Bagian: Yosua memulangkan suku-suku sebelah timur sungai Yordan
1Sesudah itu, Yosua memanggil suku Ruben, suku Gad, dan separuh suku Manasye,2lalu berkata kepada mereka, “Kalian sudah melakukan semua yang diperintahkan Musa, hamba TUHAN itu, juga semua yang saya perintahkan.3Selama ini kalian tidak meninggalkan sanak saudaramu, suku-suku Israel lainnya. Sampai hari ini kalian setia melakukan tugas dari TUHAN Allahmu.4Sekarang TUHAN Allahmu sudah membuat mereka hidup aman dan tenang, sesuai janji-Nya kepada mereka. Jadi, pulanglah ke perkemahan kalian di tanah warisan milikmu di sebelah timur sungai Yordan, yang sudah diberikan Musa, hamba TUHAN itu.5Hanya, ingatlah baik-baik: Lakukan semua perintah dan hukum TUHAN yang sudah disampaikan Musa, kepadamu. Kasihilah TUHAN Allahmu, ikutilah semua yang Dia tunjukkan, taatilah perintah-Nya, setialah kepada-Nya, dan mengabdilah kepada TUHAN dengan segenap hatimu dan segenap nafas hidupmu!”6Lalu Yosua memberkati mereka dan melepas mereka pulang. Dua setengah suku itu pun kembali ke perkemahan mereka.7Separuh suku Manasye sudah mendapat tanah dari Musa, di daerah Basan sebelah timur sungai Yordan. Separuh suku lainnya mendapat tanah di sebelah barat sungai Yordan bersama suku-suku Israel lainnya dari Yosua. Saat Yosua melepas mereka pulang dan memberkati mereka,8Yosua berkata, “Kalian sudah menjadi kaya raya. Kalian mempunyai banyak ternak, perak, emas, perunggu, besi, dan pakaian. Pulang dan bagilah kepada saudara-saudaramu barang-barang yang sudah kalian rampas dari musuh.”9Maka suku Ruben, Gad, dan separuh suku Manasye meninggalkan orang Israel lainnya di Silo di negeri Kanaan, lalu pulang ke tanah mereka di Gilead, tanah yang mereka dapatkan atas perintah TUHAN melalui Musa.
Bagian: Mezbah Saksi dibangun di dekat sungai Yordan
10Ketika suku Ruben, suku Gad, dan separuh suku Manasye sampai ke daerah di dekat sungai Yordan, di negeri Kanaan, mereka membangun sebuah mezbah yang besar dan megah di tepi sungai Yordan.11Lalu terdengarlah kabar oleh suku-suku Israel lainnya, “Suku Ruben, Gad, dan separuh suku Manasye sudah membangun mezbah di perbatasan negeri Kanaan, di Gelilot dekat sungai Yordan, di sisi kita.”12Maka seluruh orang Israel berkumpul di Silo untuk bersiap-siap menyerang mereka.13Orang Israel mengutus Pinehas, anak Imam Eleazar, kepada suku Ruben, Gad, dan separuh suku Manasye di daerah Gilead.14Imam Pinehas pergi bersama sepuluh orang pemuka dari kesepuluh suku Israel. Para pemimpin ini adalah kepala-kepala keluarga dalam marga mereka.15Ketika mereka bertemu dengan suku Ruben, suku Gad dan separuh suku Manasye di daerah Gilead, mereka berkata,16“Beginilah kata seluruh umat TUHAN: Pengkhianatan macam apa ini yang kalian lakukan kepada Allah Israel? Kalian membangun mezbahmu sendiri. Dengan begitu kalian memberontak kepada TUHAN hari ini.17Dosa yang pernah kita lakukan di Peor sudah sangat parah sehingga sampai saat ini kita masih menanggung akibatnya.18Sekarang, berani sekali kalian memberontak lagi kepada TUHAN. Kalau terus begini, TUHAN pasti akan melampiaskan murkanya lagi kepada seluruh umat Israel.19“Kalau tanah kalian tidak kudus, menyeberanglah ke tanah TUHAN sendiri, di tempat kemah TUHAN berada, dan berdiamlah di antara kami. Tetapi jangan memberontak kepada TUHAN dan kepada kami dengan membangun untuk kalian sendiri sebuah mezbah selain mezbah TUHAN, Allah kita.20Ingat bagaimana Akhan anak Zerah melanggar perintah TUHAN tentang barang-barang yang harus dimusnahkan. Akibatnya seluruh umat Israel dihukum! Yang berdosa hanya Akhan, tetapi yang mati bukan dia sendiri saja!”21Lalu suku Ruben, suku Gad, dan separuh suku Manasye menjawab para pemimpin Israel itu,22“TUHAN adalah Allah yang Mahakuasa! Hanya Dia yang Mahakuasa! Dia mahatahu! Pasti Dia tahu kenapa kami melakukan hal ini. Dan kalian, orang Israel juga harus tahu! Jika memang kami memberontak kepada TUHAN, jangan biarkan kami hidup hari ini!23Jikalau kami membangun mezbah bagi kami sendiri untuk melawan TUHAN, atau untuk mempersembahkan kurban yang dibakar habis, persembahan gandum-ganduman, ataupun kurban tanda damai di atasnya, biarlah TUHAN sendiri yang menghukum kami.24“Sungguh, saudara-saudara! Kami melakukan semua ini bukan untuk melawan TUHAN, tetapi karena kami kuatir kalau di kemudian hari, keturunan kalian akan berkata kepada keturunan kami, ‘Kalian tidak memiliki hubungan apa-apa dengan TUHAN, Allah Israel!25TUHAN sudah menempatkan sungai Yordan ini di tengah-tengah kita sebagai pembatas antara kami dengan kalian, suku Ruben dan Gad. Kalian tidak punya hak untuk menyembah TUHAN.’ Dengan demikian, keturunan kalian mungkin dapat menyebabkan keturunan kami berhenti menyembah TUHAN.26“Karena itu, kami memutuskan untuk membangun mezbah ini, bukan untuk kurban yang dibakar habis ataupun kurban sembelihan lainnya,27tetapi sebagai sebuah pengingat antara kita dan keturunan kita, bahwa kami juga berhak menyembah TUHAN di hadapan-Nya dengan kurban yang dibakar habis, kurban sembelihan, dan kurban tanda damai. Dengan begitu, di kemudian hari keturunan kalian tidak akan berkata kepada keturunan kami, ‘Kalian tidak memiliki hubungan apa-apa dengan TUHAN.’28“Jadi, maksud kami adalah, ‘Jikalau di kemudian hari keturunan kalian mengatakan hal seperti itu kepada keturunan kami, maka keturunan kami dapat menjawab: Lihatlah tiruan mezbah TUHAN yang dibangun nenek moyang kami, bukan untuk kurban yang dibakar habis ataupun kurban sembelihan lainnya tetapi sebagai sebuah pengingat antara kita.’29Kami sama sekali tidak bermaksud memberontak kepada TUHAN dengan membangun mezbah untuk kurban yang dibakar habis, persembahan gandum-ganduman, atau kurban sembelihan. Satu-satunya mezbah TUHAN Allah kita adalah yang berada di depan kemah-Nya!”30Ketika Imam Pinehas dan para pemimpin Israel mendengar penjelasan dari suku Ruben, Gad, dan setengah suku Manasye itu, mereka merasa puas.31Lalu Imam Pinehas menjawab mereka, “Hari ini kita semua tahu bahwa TUHAN ada di tengah-tengah kita dan tidak akan menghukum kita, karena kalian tidak memberontak kepada TUHAN seperti yang kami duga.”32Kemudian Imam Pinehas dan para pemimpin Israel meninggalkan suku Ruben dan suku Gad di daerah Gilead. Mereka kembali kepada orang Israel di negeri Kanaan dan menyampaikan apa yang terjadi.33Orang Israel merasa senang mendengar berita itu dan memuji Allah. Mereka membatalkan niat mereka untuk berperang menghancurkan daerah suku Ruben dan Gad.34Suku Ruben dan Gad menamai mezbah itu Saksi, karena mezbah itu menjadi saksi di antara mereka bahwa TUHAN adalah Allah.
World English Bible (dengan Deuterokanonika)
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 Yahweh 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 Yahweh your God.4Now Yahweh 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 Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan.5Only take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, to love Yahweh 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 Joshua gave to the other half 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 bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the plunder 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 Yahweh by Moses.10When they came to the region near 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 an altar there 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 along the border of the land of Canaan, in the region around the Jordan, on the side that belongs 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.14With him were ten princes, one prince of a fathers’ house for each of the tribes of Israel; and they were each 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“The whole congregation of Yahweh says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following Yahweh, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against Yahweh?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 Yahweh,18that you must turn away today from following Yahweh? It will be, since you rebel today against Yahweh, 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 Yahweh, in which Yahweh’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than Yahweh our God’s altar.20Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t 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, Yahweh, the Mighty One, God, Yahweh, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against Yahweh (don’t save us today),23that we have built us an altar to turn away from following Yahweh; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let Yahweh himself require it.24“If 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 Yahweh, the God of Israel?25For Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no portion in Yahweh.”’ So your children might make our children cease from fearing Yahweh.26“Therefore 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 Yahweh 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 Yahweh.’28“Therefore 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 Yahweh’s altar, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.”’29“Far be it from us that we should rebel against Yahweh, and turn away today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides Yahweh our God’s altar 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 Yahweh is among us, because you have not committed this trespass against Yahweh. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of Yahweh’s hand.”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 Yahweh is God.”