World English Bible · Entering the land
Joshua 22
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Then called the , the , and the half-tribe of , and said to them, "You have kept all that the commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you. You have not left your brothers these many days to this day, but have performed the duty of the of your . Now your 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 the gave you beyond . Only take diligent heed to do the and which the commanded you, to love your , to walk in all his ways, to keep his , to hold to him, and to him with all and with all your ." So them, and sent them away; and they went to their tents. Now to the one half-tribe of had given in ; but gave to the other half among their brothers beyond westward. Moreover when sent them away to their tents, he them, and 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 with your brothers." The children of and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of returned, and departed from the out of , which is in the land of , to go to the land of , to the land of their possession, which they owned, according to the of by . When they came to the region near , that is in the land of , the children of and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of built an there by , a great to look at. The heard this, "Behold, the children of and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of have built an along the border of the land of , in the region around , on the side that belongs to the ." When the heard of it, the whole of the gathered themselves together at , to go up against them to war. The sent to the children of , and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of , into the land of , the son of the priest. With 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. They came to the children of , and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of , to the land of , and they spoke with them, saying, "The whole of says, 'What trespass is this that you have committed against the of Israel, to turn away today from following , in that you have built yourselves an , to rebel today against ? Is the of too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on of , that you must turn away today from following ? It will be, since you rebel today against , that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole of Israel. However, if the land of your possession is , then pass over to the land of the possession of , in which dwells, and take possession among us; but don't rebel against , nor rebel against us, in building an other than our . Didn't the son of Zerah commit a trespass in , and fell on all of Israel? That man didn't alone in his .'" Then the children of and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel, "The Mighty One, , , the Mighty One, , , he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against (don't us today), that we have built us an to turn away from following ; or if to offer burnt offering or , or if to offer of , let himself require it. "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 , the of Israel? For has made a border between us and you, you children of and children of Gad. You have no in ."' So your children might make our children cease from fearing . 26"Therefore we said, 'Let's now prepare to build ourselves an , not for burnt offering, nor for ; but it will be a between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the of before him with our burnt offerings, with our , and with our ;' that your children may not tell our children in time to come, 'You have no in .' "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 , which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for ; but it is a between us and you."' "Far be it from us that we should rebel against , and turn away today from following , to build an for burnt offering, for , or for , besides our that is before his !" When the priest, and the princes of , even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of and the children of Gad and the children of spoke, it pleased them well. the son of the priest said to the children of , to the children of Gad, and to the children of , "Today we know that is among us, because you have not committed this trespass against . Now you have the out of hand." the son of the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of , and from the children of Gad, out of the land of , to the land of , to the , and brought them word again. The thing pleased the ; and the , and spoke no more of going up against them to war, to destroy the land in which the children of and the children of Gad lived. The children of and the children of Gad named the "A Between Us that is ."
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Entering the land, 1250 BC to 1200 BC ›
Israel crossing into Canaan and contending with fortified city-states, each with its own king, in a land Egypt had recently dominated and was now losing its grip on.
- The collapse
- The whole eastern Mediterranean is coming apart. Within about fifty years the Hittite empire falls, its capital burns, the Mycenaean palaces are destroyed, Ugarit is wiped out mid-correspondence, and Egypt is fighting for its life against seaborne invaders. Nobody fully knows why. Drought, earthquake, migration, and the failure of interlocking trade are all in the explanation.
- Egypt
- Still strong enough to record a victory over a people called Israel on a stone monument around 1207 BC, the earliest mention of the name outside the Bible. But Egyptian control of Canaan is slipping, and within a generation it is gone.
- Canaan
- Not a country but dozens of walled towns, each with its own king, its own god, and its own quarrel with the next valley. This is why the book of Joshua reads as a list of kings rather than a war with a nation.
- Further afield
- Iron is beginning to replace bronze across the region, partly because the tin trade that made bronze possible has broken down. The Olmec are building San Lorenzo. The Zhou are about to overthrow the Shang in China.