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Then Yehoshua called the Reuveni, and the Gadi, and half the tribe of Menasheh,
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and said to them, “You have guarded all that Mosheh, servant of Yahuah, commanded you, and you have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you.
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You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, to this day, but have guarded the charge of the commandment of Yahuah your Elohim.
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And now Yahuah your Elohim has given rest to your brothers, according to what He spoke to them. And now turn and go for yourselves to your tents, to the land of your possession that Mosheh, servant of Yahuah, gave you beyond the Yarden.
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Only guard exceedingly to do the commandment and the Torah that Mosheh, servant of Yahuah, commanded you: to love Yahuah your Elohim, and to walk in all His ways, and to guard His commandments, and to cling to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your being.”
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And Yehoshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.
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And to half the tribe of Menasheh Mosheh had given an inheritance in Bashan, and to the other half Yehoshua gave among their brothers beyond the Yarden toward the west. And when Yehoshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,
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and spoke to them, saying, “Return to your tents with many possessions, and with exceedingly much livestock, with silver, and with gold, and with bronze, and with iron, and with exceedingly many garments. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”
9
And the sons of Reuven, and the sons of Gad, and half the tribe of Menasheh returned and departed from the sons of Yisra’el at Shiloh, which is in the land of Kena’an, to go to the land of Gilad, to the land of their possession, which they had possessed according to the mouth of Yahuah by the hand of Mosheh.
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And they came to the districts of the Yarden that are in the land of Kena’an, and the sons of Reuven, and the sons of Gad, and half the tribe of Menasheh built there an altar beside the Yarden, a great altar to behold.
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And the sons of Yisra’el heard it said, “See, the sons of Reuven, and the sons of Gad, and half the tribe of Menasheh have built an altar opposite the land of Kena’an, in the districts of the Yarden, on the side belonging to the sons of Yisra’el.”
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And when the sons of Yisra’el heard, all the congregation of the sons of Yisra’el assembled at Shiloh to go up against them for war.
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And the sons of Yisra’el sent to the sons of Reuven, and to the sons of Gad, and to half the tribe of Menasheh, into the land of Gilad, Pinechas son of Elazar the kohen,
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and ten rulers with him, one ruler from each house of a father from all the tribes of Yisra’el; and each one was head of the house of his fathers among the thousands of Yisra’el.
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And they came to the sons of Reuven, and to the sons of Gad, and to half the tribe of Menasheh, to the land of Gilad, and spoke with them, saying,
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“Thus says all the congregation of Yahuah: What is this unfaithfulness that you have acted against the Elohim of Yisra’el, turning away this day from following Yahuah, by building for yourselves an altar, to rebel this day against Yahuah?
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Was the crookedness of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, though the plague came upon the congregation of Yahuah,
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that you would turn away this day from following Yahuah? And it shall be, if you rebel today against Yahuah, that tomorrow He will be angry with all the congregation of Yisra’el.
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But if the land of your possession is unclean, cross over for yourselves into the land of the possession of Yahuah, where the Dwelling of Yahuah dwells, and take possession in our midst. But against Yahuah do not rebel, and against us do not rebel, by building for yourselves an altar besides the altar of Yahuah our Elohim.
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Did not Akhan son of Zerach act unfaithfully concerning what was devoted to destruction, and wrath came upon all the congregation of Yisra’el? And that ish did not perish alone in his crookedness.”
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And the sons of Reuven, and the sons of Gad, and half the tribe of Menasheh answered and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Yisra’el:
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“El, Elohim, Yahuah! El, Elohim, Yahuah! He knows, and Yisra’el shall know. If it was in rebellion, or if in unfaithfulness against Yahuah, do not save us this day.
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If we built for ourselves an altar to turn away from following Yahuah, or to cause an ascending offering or grain offering to go up upon it, or to make peace offerings upon it, Yahuah Himself shall seek it out.
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But truly, from concern we did this thing, saying, ‘In time to come your sons may speak to our sons, saying, “What have you to do with Yahuah, Elohim of Yisra’el?
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For Yahuah has made the Yarden a border between us and you, sons of Reuven and sons of Gad. You have no portion in Yahuah.” And your sons would cause our sons to cease fearing Yahuah.’
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Therefore we said, ‘Let us now act and build for ourselves an altar, not for ascending offering and not for sacrifice,
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but that it may be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of Yahuah before His face with our ascending offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings, so that your sons may not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no portion in Yahuah.”’
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And we said, ‘And it shall be, if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the pattern of the altar of Yahuah that our fathers made, not for ascending offering and not for sacrifice, but it is a witness between us and you.”’
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Far be it from us to rebel against Yahuah and to turn away this day from following Yahuah, by building an altar for ascending offering, for grain offering, and for sacrifice, besides the altar of Yahuah our Elohim that is before His Dwelling.”
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And Pinechas the kohen, and the rulers of the congregation, and the heads of the thousands of Yisra’el who were with him, heard the words that the sons of Reuven, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Menasheh spoke, and it was good in their eyes.
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And Pinechas son of Elazar the kohen said to the sons of Reuven, and to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Menasheh, “Today we know that Yahuah is in our midst, because you have not acted this unfaithfulness against Yahuah. Now you have delivered the sons of Yisra’el from the hand of Yahuah.”
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And Pinechas son of Elazar the kohen, and the rulers, returned from the sons of Reuven and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilad to the land of Kena’an, to the sons of Yisra’el, and returned word to them.
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And the word was good in the eyes of the sons of Yisra’el, and the sons of Yisra’el blessed Elohim. And they no longer spoke of going up against them for war, to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuven and the sons of Gad dwelt.
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And the sons of Reuven and the sons of Gad called the altar Witness, for they said, “It is a witness between us that Yahuah is Elohim.”