy enough but somehow contaminated, come back over to God's possession, where God's Dwelling is set up, and take your land there, but don't rebel against God. And don't rebel against us by building your own altar apart from the Altar of our God.

20 When Achan son of Zerah violated the holy curse, didn't anger fall on the whole congregation of Israel? He wasn't the only one to die for his sin."

21 The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the tribes of Israel:

22 The God of Gods is God, The God of Gods is God!

23 If we built ourselves an altar in rebellion against God, if we did it to present on it Whole-Burnt-Offerings or Grain-Offerings or to enact there sacrificial Peace-Offerings, let God decide.

24 "But that's not it. We did it because we cared. We were anxious lest someday your children should say to our children, 'You're not connected with God, the God of Israel!

25 God made the Jordan a boundary between us and you. You Reubenites and Gadites have no part in God.' And then your children might cause our children to quit worshiping God.

26 "So we said to ourselves, 'Let's do something. Let's build an altar - but not for Whole-Burnt-Offerings, not for sacrifices.'

27 "We built this altar as a witness between us and you and our children coming after us, a witness to the Altar where we worship God in his Sacred Dwelling with our Whole-Burnt-Offerings and our sacrifices and our Peace-Offerings. "This way, your children won't be able to say to our children in the future, 'You have no part in God.'

28 "We said to ourselves, 'If anyone speaks disparagingly to us or to our children in the future, we'll say: Look at this model of God's Altar which our ancestors made. It's not for Whole-Burnt-Offerings, not for sacrifices. It's a witness connecting us with you.'

29 "Rebelling against or turning our backs on God is the last thing on our minds right now. We never dreamed of building an altar for Whole-Burnt-Offerings or Grain-Offerings to rival the Altar of our God in front of his Sacred Dwelling."

30 Phinehas the priest, all the heads of the congregation, and the heads of the military divisions of Israel who were also with him heard what the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had to say. They were satisfied.

31 Priest Phinehas son of Eleazar said to Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, "Now we're convinced that God is present with us since you haven't been disloyal to God in this matter. You saved the People of Israel from God's discipline."

32 Then Priest Phinehas son of Eleazar left the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (from Gilead) and, with the chiefs, returned to the land of Canaan to the People of Israel and gave a full report.

33 They were pleased with the report. The People of Israel blessed God - there was no more talk of attacking and destroying the land in which the Reubenites and Gadites were living.

34 Reuben and Gad named the altar: A Witness Between Us. God Alone Is God.

New Century Version NCV

1 Then Joshua called a meeting of all the people from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.

2 He said to them, "You have done everything Moses, the Lord's servant, told you to do. You have also obeyed all my commands.

3 For a long time you have supported the other Israelites. You have been careful to obey the commands the Lord your God gave you.

4 The Lord your God promised to give the Israelites peace, and he has kept his promise. Now you may go back to your homes, to the land that Moses, the Lord's servant, gave you, on the east side of the Jordan River.

5 But be careful to obey the teachings and laws Moses, the Lord's servant, gave you: to love the Lord your God and obey his commands, to continue to follow him and serve him the very best you can."

6 Then Joshua said good-bye to them, and they left and went away to their homes.

7 Moses had given the land of Bashan to East Manasseh. Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan River to West Manasseh. And he sent them to their homes and he blessed them.

8 He said, "Go back to your homes and your riches. You have many animals, silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and many beautiful clothes. Also, you have taken many things from your enemies that you should divide among yourselves."

9 So the people from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh left the other Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan and went back to Gilead. It was their own land, given to them by Moses as the Lord had commanded.

10 The people of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh went to Geliloth, near the Jordan River in the land of Canaan. There they built a beautiful altar.

11 The other Israelites still at Shiloh heard about the altar these three tribes built at the border of Canaan at Geliloth, near the Jordan River on Israel's side.

12 All the Israelites became very angry at these three tribes, so they met together and decided to fight them.

13 The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to Gilead to talk to the people of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.

14 They also sent one leader from each of the ten tribes at Shiloh. Each of them was a leader of his family group of Israelites.

15 These leaders went to Gilead to talk to the people of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. They said:

16 "All the Israelites ask you: 'Why did you turn against the God of Israel by building an altar for yourselves? You know that this is against God's law.

17 Remember what happened at Peor? We still suffer today because of that sin, for which God made many Israelites very sick.

18 And now are you turning against the Lord and refusing to follow him? "'If you don't stop what you're doing today, the Lord will be angry with everyone in Israel tomorrow.

19 If your land is unclean, come over into our land where the Lord's Tent is. Share it with us. But don't turn against the Lord and us by building another altar for the Lord our God.

20 Remember how Achan son of Zerah refused to obey the command about what must be completely destroyed. That one man broke God's law, but all the Israelites were punished. Achan died because of his sin, but others also died.'"

21 The people from Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh answered,

22 "The Lord is God of gods! The Lord is God of gods! God knows, and we want you to know also. If we have done something wrong, you may kill us.

23 If we broke God's law, we ask the Lord himself to punish us. We did not build this altar to offer burnt offerings or grain and fellowship offerings.

24 "We did not build it for that reason. We feared that some day your people would not accept us as part of your nation. Then they might say, 'You cannot worship the Lord, the God of Israel.

25 The Lord made the Jordan River a border between us and you people of Reuben and Gad. You cannot worship the Lord.' So we feared that your children might make our children stop worshiping the Lord.

26 "That is why we decided to build this altar. But it is not for burnt offerings and sacrifices.

27 This altar is proof to you and us and to all our children who will come after us that we worship the Lord with our whole burnt offerings, grain, and fellowship offerings. This was so your children would not say to our children, 'You are not the Lord's.'

28 "In the future if your children say that, our children can say, 'See the altar made by our ancestors. It is exactly like the Lord's altar, but we do not use it for sacrifices. It shows that we are part of Israel.'

29 "Truly, we don't want to be against the Lord or to stop following him by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices. We know the only true altar to the Lord our God is in front of the Holy Tent. "

30 When Phinehas the priest and the ten leaders heard the people of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh, they were pleased.

31 So Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, said, "Now we know the Lord is with us and that you didn't turn against him. Now the Israelites will not be punished by the Lord."

32 Then Phinehas and the leaders left the people of Reuben and Gad in Gilead and went back to Canaan where they told the Israelites what had happened.

33 They were pleased and thanked God. So they decided not to fight the people of Reuben and Gad and destroy those lands.

34 And the people of Reuben and Gad named the altar Proof That We Believe the Lord Is God.