3. All this time, to this day, you have never deserted your relatives. You have carefully kept the commands of the Lord your God.
4. “Now the Lord your God has given your relatives peace, as he promised them. So return home, to the land that is your own possession. It is the land that the Lord’s servant Moses gave you east of the Jordan River.
5. Carefully follow the commands and teachings that the Lord’s servant Moses gave you. Love the Lord your God, follow his directions, and keep his commands. Be loyal to him, and serve him with all your heart and soul.”
6. Then Joshua blessed them. He sent them on their way, and they went to their homes.
7. Moses had given land in Bashan as an inheritance to half of Manasseh, and Joshua had given the other half of the tribe their land with their relatives west of the Jordan. When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them.
8. He also said to them, “Return to your homes with your vast wealth, large herds of livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron, and loads of clothing. Divide the loot from your enemies with your relatives.”
9. So the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh left the rest of the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan. They returned to Gilead. This was their own possession which they had captured as the Lord had instructed them through Moses.
10. Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh came to the region of the Jordan that was still in Canaan. They built an altar by the Jordan River. The altar was very large and highly visible.
11. The rest of the Israelites heard about it and said, “See there! Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the border of Canaan. It’s in the region near the Jordan River on Israel’s side.”
12. When the people of Israel heard about it, the whole congregation of Israel gathered at Shiloh. They intended to wage war against them.
13. The Israelites sent Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar, to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh in Gilead.
14. Ten leaders, one from each tribe in Israel, went with him. Each man was a leader of a household and head of a family division in Israel.