Day 105 of 730

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

²and said to them, "You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you.

³You have not left your brothers these many days to this day, but have performed the duty of the commandment of the Lord your God.

⁴Now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to 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.

⁵Only take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul."

⁶So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went to their tents.

⁷Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given inheritance in Bashan; but to the other half gave Joshua among their brothers beyond the Jordan westward. Moreover when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,

⁸and spoke to them, saying, "Return with much wealth to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with brass, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers."

⁹The children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they owned, according to the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

¹⁰When they came to the region about the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, a great altar to look at.

¹¹The children of Israel heard this, "Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar in the forefront of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that pertains to the children of Israel."

¹²When the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war.

¹³The children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,

¹⁴and with him ten princes, one prince of a fathers' house for each of the tribes of Israel; and they were everyone of them head of their fathers' houses among the thousands of Israel.

¹⁵They came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,

¹⁶"Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, 'What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built you an altar, to rebel this day against the Lord?

¹⁷Is the iniquity of Peor 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,

¹⁸that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? It will be, seeing that you rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of the Lord, in which the Lord's tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man did not perish alone in his iniquity.'"

²¹Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²²"The Mighty One, God, the Lord, the Mighty One, God, the Lord, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against the Lord (do not save us this day),

²³that we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let the Lord himself require it.

²⁴If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, 'In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, "What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?

²⁵For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no portion in the Lord."' So your children might make our children cease from fearing the Lord.

²⁶Therefore we said, 'Let's now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;

²⁷but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the Lord before him with our burnt offerings, 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.'

²⁸Therefore we said, 'It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this 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."'

²⁹Far 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 tabernacle!"

³⁰When Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well.

³¹Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, "Today we know that the Lord is in the midst of us, because you have not committed this trespass against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord."

³²Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.

³³The thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and spoke no more of going up against them to war, to destroy the land in which the children of Reuben and the children of Gad lived.

³⁴The children of Reuben and the children of Gad named the altar "A Witness Between Us that the Lord is God."

¹It happened after many days, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from their enemies all around, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years,

²that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, "I am old and well advanced in years.

³You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you.

⁴Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward the going down of the sun.

⁵The Lord your God will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight. You shall possess their land, as the Lord your God spoke to you.

⁶Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the scroll of the Law of Moses, that you not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left;

⁷that 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;

⁸but hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.

⁹For the Lord has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day.

¹⁰One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is the Lord your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you.

¹¹Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God.

¹²Else if you do at all go back, and hold fast 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;

¹³know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no longer drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, 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.

¹⁴Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. 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 have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it.

¹⁵It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which the Lord your God spoke to you, so the Lord will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you,

¹⁶when 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 the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you."

¹Give thanks to the Lord! Call on his name! Make his doings known among the peoples.

²Sing to him, sing praises to him! Tell of all his marvelous works.

³Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

⁴Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face forever more.

⁵Remember his marvelous works that he has done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,

⁶you seed of Abraham, his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

⁷He is the Lord, our God. His judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,

⁹the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac,

¹⁰and confirmed the same to Jacob for a statute; to Israel for an everlasting covenant,

¹¹saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;"

¹²when they were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners in it.

¹³They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people.

¹⁴He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,

¹⁵"Do not touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!"

¹⁶He called for a famine on the land. He destroyed the food supplies.

¹⁷He sent a man before them. Joseph was sold for a slave.

¹⁸They bruised his feet with shackles. His neck was locked in irons,

¹⁹until the time that his word happened, and the Lord's word proved him true.

²⁰The king sent and freed him; even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.

²¹He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all of his possessions;

²²to discipline his princes at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³Israel also came into Egypt. Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

²⁴He increased his people greatly, and made them stronger than their adversaries.

²⁵He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.

²⁶He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

²⁷They performed miracles among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness, and made it dark. They did not rebel against his words.

²⁹He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish.

³⁰Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings.

³¹He spoke, and swarms of flies came, and lice in all their borders.

³²He gave them hail for rain, with lightning in their land.

³³He struck their vines and also their fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came, and the grasshoppers, without number,

³⁵ate up every plant in their land; and ate up the fruit of their ground.

³⁶He struck also all the firstborn in their land, the first fruits of all their manhood.

³⁷He brought them forth with silver and gold. There was not one feeble person among his tribes.

³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen on them.

³⁹He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night.

⁴⁰They asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of the sky.

⁴¹He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places.

⁴²For he remembered his holy word, and Abraham, his servant.

⁴³He brought forth his people with joy, his chosen with singing.

⁴⁴He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession,

⁴⁵that they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!

¹Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

²A good man shall obtain favor from the Lord, but he will condemn a man of wicked devices.

³A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.

⁴A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.

⁵The thoughts of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

⁶The words of the wicked are about lying in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

⁷The wicked are overthrown, and are no more, but the house of the righteous shall stand.

⁸A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, but he who has a warped mind shall be despised.

⁹Better is he who is lightly esteemed, and has a servant, than he who honors himself, and lacks bread.

¹⁰A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹He who tills his land shall have plenty of bread, but he who chases fantasies is void of understanding.

¹²The wicked desires the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.

¹⁴A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. The work of a man's hands shall be rewarded to him.

¹⁵The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.

¹⁶A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.

¹⁷He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.

¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.

¹⁹Truth's lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.

²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.

²¹No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.

²²Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who do the truth are his delight.

²³A prudent man keeps his knowledge, but the hearts of fools proclaim foolishness.

²⁴The hands of the diligent ones shall rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

²⁵Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad.

²⁶A righteous person is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

²⁷The slothful man doesn't roast his game, but the possessions of diligent men are prized.

²⁸In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.