Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Ayin

Pe

Tsadhe

Qoph

Resh

Shin

Tav

An Altar Called Witness

¹⁰ And they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance. ¹¹ And the sons of Israel heard it ^[a]said, “Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have ^(A)built an altar at the ^[b]entrance of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.” ¹² Then the sons of Israel heard of it, and the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled themselves at ^(B)Shiloh to go up against them in war.

¹³ Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into 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 ^[c]thousands of Israel. ¹⁵ So they came to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them saying, ¹⁶ “Thus says the whole congregation of Yahweh, ‘What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following Yahweh this day, by ^(E)building yourselves an altar, to rebel against Yahweh this day? ¹⁷ Is ^(F)the iniquity of Peor too small a thing for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there was a plague on the congregation of Yahweh? ¹⁸ Yet you are turning away this day from following Yahweh. Now it will be that, if you rebel against Yahweh today, ^(G)He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow. ¹⁹ If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then ^[d]cross into the land of the possession of Yahweh, where the tabernacle of Yahweh dwells, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us by ^(H)building an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of Yahweh our God. ²⁰ Did not ^(I)Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things devoted to destruction, and indignation fall on all the congregation of Israel? But he was not the only man to breathe his last in his iniquity.’”

¹¹ And do this, knowing the time, that it is ^(A)already the hour for you to ^(B)awaken from sleep; for now ^[a]salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. ^12 (C)The night is almost gone, and ^(D)the day is at hand. Therefore let us lay aside ^(E)the deeds of darkness and put on ^(F)the armor of light. ¹³ Let us ^(G)walk properly as in the day, ^(H)not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴ But ^(I)put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh ^(J)in regard to its lusts.