The Two and a Half Tribes Return Home
1 Joshua held a meeting with the men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh, and he told them:
2-3 You have obeyed every command of the Lord your God and of his servant Moses. And you have done everything I've told you to do. It's taken a long time, but you have stayed and helped your relatives. 4 The Lord promised to give peace to your relatives, and that's what he has done. Now it's time for you to go back to your own homes in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan River.
5 Moses taught you to love the Lord your God, to be faithful to him, and to worship and obey him with your whole heart and with all your strength. So be very careful to do everything Moses commanded.
6-9 You've become rich from what you've taken from your enemies. You have big herds of cattle, lots of silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and plenty of clothes. Take everything home with you and share with the people of your tribe.
I pray that God will be kind to you. You are now free to go home.
The tribes of Reuben and Gad started back to Gilead, their own land. Moses had given the land of Bashan to the East Manasseh tribe, so they started back along with Reuben and Gad. God had told Moses that these two and a half tribes should conquer Gilead and Bashan, and they had done so.
Joshua had given land west of the Jordan River to the other half of the Manasseh tribe, so they stayed at Shiloh in the land of Canaan with the rest of the Israelites.
10-11 The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh reached the western side of the Jordan River valley and built a huge altar there beside the river.
When the rest of the Israelites heard what these tribes had done, 12 the Israelite men met at Shiloh to get ready to attack the two and a half tribes. 13 But first they sent a priest, Phinehas the son of Eleazar, to talk with the two and a half tribes. 14 Each of the ten tribes at Shiloh sent the leader of one of its families along with Phinehas.
15 Phinehas and these leaders went to Gilead and met with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. They said:
16 All of the Lord's people have gathered together and have sent us to find out why you are unfaithful to our God. You have turned your backs on the Lord by building that altar. Why are you rebelling against him? 17 Wasn't our people's sin at Peor terrible enough for you? The Lord punished us by sending a horrible sickness that killed many of us, and we still suffer because of that sin. 18 Now you are turning your backs on the Lord again.
If you don't stop rebelling against the Lord at once, he will be angry with the whole nation. 19 If you don't think your land is a fit place to serve God, then move across the Jordan and live with us in the Lord's own land, where his sacred tent is located. But don't rebel against the Lord our God or against us by building another altar besides the Lord's own altar. 20 Don't you remember what happened when Achan was unfaithful and took some of the things that belonged to God? This made God angry with the entire nation. Achan died because he sinned, but he also caused the death of many others.
21 The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh answered:
22 The Lord is the greatest God! We ask him to be our witness, because he knows whether or not we were rebellious or unfaithful when we built that altar. If we were unfaithful, then we pray that God won't rescue us today. Let us tell you why we built that altar, 23 and we ask the Lord to punish us if we are lying. We didn't build it so we could turn our backs on the Lord. We didn't even build it so we could offer animal or grain sacrifices to please the Lord or ask his blessing.
24-25 We built that altar because we were worried. Someday your descendants might tell our descendants, “The Lord made the Jordan River the boundary between us Israelites and you people of Reuben and Gad. The Lord is Israel's God, but you're not part of Israel, so you can't take part in worshiping the Lord.”
Your descendants might say that and try to make our descendants stop worshiping and obeying the Lord. 26 That's why we decided to build the altar. It isn't for offering sacrifices, not even sacrifices to please the Lord. 27-29 To build another altar for offering sacrifices would be the same as turning our backs on the Lord and rebelling against him. We could never do that! No, we built the altar to remind us and you and the generations to come that we will worship the Lord. And so we will keep bringing our sacrifices to the Lord's altar, there in front of his sacred tent. Now your descendants will never be able to say to our descendants, “You can't worship the Lord.”
But if they do say this, our descendants can answer back, “Look at this altar our ancestors built! It's like the Lord's altar, but it isn't for offering sacrifices. It's here to remind us and you that we belong to the Lord, just as much as you do.”
30-31 Phinehas and the clan leaders were pleased when they heard the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh explain why they had built the altar. Then Phinehas told them, “Today we know that the Lord is helping us. You have not been unfaithful to him, and this means that the Lord will not be angry with us.”
32 Phinehas and the clan leaders left Gilead and went back to Canaan to tell the Israelites about their meeting with the Reuben and Gad tribes. 33 The Israelites were happy and praised God. There was no more talk about going to war and wiping out the tribes of Reuben and Gad.
34 The people of Reuben and Gad named the altar “A Reminder to Us All That the Lord Is Our God.”
Josuab ge aiǂoas ǃhaode oasa ra mā-am
1 Josuab ge Rubenni tsî Gadi tsî ǃkhare ǃhaos Manaseb dis tsîdi khoena ǂgai 2 tsî ǁîn ǃoa ge mî: “Sadu ge ǃKhūb di ǃgāb Moseb ge dī du nîse mîmā du xūn hoana ge dī tsî ǁkhāti ti mîmādi hoade ge ǁnâuǀnam. 3 Nē ǁaeb hoab ǃnâ du ge sadu Israelǁî ǃgâsana ǁnāxūǃgâ tama ge hâ i. Sadu ge ǃKhūb sadu Elob di mîmāde ǂgomǂgomsase ge ǁnâuǀnam. 4 ǃKhūb sadu Elob ge mîmâib ge khami sadu ǃgâsan, Israelǁîn ǂkhîb ǃnâ nî ǁan ǃkhaisa ge dī. Nēsi sadu di ǁanǃkhaib ǃoa oa, Jordanni aiǂoasǀkhāb ai ǁgoe ǃhūb, ǃKhūb di ǃgāb Moseb ge mā dub ǃoa. 5 Kōǃgâ, Moseb ge mādu ǂhanuba du ǀuru tidesa: ǃKhūb sadu Eloba ǀnam, ǁîb di ǂâisa dī, ǁîb mîmāde ǁnâuǀnam, ǁîba ǂgomǂgomsaba, î ǁîba sadu hoaraga ǂgaob tsî ǀoms ǀkha ǃoaba.” 6-8 Josuab ge ǁîna ǀkhae tsî nē mîdi ǀkha ge oa kai: “Sadu ge ǃkhū hâse ra oa, ǂgui ǂgarixūn, ǀhaiǀurib, ǃhuniǀurib, brons-i, ǂnūǀurib tsî ǂgui saran tsîn ǀkha. Sadu khākhoena xu du ga ǁkhâuǁnâ xūna sadu ǃhaos di khoen ǀkha ǀgoragu.” On ge ge oa.
Moseb ge Jordanni aiǂoasǀkhāb ai ǁgoe ǃhūba ǀgui ǃkhare ǃhaos Manaseb disa ge mā, xawe nau ǃkhare ǃhaosab ge Josuaba Jordanni di huriǂoasǀkhāb ai ǁgoe ǃhūba nau ǃhaodi ǀkha ge mā.
9 ǁNāti di ge Rubenni tsî Gadi tsîkha ǃhaora tsî ǃkhare ǃhaos Manaseb dis tsîde ge ǁaru. ǁÎn ge nau Israelǁîna Silos tawa Kanaanǃhūb ǃnâ ǁnāxū tsî Gileadi, ǁîn di ǃhūb ǂûb, ǃKhūb ge Moseb ǃnâ-u mîmā khamin ge ūbasenni ǁga ge ǃgû.
Jordanni tawa hâ altars
10 Rubenni tsî Gadi ǃhaora tsî ǃkhare ǃhaos Manaseb dis tsîdi ge Gelilots tawa di ge Jordanni ǀgūse a sī, o kai, ǂoaǂamsa altarsa ǃāb tawa ge ǂnubi. 11 On ge nau Israelǁîna ge mîbahe: “ǃGâ re! Rubenni tsî Gadi ǃhaora tsî Manaseb di ǃkhare ǃhaos tsîn di khoen ge Gelilots tawa, sada ǀkhāb Jordanni dib ai altar-e ge ǂnubi.”
12 Nē ǃkhaisan ge ǁnâu, on ge hoaraga Israelǁîna Silos tawa ge ǀhao, în aiǂoasǀkhāb di ǃhaodi ǃoagu sī torodī.
13 Israelǁîn ge prister Eleasari ôab Pinehasa Rubenni tsî Gadi tsî Manaseb di ǃkhare ǃhaos tsîdi ǁga Gileada ǃoa ge sî. 14 Pinehasi ǀkha gu ge disi ǂgaeǂgui-aoga ge ǃgû, ǀguiba mâ ǃhaos hoasa xu; mâb ǁîgu dib hoab ge ge ǁîb ǀaokhoen di dana i. 15 O gu Gileadi ǃnâ Rubenni tsî Gadi tsî ǃkhare ǃhaos Manaseb dis tsîdi tawa sī 16 tsî hoaraga ǀhûhâsib ǃKhūb dib ǀons ǃnâ ǁîn ǃoa ge mî: “Tare xū-i ǃaroma du nē tsū xū-e Israeli di Elob ǃoagu go dī? Nē altarsa ǂnubibasens ǀkha du ge ǃKhūb ǃoagu go mâǃoaxa. Sadu ge ǃaruǀî ǁîba saoǃgon tama hâ. 17 ǂÂi-oa re Peors tawa da ge dī ǁoreb xa, tsî mâtib ge ǃKhūba ǁîb di ǁaes ǂûsa ǂhīǁōb ǀkha ǁkharasa. ǁNās ǃaroma da ge nēsis kōse ra tsâ. ǁNā ǃkhaisa ǂâuba du tama? 18 Nēsi du ǁîba saoǃgonsa nî ǂkhā? Nētsē du ga ǃKhūba a mâǃoa, ob ge ǁîba ǁari Israeli di khoen hoan ǀkha nî ǁaixa. 19 Sadu ǃhūb ga ǁîb ǃnâ ǀgoreǀîsa anuba tama io, ǃKhūb di ǃhūb, ǁîb di Tentommi mâǃnâba ǃoa oaǀkhī. Sida ǃhūb ǃnâ hâǃkhai-e ūbasen. Xawe tā ǃKhūb ǃoagu khâikhâisen tamas ka io sida khâikhâiǃnâ, ǃKhūb sada Elob altars hâ hîa ǀnî altar-e ǂnubibasens ǀkha. 20 ǂÂi-oa re mâtib ge Serab ôab Axanna hîkākāhe nîse ī xūn ǂama hâ mîmāsa ǁnâuǀnamoǃnâ ǃkhaisa; hoaraga ǀhûhâsib Israels dib ge ǁnās ǃaroma ge ǁkharahe. Akanni ǀgui tamab ge ǁîb di ǁoreb ǃaroma ge ǁōba.”
21 On ge Rubenni tsî Gadi tsî Manaseb ǃkhare ǃhaos tsîdi khoena, huriǂoasǀkhāb ǃhaodi ǀaokhoen ǂgaeǂgui-aoga ge ǃeream: 22 “Hoaǀgaixab ge a Elo. ǁÎb ge a ǃKhū, Hoaǀgaixab ge a Elo. ǁÎb ge a ǃKhū. ǁÎb ge a ǂan tare-i ǃaroma da go nē ǃkhaisa a dīsa, tsî da ge sadu on nî ǂan ǃkhaisa ra ǂgao. Mâǃoaxa tsî da ga ǃKhūb ǃnâ ǂgom tama io, tā ǁnâi ǃaruǀî ûi kai da. 23 ǃKhūba ǁnâuǀnamoǃnâ tsî da ga altarsa a ǂnubibaseno, ǁîs ai da khauǁguibadi tamas ka io ǂûǁguibadi tamas ka io ǂkhîbagusǁguibade nî ǁguibase, ab ǁnâi ǃKhūb ǂûba ǁkhara da. 24 Tātse! Nēsa da ge ǃgoaxaǁaeb ǃnân ǀnîsi sadu ôana sida dina ǃoa nî mî ǃkhaisa da goro ǂâiǂhansen xui-ao go dī: ‘Tare dīxū-e du sado ǃKhūb, Israeli di Elob ǀkha ūhâ? 25 ǁÎb ge Jordanna ǃhūǀgorase sida tsî sadu, Rubenni tsî Gadi khoedu tsîda ǁaegu ge ǁgui. Sadu ge dīxū-i tsîna ǃKhūb ǀkha ūhâ tama hâ.’ On ge sadu ôana sida ôana ǃKhūba ǀgoreǀîsa nî ǂkhā. 26 ǁNā-amaga da ge altarsa ge ǂnubi, khauǁguibadi tamas ka io ǂāǁguibadi ǃaromas ose, 27 xawe ǁgauǁgaus ase sida tsî sadu tsîn ǃaroma tsî sada khaoǃgâ nî hā surib ǃaroma, î da ǃKhūba ǁîb di ǃanu Tentommi aiǃâ ǀgoreǀî, sada khauǁguibadi tsî ǂāǁguibadi tsî ǂkhîbagusǁguibadi ǀkha. ǁNās ge sadu ôan sida dina ǃoa ‘sadu ge dīxū-e ǃKhūb ǀkha ūhâ tama hâ,’ ti mî ǃkhaisa nî ǁkhae. 28 Sida ǂâibasens ge sida tsî sida ôan ǃoan nî ǁnāti mîs karao, on ge sida ôana a mî ǁkhā: ‘Kō re, sida aboxan ge ǃKhūb di altars khami ī altarsa ge ǂnubi. ǁÎs ge khauǁguibadi tamas ka io ǂāǁguibadi ǃaroma ǂnubihe tama hâ, xawe ǁgauǁgaus ase sida khoen tsî sadu din tsîn ǃaroma.’ 29 Sida ge ǀnîtsēs tsîna ǃKhūb ǃoagu khâikhâisen tide tsî ǁkhāti nēsi ǃKhūba ǃoabaǀû tide, khauǁguibadi tsî ǃhoroǁguibadi tsî ǂāǁguibadi di altarsan go ǂnubi ǃkhais ǃaroma. Sida ge ǀkhara altar-e ǃKhūb sida Elob di altars, ǁîb Tentommi aiǃâ mâs xōǀkhā ǂnubi tide.”
30 Prister Pinehasi tsî ǁîb ǀkha hâ disi ǂgaeǂgui-aogu ǀhûhâsib digu, huriǂoasǀkhāb ǃhaodi digu ge Rubenni tsî Gadi tsî Manaseb ǃkhare ǃhaos tsîdi khoen di mîde gu ge ǁnâu, o ge ǂkhîǂâixa. 31 Ob ge prister Eleasari di ôab Pinehasa ǁîn ǃoa ge mî: “ǃKhūb sada ǀkha hâ ǃkhaisa da ge nēsi a ǂan. Sadu ge ǁîb ǃoagu khâikhâisen tama hâ, tsî du ge ǁnās ǀkha Israelǁîda ǃKhūb di ǁkharaba xu go sâuǂui.”
32 ǁNās khaoǃgâ gu ge Pinehasi tsî ǂgaeǂgui-aogu tsîna Rubenni tsî Gadi tsîkha di khoena Gileadi ǃnâ ǁnāxū tsî Kanaanna ǃoa Israelǁîn ǁga oa tsî ǁîna sī ge ǂanǂan. 33 On ge Israelǁîna ǂkhîǂâixa tsî Eloba ge kare. ǁÎn ge Rubenni tsî Gadi tsîkha khoen ǃoagu torodī tsîn ǁîn di ǃhūba nî hîkākā ǃkhais xa ǃaruǀî ǃhoa tama ge i.
34 Rubenni tsî Gadi tsîkha di khoen ge ge mî: “Nē altars ge a sada hoada di ǃkhō-am, ǃKhūb a Elo ǃkhaisa.” Tsîn ge ǁîsa “ǃKhō-ams” ti ge ǀonǂgai.
