<h3>The Eastern Tribes Return Home</h3>22 At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. 3 You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. 4 And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. 7 Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brothers in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them, 8 he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.” 9 So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the Lord through Moses. <h3>The Eastern Tribes' Altar of Witness</h3> 10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. 11 And the people of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” 12 And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them. 13 Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14 and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel. 15 And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the Lord? 17 Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord, 18 that you too must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if you too rebel against the Lord today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord's land where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. 20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’” 21 Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, 22 “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today 23 for building an altar to turn away from following the Lord. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself take vengeance. 24 No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the Lord.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord. 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, 27 but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’ 28 And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.”’ 29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle!” 30 When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes. 31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the Lord. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the Lord.” 32 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 And the report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled. 34 The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

Joshua 22:1

At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,

and said to them, “You have kept <cr>1</cr>all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you <cr>2</cr>and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you.

Joshua 22:2

You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God.

Joshua 22:3

<cr>1</cr>And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, <cr>2</cr>which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.

Joshua 22:4

<cr>1</cr>Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, <cr>2</cr>to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Joshua 22:5

So Joshua <cr>1</cr>blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

Joshua 22:6

Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, <cr>1</cr>but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brothers in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them,

Joshua 22:7

he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. <cr>1</cr>Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”

Joshua 22:8

So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go <cr>1</cr>to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the Lord through Moses.

Joshua 22:9

Joshua 22:10

And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size.

And the people of Israel <cr>1</cr>heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.”

Joshua 22:11

And when the people of Israel heard of it, <cr>1</cr>the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.

Joshua 22:12

Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, <cr>1</cr>Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,

Joshua 22:13

and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, <cr>1</cr>every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel.

Joshua 22:14

And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them,

Joshua 22:15

“Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day <cr>1</cr>in rebellion against the Lord?

Joshua 22:16

Have we not had enough of <cr>1</cr>the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord,

Joshua 22:17

that you too must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if <cr>1</cr>you too rebel against the Lord today then tomorrow <cr>2</cr>he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

Joshua 22:18

But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord's land <cr>1</cr>where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. <cr>2</cr>Only do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God.

Joshua 22:19

<cr>1</cr>Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and <cr>2</cr>wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’”

Joshua 22:20

Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,

Joshua 22:21

“The Mighty One, <cr>1</cr>God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! <cr>2</cr>He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today

Joshua 22:22

for building an altar to turn away from following the Lord. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself <cr>1</cr>take vengeance.

Joshua 22:23

No, but we did it from fear that <cr>1</cr>in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?

Joshua 22:24

For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the Lord.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord.

Joshua 22:25

Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice,

Joshua 22:26

but to be <cr>1</cr>a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we <cr>2</cr>do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’

Joshua 22:27

And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be <cr>1</cr>a witness between us and you.”’

Joshua 22:28

Far be it from us that we should <cr>1</cr>rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord<cr>2</cr>by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle!”

Joshua 22:29

When <cr>1</cr>Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, <cr>2</cr>it was good in their eyes.

Joshua 22:30

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that <cr>1</cr>the Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the Lord. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”

Joshua 22:31

Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad <cr>1</cr>in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them.

Joshua 22:32

And the report <cr>1</cr>was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel <cr>2</cr>blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled.

Joshua 22:33

The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, <cr>1</cr>“it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

Joshua 22:34

 1 At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them, “You have kept  all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you  and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. 3 You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. 4  And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies,  which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5  Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you,  to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6 So Joshua  blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. 7 Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan,  but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brothers in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them, 8 he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing.  Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.” 9 So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go  to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the Lord through Moses. 10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. 11 And the people of Israel  heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” 12 And when the people of Israel heard of it,  the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them. 13 Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead,  Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14 and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel,  every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel. 15 And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day  in rebellion against the Lord? 17 Have we not had enough of  the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord, 18 that you too must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if  you too rebel against the Lord today then tomorrow  he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord's land  where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us.  Only do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. 20  Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and  wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’” 21 Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, 22 “The Mighty One,  God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord!  He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today 23 for building an altar to turn away from following the Lord. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself  take vengeance. 24 No, but we did it from fear that  in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the Lord.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord. 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, 27 but to be  a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we  do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’ 28 And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be  a witness between us and you.”’ 29 Far be it from us that we should  rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle!” 30 When  Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke,  it was good in their eyes. 31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that  the Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the Lord. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the Lord.” 32 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad  in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them. 33 And the report  was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel  blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled. 34 The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said,  “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

From Wikipedia: 

The English Standard Version (ESV) is an English translation of the Bible. The ESV was published in 2001 by Crossway, having been "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently published critical editions of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. Crossway claim that the ESV continues a legacy begun by the Tyndale New Testament of precision and faithfulness in English translation of the original text, followed in the same standard by "the King James Version of 1611 (KJV), the English Revised Version of 1885 (RV), the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV), and the Revised Standard Version of 1952 and 1971." Crossway describes the ESV as a translation that "emphasizes 'word-for-word' accuracy, literary excellence, and depth of meaning." Crossway also describes the ESV as a translation that adheres to an "essentially literal" translation philosophy, taking into account "differences in grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages."

The ESV is derived from the 1971 text edition of the Revised Standard Version (RSV). ESV Translation Oversight Committee member Wayne Grudem claims that approximately eight percent (or about 60,000 words) of the 1971 RSV text being used for the ESV was revised as of first publication in 2001. Grudem states that the committee removed "every trace of liberal influence that had caused such criticism from evangelicals when the RSV was first published in 1952." Although, Grudem also states that much of the 1971 RSV text left unchanged by the committee "is simply 'the best of the best' of the KJV tradition."

With regard to gender language, the ESV Translation Oversight Committee state that "the goal of the ESV is to render literally what is in the original."[9] The committee expands on this position in claiming that, although the ESV avoids using gender-neutral language (for the purpose of preserving contextual meaning found in the original text), the translation does utilize gender-neutral language in specific cases. The committee further state that their objective was "transparency to the original text, allowing the reader to understand the original on its own terms rather than in the terms of our present-day Western culture."[9] The ESV Study Bible often details in its commentary why a complementarian interpretation of the original text may have been rendered in translation.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (5th ed., 1997); additional sources in difficult cases
NT: UBS Greek New Testament (5th corrected ed.); Novum Testamentum Graece (28th ed., 2012)

joshua22 - ESV

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