The Offensive Altar

¹⁰ When they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, ^[a]a large altar in appearance. ¹¹ But the sons of Israel ^[b]heard a report: “Behold, the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have ^(A)built an altar at the ^[c]frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.” ¹² And when the sons of Israel heard about it, the entire congregation of the sons of Israel assembled at ^(B)Shiloh to go up against them in battle.

¹³ Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben, to the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, ^(C)Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, ¹⁴ and with him ten leaders, one leader for each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and ^(D)each one of them was the head of his father’s household among the ^[d]thousands of Israel. ¹⁵ They came to the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, ¹⁶ “This is what the whole congregation of the Lord says: ‘What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following the Lord this day, by ^(E)building yourselves an altar, to rebel against the Lord this day? ¹⁷ Is ^(F)the wrongdoing of Peor ^[e]not enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although ^[f]a plague came on the congregation of the Lord, ¹⁸ that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, ^(G)He will be angry with the entire congregation of Israel tomorrow. ¹⁹ If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then ^[g]cross into the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s ^[h]tabernacle ^[i]stands, and settle among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us, by ^(H)building an altar for yourselves besides the altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰ Did ^(I)Achan the son of Zerah not act unfaithfully in the things designated for destruction, and wrath fall on the entire congregation of Israel? So that man did not perish alone in his guilt.’”

²¹ Then the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the ^[j]families of Israel. ²² “The ^(J)Mighty One, God, the Lord, the Mighty One, God, the Lord! ^(K)He knows, and may Israel itself know. If it was in rebellion, or if in an unfaithful act against the Lord, do not save us this day! ²³ If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if to ^(L)offer a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may the Lord Himself ^[k]demand it. ²⁴ But truly we have done this out of concern, ^[l]for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your sons may say to our ^[m]sons, “What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? ²⁵ For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the Lord.” So your sons may make our sons stop fearing the Lord.’

²⁶ “Therefore we said, ‘Let’s ^[n]build an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; ²⁷ rather, it shall be ^(M)a witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to ^(N)perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings, so that your sons will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’ ²⁸ Therefore we said, ‘It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather, it is a witness between us and you.”’ ²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away from following the Lord this day, by ^(O)building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His ^[o]tabernacle.”

³⁰ So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, that is, the heads of the ^[p]families of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. ³¹ And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that the ^(P)Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this unfaithful act against the Lord; now you have saved the sons of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”

³² Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought back word to them. ³³ The word pleased the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel ^(Q)blessed God; and they did not speak of going up against them in battle to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living. ³⁴ And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad ^(R)called the altar Witness; “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”