Daily Text and Bible Reading: Sunday, March 15 [Press play below]

22.1 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh
22.2 and said to them: “You have done all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, and you have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you.
22.3 You have not forsaken your brothers all this time, down to this day; and you have kept the obligation of the commandment of Jehovah your God.
22.4 Now Jehovah your God has given your brothers rest, just as he promised them. So now you may return to your tents in the land that Moses the servant of Jehovah gave you to possess on the other side of the Jordan.
22.5 Only be very careful to carry out the commandment and the Law that Moses the servant of Jehovah gave you, by loving Jehovah your God, by walking in all his ways, by keeping his commandments, by sticking to him, and by serving him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
22.6 Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.
22.7 And to the half tribe of Manasseh, Moses had given an inheritance in Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe, Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan, along with their brothers. Moreover, when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them
22.8 and said to them: “Return to your tents with many riches, with very much livestock, with silver and gold, copper and iron, and garments in very great quantity. Take your share of the spoil of your enemies, along with your brothers.”
22.9 After that the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh departed from the other Israelites, from Shiloh in the land of Canaan, and they returned to the land of Gilead, the land of their possession where they had settled at the order of Jehovah through Moses.
22.10 When they came to the regions of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large, impressive altar.
22.11 Later the other Israelites heard it said: “Look! The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan in the regions of the Jordan on the side belonging to the Israelites.”
22.12 When the Israelites heard about it, the whole assembly of the Israelites congregated at Shiloh to go to war against them.
22.13 Then the Israelites sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead,
22.14 and ten chieftains were with him, one chieftain of each paternal house of all the tribes of Israel, each a head of his paternal house among the thousands of Israel.
22.15 When they came to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, they said to them:
22.16 “This is what all the assembly of Jehovah says: ‘What is this act of unfaithfulness that you have committed against the God of Israel? You have turned back today from following Jehovah by building yourselves an altar and rebelling against Jehovah.
22.17 Was the error of Peor not enough for us? We have not cleansed ourselves from it down to this day, even though a plague came upon the assembly of Jehovah.
22.18 And you would turn back today from following Jehovah! If you rebel today against Jehovah, then tomorrow he will be indignant against the entire assembly of Israel.
22.19 Now if it is because the land of your possession is unclean, cross over to the land of Jehovah’s possession where the tabernacle of Jehovah resides and settle among us, but do not rebel against Jehovah, and do not make us rebels by building yourselves an altar in addition to the altar of Jehovah our God.
22.20 When Achan the son of Zerah committed an act of unfaithfulness regarding what was devoted to destruction, did not indignation come against all the assembly of Israel? And he was not the only man to die for his error.’”
22.21 At this the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the thousands of Israel:
22.22 “The God of gods, Jehovah! The God of gods, Jehovah! He knows, and Israel will also know. If we were rebellious and unfaithful to Jehovah, do not spare us this day.
22.23 If we built ourselves an altar to turn back from following Jehovah and to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings, and communion sacrifices on it, Jehovah will exact the penalty.
22.24 No, it was because of another concern that we did this, for we said, ‘In the future, your sons will say to our sons: “What do you have to do with Jehovah the God of Israel?
22.25 Jehovah has put the Jordan as a boundary between us and you, the Reubenites and the Gadites. You have no share in Jehovah.” And your sons will hinder our sons from worshipping Jehovah.’
22.26 “So we said, ‘Let us by all means take action by building an altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices,
22.27 but to be a witness between you and us and our descendants after us that we will carry out our service to Jehovah before him with our burnt offerings and our sacrifices and our communion sacrifices, so that your sons may not say to our sons in the future: “You have no share in Jehovah.”’
22.28 So we said, ‘If they should say that to us and to our descendants in the future, we will then say: “See the replica of Jehovah’s altar that our forefathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but to be a witness between you and us.”’
22.29 It is unthinkable for us to rebel against Jehovah and to turn back today from following Jehovah by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, and sacrifices, other than the altar of Jehovah our God that is before his tabernacle!”
22.30 When Phinehas the priest, the chieftains of the assembly, and the heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him heard the words that the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh spoke, they were satisfied.
22.31 So Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh: “Today we know that Jehovah is among us, because you have not committed this act of unfaithfulness against Jehovah. Now you have saved the Israelites out of the hand of Jehovah.”
22.32 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the chieftains returned from the Reubenites and the Gadites in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, and they brought back word to the other Israelites.
22.33 And the Israelites were satisfied with the report. The Israelites then praised God, and they said nothing more about going to war against the Reubenites and the Gadites to destroy the land in which they were dwelling.
22.34 So the Reubenites and the Gadites named the altar, because “it is a witness between us that Jehovah is the true God.”
23.1 Many days after Jehovah had given Israel rest from all its surrounding enemies, when Joshua was old and advanced in years,
23.2 Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders, its heads, its judges, and its officers, and he said to them: “I have grown old; I am advanced in years.
23.3 And you have seen for yourselves all that Jehovah your God did to all these nations in your behalf because Jehovah your God was the one who was fighting for you.
23.4 See, I assigned to you by lot the land of the nations that remain as an inheritance for your tribes, as well as that of all the nations that I destroyed, from the Jordan to the Great Sea on the west.
23.5 And Jehovah your God was the one who kept thrusting them away from before you, and he drove them out for you, and you took possession of their land, just as Jehovah your God promised you.
23.6 “Now you must be very courageous to observe and carry out all that is written in the book of the Law of Moses by never deviating from it to the right or to the left,
23.7 by never mingling with these nations that remain with you. You must not even mention the names of their gods nor swear by them, and you must never serve them nor bow down to them.
23.8 But you must stick to Jehovah your God, just as you have done down to this day.
23.9 Jehovah will drive away great and mighty nations from before you, for not a man has been able to stand before you to this day.
23.10 Just one man of you will chase a thousand, because Jehovah your God is fighting for you, just as he promised you.
23.11 So be on guard constantly by loving Jehovah your God.
23.12 “But if you should turn back at all and stick to what is left of these nations that remain with you and you form marriage alliances with them and associate with them and they with you,
23.13 you should know for sure that Jehovah your God will not continue to drive out these nations for you. They will become a trap and a snare and a scourge on your flanks and thorns in your eyes until you have perished from this good land that Jehovah your God has given you.
23.14 “Now look! I am about to die, and you well know with all your heart and with all your soul that not one word out of all the good promises that Jehovah your God has spoken to you has failed. They have all come true for you. Not one word of them has failed.
23.15 But just as all the good promises that Jehovah your God has spoken to you have come upon you, so Jehovah will bring upon you all the calamity that he promised and will annihilate you from this good land that Jehovah your God has given you.
23.16 If you violate the covenant of Jehovah your God that he commanded you to keep and if you go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then Jehovah’s anger will blaze against you and you will quickly perish from the good land that he has given you.”
24.1 Joshua then assembled all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem and summoned the elders of Israel, its heads, its judges, and its officers, and they stood before the true God.
24.2 Joshua said to all the people: “This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says, ‘It was on the other side of the River that your forefathers lived a long time ago—Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor—and they used to serve other gods.
24.3 “‘In time I took your forefather Abraham from the other side of the River and had him walk through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac;
24.4 then to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. Later to Esau I gave Mount Seir as his possession; and Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
24.5 I later sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did among them, and then I brought you out.
24.6 When I was bringing your fathers out of Egypt and you came to the sea, the Egyptians were chasing after your fathers with war chariots and cavalrymen as far as the Red Sea.
24.7 They began to cry out to Jehovah, so he placed a darkness between you and the Egyptians and brought the sea over them and covered them, and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelled in the wilderness many years.
24.8 “‘And I brought you to the land of the Amorites who were dwelling on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought against you. But I gave them into your hand so that you could take possession of their land, and I annihilated them from before you.
24.9 Then Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, rose up and fought against Israel. So he summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.
24.10 But I would not listen to Balaam. So he blessed you repeatedly, and I rescued you from his hand.
24.11 “‘Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the leaders of Jericho, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites fought against you, but I gave them into your hand.
24.12 So I sent the feeling of dejection ahead of you, and it drove them out from before you—two kings of the Amorites. It was not by your sword and not by your bow.
24.13 Thus I gave you a land for which you had not toiled and cities that you had not built, and you settled in them. You are eating from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’
24.14 “Therefore, fear Jehovah and serve him with integrity and faithfulness, and remove the gods that your forefathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt, and serve Jehovah.
24.15 Now if it seems bad to you to serve Jehovah, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods that your forefathers served on the other side of the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are dwelling. But as for me and my household, we will serve Jehovah.”
24.16 At this the people answered: “It is unthinkable for us to abandon Jehovah and to serve other gods.
24.17 It is Jehovah our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who performed these great signs before our eyes and who kept guarding us the entire way in which we walked and among all the peoples through whom we passed.
24.18 Jehovah drove out all the peoples, including the Amorites, who lived in the land before us. Therefore, we too will serve Jehovah, because he is our God.”
24.19 Then Joshua said to the people: “You are not able to serve Jehovah, for he is a holy God; he is a God who requires exclusive devotion. He will not pardon your transgressions and your sins.
24.20 If you abandon Jehovah and serve foreign gods, he will also turn against you and exterminate you after doing good for you.”
24.21 But the people said to Joshua: “No, but we will serve Jehovah!”
24.22 So Joshua said to the people: “You are witnesses against yourselves that of your own accord, you have chosen for yourselves to serve Jehovah.” To this they said: “We are witnesses.”
24.23 “Therefore, remove the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to Jehovah the God of Israel.”
24.24 The people said to Joshua: “We will serve Jehovah our God, and we will obey his voice!”
24.25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people on that day and established a regulation and a ruling for them in Shechem.
24.26 Then Joshua wrote these words in the book of God’s Law and took a great stone and set it up under the large tree that is by the sanctuary of Jehovah.
24.27 Joshua went on to say to all the people: “Look! This stone will serve as a witness against us, because it has heard everything Jehovah said to us, and it will serve as a witness against you, so that you may not deny your God.”
24.28 With that Joshua sent the people away, each one to his inheritance.
24.29 After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died at the age of 110.
24.30 So they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the mountainous region of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
24.31 Israel continued to serve Jehovah all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and who had known all of Jehovah’s deeds in behalf of Israel.
24.32 The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up out of Egypt, were buried in Shechem in the portion of the field that Jacob had acquired from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 pieces of money; and it became the inheritance of the sons of Joseph.
24.33 Also, Eleazar the son of Aaron died. So they buried him in the Hill of Phinehas his son, which had been given to him in the mountainous region of Ephraim.