1Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, 2And said to them, “You have done all that Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you, and have obeyed me in all that I commanded you: 3You have not deserted your brethren in all this time, but have fulfilled the commandment of the LORD your God. 4And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them. So return, now, and go to your own tents, and to the land of your possession, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave you on the east side of the Jordan. 5But be diligent to obey the commandments of the law, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, charged you with: to love the LORD your God, walk in all His ways, and keep His commandments, and cling to and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they returned to their own tents. 7Now to the one-half tribe of Manasseh, Moses had given land in Bashan; but Joshua gave land to the other half of their Manasseh brethren on this (west) side of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their tents, then he blessed them. 8And he said to them, “Return with much wealth to your tents - with very much cattle, silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very much raiment; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”

9And the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, departed from the Israelites out of Shiloh, which is in Canaan, and returned to the country of Gilead, to the land which they had taken possession of, according to the word of the LORD through Moses. 10And when they came to the banks of the Jordan, on the Canaan side, the men of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. 11And then the Israelites were told, “The men of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the frontier of Canaan, on the banks of the Jordan, on the side belonging to us.” 12And when the Israelites heard that, the whole congregation of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh, to go to war against them. 13And the Israelites sent Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest, to the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, 14Along with ten leaders, one from each tribe, a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; each one a head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel. 15And they came to the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they said to them, 16“The whole assembly of the LORD says, ‘Why trespass against the God of Israel, by turning away from following the LORD, by building you an altar, that you might rebel this day against the LORD? 17Was the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD, 18That you must turn away this day from following the LORD? And it will be, since you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow He will be angry with the entire congregation of Israel. 19If the land you possess is defiled, then cross over to the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD's tabernacle stands, and share land among us; but do not rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God. 20Did not Achan, son of Zerah, commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’”

21Then the men of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered the heads of the thousands of Israel, 22“The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, He knows! And let Israel itself know! If it is rebellion, or disobedience to the LORD, do not spare us this day. 23If we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or to offer burnt, meal, or peace offerings on it, let the LORD Himself call us to account; 24But instead, we have done it out of fear of this: that in time to come, your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the LORD God of Israel? 25For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you; and you children of Reuben and Gad have no part in the LORD’; and then your children might cause our children to stop fearing and serving the LORD. 26That is why we said, ‘Let us now prepare and build an altar - but not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice - 27But as a memorial and witness between us and you, and through the generations after us, that we might serve the LORD before Him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; and that your children will not tell our children in time to come, ‘You have no share in the LORD.’ 28So we said, if they ever say that to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say answer, ‘Look at the replica of the LORD’s altar, which our fathers made - not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices - but as a witness between us and you’. 29God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn from following the LORD this day, to build an altar for burnt or meal offerings, or for sacrifices, other than on the altar of the LORD our God that is before His tabernacle.”

30And when Phinehas, the priest, and the leaders of the congregation and of the thousands of Israelites who were with him, heard the words that the descendants of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. 31And Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we perceive that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed a trespass against the LORD; now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.” 32And Phinehas, the priest, and the leaders, returned from the descendants of Reuben and Gad, in the land of Gilead, to their own land in Canaan, to their fellow Israelites, and brought them that word. 33And it pleased the Israelites; and the Israelites praised God, and talked no more of going up against them in battle, to destroy the land in which the descendants of Reuben and Gad lived. 34And the descendants of Reuben and Gad gave the altar this name: “A Witness Between Us”; as a witness between them that the LORD is God.