²⁷ but to be ^(A)a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we ^(B)do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’

²⁷ And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, ^(A)this stone shall be a witness against us, for ^(B)it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.”

⁴⁸ Laban said, ^(A)“This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed,

³⁴ The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, “For,” they said, ^(A)“it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

¹⁷ You may not eat within your towns ^(A)the tithe of your grain or of your wine or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, or any of your vow offerings that you vow, or your freewill offerings or the contribution that you present, ¹⁸ but ^(B)you shall eat them before the Lord your God in ^(C)the place that the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your towns. And ^(D)you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake.

¹¹ then to ^(A)the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, ^(B)your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord.

⁵ But you shall seek ^(A)the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation^[a] there. There you shall go, ⁶ and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, ^(B)your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the ^(C)firstborn of your herd and of your flock.

¹² Then Samuel ^(A)took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen^[a] and called its name Ebenezer;^[b] for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.”

The Eastern Tribes' Altar of Witness

¹⁰ And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size.

²⁶ But the ^(A)holy things that are due from you, and ^(B)your vow offerings, you shall take, and you shall go to ^(C)the place that the Lord will choose, ²⁷ and ^(D)offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, but the flesh you may eat.