21The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the contingents of Israel: They said, 22“God, the LORD God! God, the LORD God! He knows, and Israel too shall know! If we acted in rebellion or in treachery against the LORD, do not vindicate us this day! 23If we built an altar to turn away from the LORD, if it was to offer burnt offerings or meal offerings upon it, or to present sacrifices of well-being upon it, may the LORD Himself demand [a reckoning]. 24We did this thing only out of our concern that, in time to come, your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? 25The LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between you and us, O Reubenites and Gadites; you have no share in the LORD!’ Thus your children might prevent our children from worshiping the LORD. 26So we decided to provide [a witness] for ourselves by building an altar— not for burnt offerings or [other] sacrifices, 27but as a witness between you and us, and between the generations to come—that we may perform the service of the LORD before Himc with our burnt offerings, our sacrifices, and our offerings of well-being; and that your children should not say to our children in time to come, ‘You have no share in the LORD.’ 28We reasoned: should they speak thus to us and to our children in time to come, we would reply, See the replica of the LORD’s altar,c which our fathers made—not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a witness between you and us.’ 29Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD, or to turn away this day from the LORD and build an altar for burnt offerings, meal offerings, and sacrifices other than the altar of the LORD our God which stands before His Tabernacle.”
30When the priest Phinchas and the chieftains of the community—the heads of the contingents of Israel—who were with him heard the explanation given by the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassites, they approved. 31The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassites, “Now we know that the LORD is in our midst, since you have not committed such treachery against the LORD. You have indeed saved the Israelites from punishment by the LORD.”
32Then the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar and the chieftains returned from the Reubenites and the Gadites in the land of Gilead to the Israelites in the land of Canaan, and gave them their report. 33The Israelites were pleased, and the Israelites praised God; and they spoke no more of going to war against them, to ravage the land in which the Reubenites and Gadites dwelt.
34The Reubenites and the Gadites named the altar [“Witness”], meaning, “It is a witness between us and them that the LORD is [our] God.”
23 Much later, after the LORD had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, and when Joshua was old and well advanced in years, 2Joshua summoned all Israel, their elders and commanders, their magistrates and officials, and said to them: “I have grown old and am advanced in years. 3You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all those nations on your account, for it was the LORD your God who fought for you. 4See, I have allotted to you, by your tribes, [the territory of] these nations that still remain, and that of all the nations that I have destroyed, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5The LORD your God Himself will thrust them out on your account and drive them out to make way for you, and you shall possess their land as the LORD your God promised you.
6“But be most resolute to observe faithfully all that is written in the Book of the Teaching of Moses, without ever deviating from it to the right or to the left, 7and without intermingling with these nations that are left among you. Do not utter the names of their gods or swear by them; do not serve them or bow down to them. 8But hold fast to the LORD your God as you have done to this day.
9“The LORD has driven out great, powerful nations on your account, and not a man has withstood you to this day. 10A single man of you would put a thousand to flight, for the LORD your God Himself has been fighting for you, as He promised you. 11For your own sakes, therefore, be most mindful to love the LORD your God. 12For should you turn away and attach yourselves to the remnant of those nations—to those that are left among you—and intermarry with them, you joining them and they joining you, 13know for certain that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out before you; they shall become a snare and a trap for you, a scourge to your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.
14“I am now going the way of all the earth. Acknowledge with all your heart and soul that not one of the good things that the LORD your God promised you has failed to happen; they have all come true for you, not a single one has failed. 15But just as every good thing that the LORD your God promised you has been fulfilled for you, so the LORD can bring upon you every evil thing until He has wiped you off this good land that the LORD your God has given you. 16If you break the covenant that the LORD your God enjoined upon you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the LORD’s anger will burn against you, and you shall quickly perish from the good land that He has given you.”
24 Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Schechem. He summoned Israel’s elders and commanders, magistrates and officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2Then Joshua said to all the people, “Thus said the LORD, the God of Israel: In olden times, your forefathers— Terah, father of Abraham and father of Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods. 3But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through the whole land of Canaan and multiplied his offspring. I gave him Isaac, 4and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir as his possession, while Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
5“Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with [the wonders] that I wrought in their midst, after which I freed you—6I freed your fathers—from Egypt, and you came to the Sea. But the Egyptians pursued your fathers to the Sea of Reeds with chariots and horsemen. 7They cried out to the LORD, and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians; then He brought the Sea upon them, and it covered them. Your own eyes saw what I did to the Egyptians.
“After you had lived a long time in the wilderness, 8I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan. They gave battle to you, but I delivered them into your hands; I annihilated them for you, and you took possession of their land. 9Thereupon Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, made ready to attack Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you, 10but I refused to listen to Balaam; he had to bless you, and thus I saved you from him.
11“Then you crossed the Jordan and you came to Jericho. The citizens of Jericho and the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites fought you, but I delivered them into your hands. 12I sent a plaguea ahead of you, and it drove them out before you—[just like] the two Amoritc kings—not by your sword or by your bow. 13I have given you a land for which you did not labor and towns which you did not build, and you have settled in them; you are enjoying vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.
14“Now, therefore, revere the LORD and serve Him with undivided loyalty; put away the gods that your forefathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15Or, if you are loath to serve the LORD, choose this day which ones you are going to serve—the gods that your forefathers served beyond the Euphrates, or those of the Amorites in whose land you are settled; but I and my household will serve the LORD.”
16In reply, the people declared, “Far be it from us to
