Joshua 22

• 1. Then Joshua called together the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
• 2. He told them, "You have done as Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you, and you have obeyed every order I have given you.
• 3. You have not deserted the other tribes, even though the campaign has lasted for such a long time. You have been careful to obey the commands of the LORD your God up to the present day.
• 4. And now the LORD your God has given the other tribes rest, as he promised them. So go home now to the land Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave you on the east side of the Jordan River.
• 5. But be very careful to obey all the commands and the law that Moses gave to you. Love the LORD your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, be faithful to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul."
• 6. So Joshua blessed them and sent them home.
• 7. Now Moses had given the land of Bashan to the half-tribe of Manasseh east of the Jordan. The other half of the tribe was given land west of the Jordan. As Joshua sent them away, he blessed them
• 8. and said, "Share with your relatives back home the great wealth you have taken from your enemies. Share with them your large herds of cattle, your silver and gold, your bronze and iron, and your clothing."
• 9. So the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the rest of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. They started the journey back to their own land of Gilead, the territory that belonged to them according to the LORD's command through Moses.
• 10. But while they were still in Canaan, before they crossed the Jordan River, Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built a very large altar near the Jordan River at a place called Geliloth.
• 11. When the rest of Israel heard they had built the altar at Geliloth west of the Jordan River, in the land of Canaan,
• 12. the whole assembly gathered at Shiloh and prepared to go to war against their brother tribes.
• 13. First, however, they sent a delegation led by Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest. They crossed the river to talk with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
• 14. In this delegation were ten high officials of Israel, one from each of the ten tribes, and each a leader within the family divisions of Israel.
• 15. When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
• 16. "The whole community of the LORD demands to know why you are betraying the God of Israel. How could you turn away from the LORD and build an altar in rebellion against him?
• 17. Was our sin at Peor not enough? We are not yet fully cleansed of it, even after the plague that struck the entire assembly of the LORD.
• 18. And yet today you are turning away from following the LORD. If you rebel against the LORD today, he will be angry with all of us tomorrow.
• 19. If you need the altar because your land is defiled, then join us on our side of the river, where the LORD lives among us in his Tabernacle, and we will share our land with you. But do not rebel against the LORD or draw us into your rebellion by building another altar for yourselves. There is only one true altar of the LORD our God.
• 20. Didn't God punish all the people of Israel when Achan, a member of the clan of Zerah, sinned by stealing the things set apart for the LORD? He was not the only one who died because of that sin."
• 21. Then the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered these high officials:
• 22. "The LORD alone is God! The LORD alone is God! We have not built the altar in rebellion against the LORD. If we have done so, do not spare our lives this day. But the LORD knows, and let all Israel know, too,
• 23. that we have not built an altar for ourselves to turn away from the LORD. Nor will we use it for our burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings. If we have built it for this purpose, may the LORD himself punish us.
• 24. "We have built this altar because we fear that in the future your descendants will say to ours, `What right do you have to worship the LORD, the God of Israel?
• 25. The LORD has placed the Jordan River as a barrier between our people and your people. You have no claim to the LORD.' And your descendants may make our descendants stop worshiping the LORD.
• 26. So we decided to build the altar, not for burnt sacrifices,
• 27. but as a memorial. It will remind our descendants and your descendants that we, too, have the right to worship the LORD at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. Then your descendants will not be able to say to ours, `You have no claim to the LORD.'
• 28. If they say this, our descendants can reply, `Look at this copy of the LORD's altar that our ancestors made. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; it is a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the LORD.'
• 29. Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD or turn away from him by building our own altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices. Only the altar of the LORD our God that stands in front of the Tabernacle may be used for that purpose."
• 30. When Phinehas the priest and the high officials heard this from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, they were satisfied.
• 31. Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, replied to them, "Today we know the LORD is among us because you have not sinned against the LORD as we thought. Instead, you have rescued Israel from being destroyed by the LORD."
• 32. Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the ten high officials left the tribes of Reuben and Gad in Gilead and returned to the land of Canaan to tell the Israelites what had happened.
• 33. And all the Israelites were satisfied and praised God and spoke no more of war against Reuben and Gad.
• 34. The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar "Witness," for they said, "It is a witness between us and them that the LORD is our God, too."

Joshua 23

• 1. The years passed, and the LORD had given the people of Israel rest from all their enemies. Joshua, who was now very old,
• 2. called together all the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel. He said to them, "I am an old man now.
• 3. You have seen everything the LORD your God has done for you during my lifetime. The LORD your God has fought for you against your enemies.
• 4. I have allotted to you as an inheritance all the land of the nations yet unconquered, as well as the land of those we have already conquered--from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
• 5. This land will be yours, for the LORD your God will drive out all the people living there now. You will live there instead of them, just as the LORD your God promised you.
• 6. "So be strong! Be very careful to follow all the instructions written in the Book of the Law of Moses. Do not deviate from them in any way.
• 7. Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or worship them.
• 8. But be faithful to the LORD your God as you have done until now.
• 9. "For the LORD has driven out great and powerful nations for you, and no one has yet been able to defeat you.
• 10. Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy, for the LORD your God fights for you, just as he has promised.
• 11. So be very careful to love the LORD your God.
• 12. "But if you turn away from him and intermarry with the survivors of these nations remaining among you,
• 13. then know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive them out from your land. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap to you, a pain in your side and a thorn in your eyes, and you will be wiped out from this good land the LORD your God has given you.
• 14. "Soon I will die, going the way of all the earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the LORD your God has come true. Not a single one has failed!
• 15. But as surely as the LORD your God has given you the good things he promised, he will also bring disaster on you if you disobey him. He will completely wipe you out from this good land he has given you.
• 16. If you break the covenant of the LORD your God by worshiping and serving other gods, his anger will burn against you, and you will quickly be wiped out from the good land he has given you."

Joshua 24

• 1. Then Joshua summoned all the people of Israel to Shechem, along with their elders, leaders, judges, and officers. So they came and presented themselves to God.
• 2. Joshua said to the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.
• 3. But I took your ancestor Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him into the land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants through his son Isaac.
• 4. To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the hill country of Seir, while Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
• 5. "Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought terrible plagues on Egypt; and afterward I brought you out as a free people.
• 6. But when your ancestors arrived at the Red Sea, the Egyptians chased after you with chariots and horses.
• 7. When you cried out to the LORD, I put darkness between you and the Egyptians. I brought the sea crashing down on the Egyptians, drowning them. With your very own eyes you saw what I did. Then you lived in the wilderness for many years.
• 8. "Finally, I brought you into the land of the Amorites on the east side of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave you victory over them, and you took possession of their land.
• 9. Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, started a war against Israel. He asked Balaam son of Beor to curse you,
• 10. but I would not listen to him. Instead, I made Balaam bless you, and so I rescued you from Balak.
• 11. "When you crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho, the men of Jericho fought against you. There were also many others who fought you, including the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I gave you victory over them.
• 12. And I sent hornets ahead of you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. It was not your swords or bows that brought you victory.
• 13. I gave you land you had not worked for, and I gave you cities you did not build--the cities in which you are now living. I gave you vineyards and olive groves for food, though you did not plant them.
• 14. "So honor the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone.
• 15. But if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD."
• 16. The people replied, "We would never forsake the LORD and worship other gods.
• 17. For the LORD our God is the one who rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. He performed mighty miracles before our very eyes. As we traveled through the wilderness among our enemies, he preserved us.
• 18. It was the LORD who drove out the Amorites and the other nations living here in the land. So we, too, will serve the LORD, for he alone is our God."
• 19. Then Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and sins.
• 20. If you forsake the LORD and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you."
• 21. But the people answered Joshua, saying, "No, we are determined to serve the LORD!"
• 22. "You are accountable for this decision," Joshua said. "You have chosen to serve the LORD.Yes," they replied, "we are accountable."
• 23. "All right then," Joshua said, "destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."
• 24. The people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God. We will obey him alone."
• 25. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day at Shechem, committing them to a permanent and binding contract between themselves and the LORD.
• 26. Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. As a reminder of their agreement, he took a huge stone and rolled it beneath the oak tree beside the Tabernacle of the LORD.
• 27. Joshua said to all the people, "This stone has heard everything the LORD said to us. It will be a witness to testify against you if you go back on your word to God."
• 28. Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.
• 29. Soon after this, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110.
• 30. They buried him in the land he had inherited, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
• 31. Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the leaders who outlived him--those who had personally experienced all that the LORD had done for Israel.
• 32. The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought along with them when they left Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the parcel of ground Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor for one hundred pieces of silver. This land was located in the territory allotted to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph.
• 33. Eleazar son of Aaron also died. He was buried in the hill country of Ephraim, in the town of Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas.

New Living Translation: 72 of 324 days.