Study Desk

Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh

and said to them, "You have done all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded.

For a long time now-to this very day-you have not deserted your brothers but have carried out the mission the LORD your God gave you.

Now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan.

But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul."

Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their homes.

(To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west side of the Jordan with their brothers.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them,

saying, "Return to your homes with your great wealth-with large herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing-and divide with your brothers the plunder from your enemies."

So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the LORD through Moses.