Joshua 22:16-30 in English

¹⁶ Thus saith the whole congregation of Jehovah, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following Jehovah, in that ye have builded you an altar, to rebel this day against Jehovah?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves unto this day, although there came a plague upon the congregation of Jehovah,

¹⁸ that ye must turn away this day from following Jehovah? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to-day against Jehovah, that to-morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ Howbeit, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of Jehovah, wherein Jehovah’s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against Jehovah, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of Jehovah our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spake unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, the Mighty One, God, Jehovah, he knoweth; and Israel he shall know: if it be in rebellion, or if in trespass against Jehovah (save thou us not this day),

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn away from following Jehovah; or if to offer thereon burnt-offering or meal-offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace-offerings thereon, let Jehovah himself require it;

²⁴ and if we have not rather out of carefulness done this, and of purpose, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with Jehovah, the God of Israel?

²⁵ for Jehovah hath made the Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no portion in Jehovah: so might your children make our children cease from fearing Jehovah.

²⁶ Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice:

²⁷ but it shall be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may do the service of Jehovah before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no portion in Jehovah.

²⁸ Therefore said we, It shall be, when they so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we shall say, Behold the pattern of the altar of Jehovah, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.

²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against Jehovah, and turn away this day from following Jehovah, to build an altar for burnt-offering, for meal-offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of Jehovah our God that is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them well.

¹⁶ Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, What is this transgression that ye have transgressed before the God of Israel, to turn away today from the Lord, in that ye have built for yourselves an altar, so that ye should be apostates from the Lord?

¹⁷ Is the sin of Phogor too little for you, whereas we have not been cleansed from it until this day, though there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord?

¹⁸ And ye have this day revolted from the Lord; and it shall come to pass if ye revolt this day from the Lord, that to-morrow there shall be wrath upon all Israel.

¹⁹ And now if the land of your possession be too little, cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the tabernacle of the Lord dwells, and receive ye an inheritance among us; and do not become apostates from God, neither do ye apostatize from the Lord, because of your having built an altar apart from the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰ Lo! did not Achar the son of Zara commit a trespass taking of the accursed thing, and there was wrath on the whole congregation of Israel? and he himself died alone in his own sin.

²¹ And the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse answered, and spoke to the captains of the thousands of Israel, saying,

²² God even God is the Lord, and God even God himself knows, and Israel he shall know; if we have transgressed before the Lord by apostasy, let him not deliver us this day.

²³ And if we have built to ourselves an altar, so as to apostatize from the Lord our God, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of whole-burnt-offerings, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of peace-offering,—the Lord shall require it.

²⁴ But we have done this for the sake of precaution concerning this thing, saying, Lest hereafter your sons should say to our sons, What have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel?

²⁵ Whereas the Lord has set boundaries between us and you, even Jordan, and ye have no portion in the Lord: so your sons shall alienate our sons, that they should not worship the Lord.

²⁶ And we gave orders to do thus, to build this altar, not for burnt-offerings, nor for meat-offerings;

²⁷ but that this may be a witness between you and us, and between our posterity after us, that we may do service to the Lord before him, with our burnt-offerings and our meat-offerings and our peace-offerings: so your sons shall not say to our sons, hereafter, Ye have no portion in the Lord.

²⁸ And we said, If ever it should come to pass that they should speak so to us, or to our posterity hereafter; then shall they say, Behold the likeness of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for the sake of burnt-offerings, nor for the sake of meat-offerings, but it is a witness between you and us, and between our sons.

²⁹ Far be it from us therefore that we should turn away from the Lord this day so as to apostatize from the Lord, so as that we should build an altar for burnt-offerings, and for peace-offerings, besides the altar of the Lord which is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And Phinees the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation of Israel who were with him heard the words which the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse spoke; and it pleased them.

¹⁶ Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,

¹⁸ But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD’s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)

²³ That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it;

²⁴ And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel?

²⁵ For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:

²⁷ But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.

²⁸ Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.

²⁹ God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them.

¹⁶ Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,

¹⁸ But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the LORD, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD’s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the LORD our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)

²³ That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it;

²⁴ And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel?

²⁵ For the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:

²⁷ But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.

²⁸ Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.

²⁹ God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them.

¹⁶ Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, What is this transgression that you° have transgressed before the God of Israel, to turn away today from the Lord, in that you° have built for yourselves an altar, so that you° should be apostates from the Lord?

¹⁷ Is the sin of Phogor too little for you, whereas we have not been cleansed from it until this day, though there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord?

¹⁸ And you° have this day revolted from the Lord; and it shall come to pass if you° revolt this day from the Lord, that to-morrow there shall be wrath upon all Israel.

¹⁹ And now if the land of your possession be too little, cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the tabernacle of the Lord dwells, and receive you° an inheritance among us; and do not become apostates from God, neither do you° apostatize from the Lord, because of your having built an altar apart from the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰ Behold! did not Achar the son of Zara commit a trespass taking of the accursed thing, and there was wrath on the whole congregation of Israel? and he himself died alone in his own sin.

²¹ And the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse answered, and spoke to the captains of the thousands of Israel, saying,

²² God even God is the Lord, and God even God himself knows, and Israel he shall know; if we have transgressed before the Lord by apostasy, let him not deliver us this day.

²³ And if we have built to ourselves an altar, so as to apostatize from the Lord our God, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of whole burnt offerings, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of peace-offering, —the Lord shall require it.

²⁴ But we have done this for the sake of precaution concerning this thing, saying, Lest hereafter your sons should say to our sons, What have you° to do with the Lord God of Israel?

²⁵ Whereas the Lord has set boundaries between us and you, even Jordan, and you° have no portion in the Lord: so your sons shall alienate our sons, that they should not worship the Lord.

²⁶ And we gave orders to do thus, to build this altar, not for burnt offerings, nor for meat-offerings;

²⁷ but that this may be a witness between you and us, and between our posterity after us, that we may do service to the Lord before him, with our burnt offerings and our meat-offerings and our peace-offerings: so your sons shall not say to our sons, hereafter, You° have no portion in the Lord.

²⁸ And we said, If ever it should come to pass that they should speak so to us, or to our posterity hereafter; then shall they say, Behold the likeness of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for the sake of burnt offerings, nor for the sake of meat-offerings, but it is a witness between you and us, and between our sons.

²⁹ Far be it from us therefore that we should turn away from the Lord this day so as to apostatize from the Lord, so as that we should build an altar for burnt offerings, and for peace-offerings, besides the altar of the Lord which is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And Phinees the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation of Israel who were with him heard the words which the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse spoke; and it pleased them.

¹⁶ Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, to rebel this day against the LORD?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves unto this day, although there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD,

¹⁸ that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ Howbeit, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD’S tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of the LORD our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and spake unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² The LORD, the God of gods, the LORD, the God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in trespass against the LORD, (save thou us not this day,)

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn away from following the LORD; or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings thereon, let the LORD himself require it;

²⁴ and if we have not rather out of carefulness done this, and of purpose, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?

²⁵ for the LORD hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no portion in the LORD: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ Therefore we said, Let as now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:

²⁷ but it shall be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no portion in the LORD.

²⁸ Therefore said we, It shall be, when they so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we shall say, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.

²⁹ God forbid that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn away this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them well.

¹⁶ “All the other Israelis are asking, ‘Why have you rebelled against the God whom we Israelis worship by building an altar for yourselves?

¹⁷ Have you forgotten what happened at Peor, when some Israelis sinned by worshiping the god that the Moab people-group worship? Many Israelis became very sick and died because of that sin, and we are still suffering because of their sin.

¹⁸ Are you now turning away from obeying Yahweh and refusing to do what he wants? If you do not stop rebelling against Yahweh today, he will be angry with all of us Israelis tomorrow.’

¹⁹ If you think that Yahweh considers that your land here is not suitable for worshiping him, come back to our land where Yahweh's Sacred Tent is. We can share our land with you. But do not rebel against Yahweh and against us by building another altar for Yahweh our God.

²⁰ Do you remember what happened when Zerah's son Achan refused to obey Yahweh's command to destroy everything in Jericho? That one man disobeyed God's command, but many HYP other Israelis were punished. Achan died because of his sin, but other Israelis also died.”

²¹ The leaders of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh replied,

²² “Yahweh, the Almighty God, knows why we did that, and we want you to know, too. If we have done something wrong against Yahweh, you may kill us.

²³ If we have disobeyed one of Yahweh's laws, we request that he should punish us. We did not build that new altar to completely burn animals as sacrifices to Yahweh, or to offer on it sacrifices of grain or sacrifices to maintain fellowship with God.

²⁴ This is the reason that we built that altar: We were afraid/worried that some day your descendants would say that our descendants are not true Israelis. We were afraid that then they would say, ‘You are not allowed to worship Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis worship.

²⁵ Yahweh caused the Jordan River to be a boundary between us and you people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad. So you are not allowed to worship Yahweh. We were worried that your descendants would force our descendants to stop worshiping Yahweh.

²⁶ That is the reason that we decided to build that new altar. But it is not an altar for completely burning sacrifices of animals and burning other sacrifices.

²⁷ We built that new altar to prove/show to you and to us and to all of our descendants that we worship Yahweh by completely burning animal sacrifices and offerings of grain and offerings to maintain fellowship with Yahweh only at the place Yahweh chooses. We do not want your descendants to say to our descendants, ‘You do not belong to Yahweh.’

²⁸ In the future, if your descendants say that, our descendants can say, ‘Look at the altar that our ancestors made! It is exactly like Yahweh's altar that our ancestors built, but we do not burn sacrifices on it. It only shows that we are Israelis!’

²⁹ We certainly do not want to rebel against Yahweh or stop doing what he desires, by building an altar for completely burning some sacrifices and burning grain offerings and making other sacrifices. We know that there is only one true altar for Yahweh our God, and it is in front of the Sacred Tent at Shiloh.”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest and the other ten leaders heard what they said, they were pleased.

¹⁶ Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, What is this transgression that you° have transgressed before the God of Israel, to turn away today from the Lord, in that you° have built for yourselves an altar, so that you° should be apostates from the Lord?

¹⁷ Is the sin of Phogor too little for you, whereas we have not been cleansed from it until this day, though there was a plague amongst the congregation of the Lord?

¹⁸ And you° have this day revolted from the Lord; and it shall come to pass if you° revolt this day from the Lord, that to-morrow there shall be wrath upon all Israel.

¹⁹ And now if the land of your possession be too little, cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the tabernacle of the Lord dwells, and receive you° an inheritance amongst us; and do not become apostates from God, neither do you° apostatize from the Lord, because of your having built an altar apart from the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰ Behold! did not Achar the son of Zara commit a trespass taking of the accursed thing, and there was wrath on the whole congregation of Israel? and he himself died alone in his own sin.

²¹ And the sons of Ruben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse answered, and spoke to the captains of the thousands of Israel, saying,

²² God even God is the Lord, and God even God himself knows, and Israel he shall know; if we have transgressed before the Lord by apostasy, let him not deliver us this day.

²³ And if we have built to ourselves an altar, so as to apostatize from the Lord our God, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of whole burnt offerings, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of peace-offering, —the Lord shall require it.

²⁴ But we have done this for the sake of precaution concerning this thing, saying, Lest hereafter your sons should say to our sons, What have you° to do with the Lord God of Israel?

²⁵ Whereas the Lord has set boundaries between us and you, even Jordan, and you° have no portion in the Lord: so your sons shall alienate our sons, that they should not worship the Lord.

²⁶ And we gave orders to do thus, to build this altar, not for burnt offerings, nor for meat-offerings;

²⁷ but that this may be a witness between you and us, and between our posterity after us, that we may do service to the Lord before him, with our burnt offerings and our meat-offerings and our peace-offerings: so your sons shall not say to our sons, hereafter, You° have no portion in the Lord.

²⁸ And we said, If ever it should come to pass that they should speak so to us, or to our posterity hereafter; then shall they say, Behold the likeness of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for the sake of burnt offerings, nor for the sake of meat-offerings, but it is a witness between you and us, and between our sons.

²⁹ Far be it from us therefore that we should turn away from the Lord this day so as to apostatize from the Lord, so as that we should build an altar for burnt offerings, and for peace-offerings, besides the altar of the Lord which is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And Phinees the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation of Israel who were with him heard the words which the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasse spoke; and it pleased them.

¹⁶ “The whole congregation of Yahweh says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following Yahweh, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against Yahweh?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of Yahweh,

¹⁸ that you must turn away today from following Yahweh? It will be, since you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than Yahweh our God’s altar.

²⁰ Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’”

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² “The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, the Mighty One, God, Yahweh, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against Yahweh (don’t save us today),

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn away from following Yahweh; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let Yahweh himself require it.

²⁴ “If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, “What have you to do with Yahweh, the God of Israel?

²⁵ For Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no portion in Yahweh.”’ So your children might make our children cease from fearing Yahweh.

²⁶ “Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;

²⁷ but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of Yahweh before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;’ that your children may not tell our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in Yahweh.’

²⁸ “Therefore we said, ‘It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, “Behold the pattern of Yahweh’s altar, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.”’

²⁹ “Far be it from us that we should rebel against Yahweh, and turn away today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides Yahweh our God’s altar that is before his tabernacle!”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well.

¹⁶ “The whole congregation of Yahweh says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following Yahweh, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against Yahweh?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of Yahweh,

¹⁸ that you must turn away today from following Yahweh? It will be, since you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than Yahweh our God’s altar.

²⁰ Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’”

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² “The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, the Mighty One, God, Yahweh, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against Yahweh (don’t save us today),

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn away from following Yahweh; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let Yahweh himself require it.

²⁴ “If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, “What have you to do with Yahweh, the God of Israel?

²⁵ For Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no portion in Yahweh.”’ So your children might make our children cease from fearing Yahweh.

²⁶ “Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;

²⁷ but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of Yahweh before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;’ that your children may not tell our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in Yahweh.’

²⁸ “Therefore we said, ‘It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, “Behold the pattern of Yahweh’s altar, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.”’

²⁹ “Far be it from us that we should rebel against Yahweh, and turn away today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides Yahweh our God’s altar that is before his tabernacle!”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well.

¹⁶ “The whole congregation of the LORD says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following the LORD, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against the LORD?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of the LORD,

¹⁸ that you must turn away today from following the LORD? It will be, since you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession amongst us; but don’t rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than the LORD our God’s altar.

²⁰ Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’”

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² “The Mighty One, God, the LORD, the Mighty One, God, the LORD, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against the LORD (don’t save us today),

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn away from following the LORD; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let the LORD himself require it.

²⁴ “If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, “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 children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.”’ So your children might make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ “Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;

²⁷ but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;’ that your children may not tell our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in the LORD.’

²⁸ “Therefore we said, ‘It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, “Behold the pattern of the LORD’s altar, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.”’

²⁹ “Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn away today from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides the LORD our God’s altar that is before his tabernacle!”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well.

¹⁶ This is what all the meeting of the people of the Lord has said, What is this wrong which you have done against the God of Israel, turning back this day from the Lord and building an altar for yourselves, and being false to the Lord?

¹⁷ Was not the sin of Baal-peor great enough, from which we are not clear even to this day, though punishment came on the people of the Lord,

¹⁸ That now you are turned back from the Lord? and, because you are false to him today, tomorrow his wrath will be let loose on all the people of Israel.

¹⁹ But if the land you now have is unclean, come over into the Lord's land where his House is, and take up your heritage among us: but do not be false to the Lord and to us by building yourselves an altar in addition to the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, do wrong about the cursed thing, causing wrath to come on all the people of Israel? And not on him only came the punishment of death.

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,

²² God, even God the Lord, God, even God the Lord, he sees, and Israel will see — if it is in pride or in sin against the Lord,

²³ That we have made ourselves an altar, being false to the Lord, keep us not safe from death this day; and if for the purpose of offering burned offerings on it and meal offerings, or peace-offerings, let the Lord himself send punishment for it;

²⁴ And if we have not, in fact, done this designedly and with purpose, having in our minds the fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?

²⁵ For the Lord has made Jordan a line of division between us and you, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad; you have no part in the Lord: so your children will make our children give up fearing the Lord.

²⁶ So we said, Let us now make an altar for ourselves, not for burned offerings or for the offerings of beasts:

²⁷ But to be a witness between us and you, and between the future generations, that we have the right of worshipping the Lord with our burned offerings and our offerings of beasts and our peace-offerings; so that your children will not be able to say to our children in time to come, You have no part in the Lord.

²⁸ For we said to ourselves, If they say this to us or to future generations, then we will say, See this copy of the Lord's altar which our fathers made, not for burned offerings or offerings of beasts, but for a witness between us and you.

²⁹ Never let it be said that we were false to the Lord, turning back this day from him and building an altar for burned offerings and meal offerings and offerings of beasts, in addition to the altar of the Lord our God which is before his House.

³⁰ Then Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the meeting and the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, hearing what the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh said, were pleased.

¹⁶ Thus saith the whole assembly of Jehovah: What wickedness is this which ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following Jehovah, in that ye have built yourselves an altar, rebelling this day against Jehovah?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us? from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the assembly of Jehovah.

¹⁸ And ye turn away this day from following Jehovah; and it will be, that since ye rebel this day against Jehovah, to-morrow he will be wroth with the whole assembly of Israel.

¹⁹ Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession is unclean, come over into the land of the possession of Jehovah, where Jehovah's tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession amongst us; but rebel not against Jehovah, and rebel not against us, in building for yourselves an altar besides the altar of Jehovah our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing? and wrath fell on all the assembly of Israel, and he perished not alone in his iniquity.

²¹ And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² The God of gods, Jehovah, the God of gods, Jehovah, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know it; if it is in rebellion, or if in trespass against Jehovah, — save us not this day!

²³ — that we have built for ourselves an altar to turn from following Jehovah, and if it is to offer up burnt-offering and oblation on it, and if to offer peace-offerings thereon, let Jehovah himself require it from us;

²⁴ and if we have not done it from fear of this thing, saying, In future your children will speak to our children, saying, What have ye to do with Jehovah the God of Israel?

²⁵ Jehovah hath made the Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad, ye have no portion in Jehovah! And so shall your children make our children cease from fearing Jehovah.

²⁶ And we said, Let us now set to work to build an altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice,

²⁷ but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we might do service to Jehovah before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings; that your children may not say to our children in future, Ye have no portion in Jehovah.

²⁸ And we said, If it shall be that in future they so say to us and to our generations, we will say, Behold the pattern of the altar of Jehovah which our fathers made, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you.

²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against Jehovah, and turn this day from following Jehovah, in building an altar for burnt-offering, for oblation, and for sacrifice, besides the altar of Jehovah our God that is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And when Phinehas the priest and the princes of the assembly and the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their sight.

¹⁶ Thus saith all the people of the Lord: What meaneth this transgression? Why have you forsaken the Lord the God of Israel, building a sacrilegious altar, and revolting from the worship of him?

¹⁷ Is it a small thing to you that you sinned with Beelphegor, and the stain of that crime remaineth in us to this day? and many of the people perished.

¹⁸ And you have forsaken the Lord today, and tomorrow his wrath will rage against all Israel.

¹⁹ But if you think the land of your possession to be unclean, pass over to the land wherein is the tabernacle of the Lord, and dwell among us: only depart not from the Lord, and from our society, by building an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zare transgress the commandment of the Lord, and his wrath lay upon all the people of Israel? And he was but one man, and would to God he alone had perished in his wickedness.

²¹ And the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasses answered the princes of the embassage of Israel:

²² The Lord the most mighty God, the Lord the most mighty God, he knoweth, and Israel also shall understand: If with the design of transgression we have set up this altar, let him not save us, but punish us immediately:

²³ And if we did it with that mind, that we might lay upon it holocausts, and sacrifice, and victims of peace offerings, let him require and judge:

²⁴ And not rather with this thought and design, that we should say: Tomorrow your children will say to our children: What have you to do with the Lord the God of Israel?

²⁵ The Lord hath put the river Jordan for a border between us and you, O ye children of Ruben, and ye children of Gad: and therefore you have no part in the Lord. And by this occasion you children shall turn away our children from the fear of the Lord. We therefore thought, it best,

²⁶ And said: Let us build us an altar, not for holocausts, nor to offer victims,

²⁷ But for a testimony between us and you, and our posterity and yours, that we may serve the Lord, and that we may have a right to offer both holocausts, and victims and sacrifices of peace offerings: and that your children tomorrow may not say to our children: You have no part in the Lord.

²⁸ And if they will say so, they shall answer them: Behold the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for holocausts, nor for sacrifice, but for a testimony between us and you.

²⁹ God keep us from any such wickedness that we should revolt from the Lord, and leave off following his steps, by building an altar to offer holocausts, and sacrifices, and victims, beside the altar of the Lord our God, which is erected before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And when Phinees the priest, and the princes of the embassage, who were with him, had heard this, they were satisfied: and they admitted most willingly the words of the children of Ruben, and Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasses.

¹⁶ “This is what all of the Lord's people say, ‘What is this disloyal act you have committed against the God of Israel by building an altar for yourselves? How could you turn away from him now in such rebellion?

¹⁷ Wasn't our sin at Peor enough? Even now we're still not clean from the plague that attacked the Lord's people.

¹⁸ So why are you turning away from the Lord now? If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with all of us tomorrow!

¹⁹ But if you think your land is tainted then come over to the land of the Lord where the Tabernacle of the Lord is located and share some of our land with us. Just don't rebel against the Lord, or against us, by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰ When Achan, son of Zerah, acted disloyally in taking consecrated things, didn't the whole of Israel suffer punishment? He wasn't the only one who died because of his sin!”

²¹ Then the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the Israelite leaders,

²² “The Lord is God of gods, the Lord is God of gods, and he knows! May Israel also know! If we're in rebellion against God or being disloyal to him then kill us right now!

²³ If our action of building an altar was to turn away from the Lord, or to use the altar to make burnt offerings or grain offerings or friendship offerings, then may the Lord punish us.

²⁴ We did this because we were worried that in the future your descendants might say to ours, ‘What have you got to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?

²⁵ The Lord put a border—the Jordan River—between us and you, descendants of Reuben and Gad. You don't belong to the Lord.’ So your descendants might stop our descendants from worshiping the Lord.

²⁶ So we said to ourselves, ‘Let's build an altar, not for burnt offerings or for sacrifices,

²⁷ but as a witness between us and you, and for the generations that come after us, that we will come to worship the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and friendship offerings.’ Then your descendants will not be able to say to ours in the future, ‘You don't belong to the Lord.’

²⁸ If they were to do so in the future, our descendants could reply, ‘Look at this copy of the Lord's altar which our forefathers made, not for burnt offerings or for sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’

²⁹ We would never think to rebel against the Lord or to turn away from him now by building an altar to make burnt offerings or grain offerings or sacrifices. The only altar of the Lord our God is the one stands in front of his Tabernacle.”

³⁰ When Phinehas and the Israelite leaders heard this from the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh they were delighted.

¹⁶ Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord, What transgression is this that ye haue transgressed against the God of Israel, to turne away this day from the Lord, in that ye haue built you an altar for to rebell this day against the Lord?

¹⁷ Haue we too litle for the wickednesse of Peor, whereof we are not clensed vnto this day, though a plague came vpon the Congregation of the Lord?

¹⁸ Ye also are turned away this day from the Lord: and seeing ye rebell to day against ye Lord, euen to morowe he will be wroth with all the Congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ Notwithstanding if the land of your possession be vncleane, come ye ouer vnto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lordes Tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among vs: but rebell not against the Lord, nor rebell not against vs in building you an altar, beside the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan ye sonne of Zerah trespasse grieuously in the execrable thing, and wrath fell on all the Congregation of Israel? and this man alone perished not in his wickednesse.

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, and halfe the tribe of Manasseh answered, and saide vnto the heads ouer the thousands of Israel,

²² The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel himselfe shall know: if by rebellion, or by transgression against ye Lord we haue done it, saue thou vs not this day.

²³ If we haue built vs an altar to returne away from the Lord, either to offer thereon burnt offering, or meate offering, or to offer peace offerings thereon, let the Lord himselfe require it:

²⁴ And if we haue not rather done it for feare of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might say vnto our children, What haue ye to doe with the Lord God of Israel?

²⁵ For the Lord hath made Iorden a border betweene vs and you, ye children of Reuben, and of Gad: therefore ye haue no part in the Lord: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord.

²⁶ Therefore we said, We will nowe go about to make vs an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice,

²⁷ But it shall be a witnesse betweene vs and you, and betweene our generations after vs, to execute the seruice of the Lord before him in our burnt offerings, and in our sacrifices, and in our peace offerings, and that your children should not say to our children in time to come, Ye haue no part in the Lord.

²⁸ Therefore said we, If so be that they should so say to vs or to our generations in time to come, then will we answere, Beholde the facion of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, but it is a witnesse betweene vs and you.

²⁹ God forbid, that we should rebell against the Lord, and turne this day away from the Lord to builde an altar for burnt offering, or for meate offering, or for sacrifice, saue the altar of the Lord our God, that is before his Tabernacle.

³⁰ And when Phinehas the Priest, and the princes of the Congregation and heads ouer the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the wordes, that the children of Reuben, and children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spake, they were well content.

¹⁶ 'Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD: What treachery is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have builded you an altar, to rebel this day against the LORD?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves unto this day, although there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD,

¹⁸ that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to-day against the LORD, that to-morrow He will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ Howbeit, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, wherein the LORD'S tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us; but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of the LORD our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass concerning the devoted thing, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.'

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke unto the heads of the thousands of Israel:

²² 'God, God, the LORD, God, God, the LORD, He knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in treachery against the LORD — save Thou us not this day —

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn away from following the LORD; or if to offer thereon burnt-offering or meal-offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace-offerings thereon, let the LORD Himself require it;

²⁴ and if we have not rather out of anxiety about a matter done this, saying: In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying: What have ye to do with the LORD, the God of Israel?

²⁵ for the LORD hath made the Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no portion in the LORD; so might your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ Therefore we said: Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice;

²⁷ but it shall be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may do the service of the LORD before Him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come: Ye have no portion in the LORD.

²⁸ Therefore said we: It shall be, when they so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we shall say: Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.

²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn away this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt-offering, for meal-offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the LORD our God that is before His tabernacle.'

³⁰ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well.

¹⁶ Thus saith the whole congregation of the Lord, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that ye have builded you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the Lord?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord,

¹⁸ but that ye must turn away this day from following the Lord? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to day against the Lord, that to morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ Notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein the Lord’s tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the Lord, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and said unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord, (save us not this day,)

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn from following the Lord; or if to offer thereon burnt offering or meat offering, or if to offer peace offerings thereon, let the Lord himself require it;

²⁴ and if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel?

²⁵ For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the Lord: so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord:

²⁶ therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice:

²⁷ but that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the Lord before him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the Lord.

²⁸ Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.

²⁹ God forbid that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn this day from following the Lord, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God that is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them.

¹⁶ Thus have said the whole congregation of the Lord, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that ye have built yourselves an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the Lord?

¹⁷ Have we had too little in the iniquity of Peor,—from which we are not yet cleansed until this day,—when there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord?

¹⁸ And will ye turn away this day from following the Lord? and it will be, that when ye will rebel this day against the Lord, tomorrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ But, notwithstanding, if the land of your possession be unclean, then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the Lord, wherein dwelleth the tabernacle of the Lord, and take possession in the midst of us; but rebel not against the Lord and against us do not rebel, in building yourselves an altar beside the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰ Did not 'Achan the son of Zerach commit a trespass on the devoted things, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and he, though but one man, perished not alone in his iniquity.

²¹ But the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Menasseh answered, and they spoke unto the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² The God of gods, the Eternal, the God of gods, the Eternal, he knoweth, and Israel also shall know: if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord, aid us not this day,

²³ That we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord; or if to offer thereon burnt-offering or meat-offering, or if to offer thereon peace-offerings, may the Lord himself require it;

²⁴ Or whether we have not done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might say unto our children, as followeth, What have ye to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?

²⁵ For the Lord hath made a boundary between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad,—the Jordan; ye have no part in the Lord: thus might your children make our children cease so as not to fear the Lord.

²⁶ Wherefore we said, Let us now act for ourselves to build this altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice;

²⁷ But it shall be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the Lord before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our, peace-offerings; and that your children may not say in time to come to our children, Ye have no portion in the Lord.

²⁸ And we said, that it shall be !!when they should say this to us and to our generations in time to come, that we may say, Behold the pattern of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.

²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn away this day from following the Lord, to build an altar for burnt-offering, for meat-offering, or for sacrifice, beside the altar of the Lord our God that is before his dwelling.

³⁰ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation and the heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Menasseh had spoken, it was pleasing in their eyes.

¹⁶ Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, What is this transgression that ye have transgressed before the God of Israel, to turn away today from the Lord, in that ye have built for yourselves an altar, so that ye should be apostates from the Lord?

¹⁷ Is the sin of Peor too little for you, whereas we have not been cleansed from it until this day, though there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord?

¹⁸ And ye have this day revolted from the Lord; and it shall come to pass if ye revolt this day from the Lord, that tomorrow there shall be wrath upon all Israel.

¹⁹ And now if the land of your possession be too little, cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the tabernacle of the Lord dwells, and receive ye an inheritance among us; and do not become apostates from God, neither do ye apostatize from the Lord, because of your having built an altar apart from the altar of the Lord our God.

²⁰ Lo! did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass taking of the accursed thing, and there was wrath on the whole congregation of Israel? and he himself died alone in his own sin.

²¹ And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the captains of the thousands of Israel, saying,

²² God even God is the Lord, and God even God himself knows, and Israel he shall know; if we have transgressed before the Lord by apostasy, let him not deliver us this day.

²³ And if we have built to ourselves an altar, so as to apostatize from the Lord our God, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of whole burnt offerings, so as to offer upon it a sacrifice of peace offering—the Lord shall require it.

²⁴ But we have done this for the sake of precaution concerning this thing, saying, Lest hereafter your sons should say to our sons, What have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel?

²⁵ Whereas the Lord has set boundaries between us and you, even Jordan, and ye have no portion in the Lord: so your sons shall alienate our sons, that they should not worship the Lord.

²⁶ And we gave orders to do thus, to build this altar, not for burnt offerings, nor for meat offerings;

²⁷ but that this may be a witness between you and us, and between our posterity after us, that we may do service to the Lord before him, with our burnt offerings and our meat offerings and our peace offerings: so your sons shall not say to our sons, hereafter, Ye have no portion in the Lord.

²⁸ And we said, If ever it should come to pass that they should speak so to us, or to our posterity hereafter; then shall they say, Behold the likeness of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for the sake of burnt offerings, nor for the sake of meat offerings, but it is a witness between you and us, and between our sons.

²⁹ Far be it from us therefore that we should turn away from the Lord this day so as to apostatize from the Lord, so as that we should build an altar for burnt offerings, and for peace offerings, besides the altar of the Lord which is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And Phinehas the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation of Israel who were with him heard the words which the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh spoke; and it pleased them.

¹⁶ “The whole assembly of Yahweh says this, 'What is this unfaithfulness that you have committed against the God of Israel, by turning this day from following Yahweh by building yourself an altar this day in rebellion against Yahweh?

¹⁷ Was our sin at Peor not enough for us? Yet we have not even now cleansed ourselves from it. For that sin there came a plague on the assembly of Yahweh.

¹⁸ Must you also turn away from following Yahweh at this present day? If you also rebel against Yahweh today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole assembly of Israel.

¹⁹ If the land that you possess is defiled, then you should pass over into the land where Yahweh's tabernacle stands and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us by building an altar for yourselves other than the altar of Yahweh our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan son of Zerah break faith in the matter of those things that had been reserved for God? Did not wrath fall on all the people of Israel? That man did not perish alone for his iniquity.'”

²¹ Then the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh replied in answer to the heads of the clans of Israel:

²² “The Mighty One, God, Yahweh! The Mighty One, God, Yahweh!—He knows, and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against Yahweh, do not spare us on this day

²³ for having built an altar to turn ourselves away from following Yahweh. If we built that altar in order to offer on it burnt offerings, grain offerings, or peace offerings, then let Yahweh make us pay for it.

²⁴ No! We did it for fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, 'What have you to do with Yahweh, the God of Israel?

²⁵ For Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you. You people of Reuben and people of Gad, you have nothing to do with Yahweh.' So your children might make our children cease to worship Yahweh.

²⁶ So we said, 'Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offerings nor for any sacrifices,

²⁷ but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we will perform the service of Yahweh before him, with our burnt offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, so that your children will never say to our children in time to come, “You have no share in Yahweh.”'

²⁸ So we said, 'If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we would say, “Look! This is a copy of the altar of Yahweh, which our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.”

²⁹ May it be far from us that we should rebel against Yahweh, and today turn away from following him by building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering, or for sacrifice, other than the altar of Yahweh our God that is before his tabernacle.'”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the people, that is, the heads of the clans of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh said, that it was good in their eyes.

¹⁶ “The whole congregation of Yahweh says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following Yahweh, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against Yahweh?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of Yahweh,

¹⁸ that you must turn away today from following Yahweh? It will be, since you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than Yahweh our God’s altar.

²⁰ Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’”

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² “The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, the Mighty One, God, Yahweh, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against Yahweh (don’t save us today),

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn away from following Yahweh; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let Yahweh himself require it.

²⁴ “If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, “What have you to do with Yahweh, the God of Israel?

²⁵ For Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no portion in Yahweh.”’ So your children might make our children cease from fearing Yahweh.

²⁶ “Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;

²⁷ but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of Yahweh before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;’ that your children may not tell our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in Yahweh.’

²⁸ “Therefore we said, ‘It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, “Behold the pattern of Yahweh’s altar, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.”’

²⁹ “Far be it from us that we should rebel against Yahweh, and turn away today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides Yahweh our God’s altar that is before his tabernacle!”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well.

¹⁶ “The whole congregation of the LORD says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following the LORD, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against the LORD?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of the LORD,

¹⁸ that you must turn away today from following the LORD? It will be, since you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession amongst us; but don’t rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than the LORD our God’s altar.

²⁰ Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’”

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² “The Mighty One, God, the LORD, the Mighty One, God, the LORD, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against the LORD (don’t save us today),

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn away from following the LORD; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let the LORD himself require it.

²⁴ “If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, “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 children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.”’ So your children might make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ “Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;

²⁷ but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;’ that your children may not tell our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in the LORD.’

²⁸ “Therefore we said, ‘It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, “Behold the pattern of the LORD’s altar, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.”’

²⁹ “Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn away today from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides the LORD our God’s altar that is before his tabernacle!”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well.

¹⁶ Thus saith the whole congregation of the LORD, What trespass is this that ye have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the LORD, in that ye have built you an altar, that ye might rebel this day against the LORD?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,

¹⁸ But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to-day against the LORD, that to-morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ Not withstanding, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass ye over to the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD'S tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of the LORD our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

²¹ Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and said to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it is in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)

²³ That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer on it burnt-offering, or meat-offering, or if to offer peace-offerings on it, let the LORD himself require it ;

²⁴ And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children may speak to our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel?

²⁵ For the LORD hath made Jordan a boundary between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD. So shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice:

²⁷ But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we may do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.

²⁸ Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they shall so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.

²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt-offerings, for meat-offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, and heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them.

¹⁶ “The whole congregation of the LORD says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following the LORD, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against the LORD?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of the LORD,

¹⁸ that you must turn away today from following the LORD? It will be, since you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than the LORD our God’s altar.

²⁰ Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’”

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² “The Mighty One, God, the LORD, the Mighty One, God, the LORD, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against the LORD (don’t save us today),

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn away from following the LORD; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let the LORD himself require it.

²⁴ “If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, “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 children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.”’ So your children might make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ “Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;

²⁷ but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;’ that your children may not tell our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in the LORD.’

²⁸ “Therefore we said, ‘It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, “Behold the pattern of the LORD’s altar, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.”’

²⁹ “Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn away today from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides the LORD our God’s altar that is before his tabernacle!”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well.

¹⁶ “The whole congregation of the LORD says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following the LORD, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against the LORD?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of the LORD,

¹⁸ that you must turn away today from following the LORD? It will be, since you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession amongst us; but don’t rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than the LORD our God’s altar.

²⁰ Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’”

²¹ Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² “The Mighty One, God, the LORD, the Mighty One, God, the LORD, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against the LORD (don’t save us today),

²³ that we have built us an altar to turn away from following the LORD; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let the LORD himself require it.

²⁴ “If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, “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 children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.”’ So your children might make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ “Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice;

²⁷ but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of the LORD before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings;’ that your children may not tell our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in the LORD.’

²⁸ “Therefore we said, ‘It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, “Behold the pattern of the LORD’s altar, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you.”’

²⁹ “Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn away today from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides the LORD our God’s altar that is before his tabernacle!”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well.

¹⁶ All the people of the Lord sendeth to you, these things; What is this trespassing? Why have ye forsaken the Lord God of Israel, and have builded a cursed altar, and have gone away from the worshipping of him?

¹⁷ Whether the sin of Peor is little to you, of which we be not clean till to this day, and many of the people felled down?

¹⁸ And today ye have forsaken the Lord, and tomorrow, that is, in time to coming, the ire or wrath of him shall be fierce against all Israel.

¹⁹ That if ye guess that the land of your possession is unclean, pass ye to the land, in which the tabernacle of the Lord is, and dwell ye among us, only that ye go not away from the Lord, and from our fellowship, by an altar builded beside the altar of our Lord God.

²⁰ Whether not Achan, the son of Zerah, trespassed the commandment of the Lord, and his ire felled on all the people of Israel? And he was one man; and we would that he alone had perished in his trespass.

²¹ And the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of half the lineage of Manasseh, answered to the princes of the message of Israel,

²² The strongest Lord God himself of Israel knoweth, and Israel shall understand altogether;

²³ if we builded this altar for intent of trespassing, that is, of idolatry, the Lord keep not us, but punish he us in this present time; and if we did by that mind, that we should put thereon burnt sacrifices, and sacrifice, and peaceable sacrifices, he seek, and deem;

²⁴ and not more, rather, we did it with this thinking and treating, that we should say thus, Your sons here-after shall say to our sons, What is to you and to the Lord God of Israel? or, What claim ye to be of his people?

²⁵ O! ye sons of Reuben, and ye sons of Gad, the Lord hath set a term, the flood Jordan, betwixt us and you; and therefore ye have no part in the Lord; and by this occasion your sons shall turn away our sons from the dread of the Lord.

²⁶ Therefore we guessed better, and we said, Build we an altar to us, not into burnt sacrifices, neither to sacrifices to be offered,

²⁷ but into witnessing betwixt us and you, and betwixt our children and your generation, that we serve the Lord, and that it be of our right to offer burnt sacrifices, and sacrifices, and peaceable sacrifices; and that your sons say not tomorrow to our sons, No part in the Lord is to you.

²⁸ And if your sons will say this, our sons shall answer them, Lo! the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not into burnt sacrifices, neither into slain sacrifices, but into our and your witnessing everlasting.

²⁹ Far be this trespass from us, that we go away from the Lord, and forsake his steps, by an altar builded to burnt sacrifices, and slain sacrifices, and sacrifices of praising to be offered thereon, besides the altar of the Lord our God, that is builded before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And when these things were heard, Phinehas, the priest, and the princes of the message of Israel, that were with him, were pleased; and they received gladly the words of the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the half lineage of Manasseh.

¹⁶ All the people of the Lord sendeth to you, (and asketh) these things; What is this trespassing? Why have ye forsaken the Lord God of Israel, and have builded a cursed altar, and have gone away from the worshipping of him?

¹⁷ Whether the sin of Peor is little to you, of which we (still) be not clean till to this day, and many of the people felled down (there)?

¹⁸ And today ye have forsaken the Lord, and tomorrow, that is, in time to coming, (or that is, in the time to come), the ire of him shall be fierce against all Israel.

¹⁹ That if ye guess that the land of your possession is unclean, pass ye (over) to the land, in which the tabernacle of the Lord is, and dwell ye among us, only that ye go not away from the Lord, and from our fellowship, by an altar builded beside the altar of our Lord God. (But if ye think that the land of your possession is unclean, then come ye back here to the land where the Tabernacle of the Lord is, and live ye among us, so only that ye go not away from the Lord, and from our fellowship, with an altar built in addition to the altar of the Lord our God.)

²⁰ Whether not Achan, the son of Zerah, passed the commandment of the Lord, and his ire felled on all the people of Israel? And he was one man; and we would that he alone had perished in his trespass. (Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, pass over the Lord’s command, and then the Lord’s anger fell on all the people of Israel? And Achan was but one man; and we wish that he alone had perished for his trespass.)

²¹ And the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of half the lineage of Manasseh, answered to the princes of the message of Israel, (And the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh, answered to the leaders of the families of Israel, and said,)

²² The strongest Lord God himself of Israel knoweth, and Israel shall understand altogether; (The most strong Lord God of Israel himself knoweth, and Israel must also understand;)

²³ if we builded this altar for intent of trespassing, that is, of idolatry, the Lord keep not us, but punish he us in this present time; and if we did by that mind, that we should put thereon burnt sacrifices, and sacrifice(s), and peaceable sacrifices, he seek, and deem; (that if we have built this altar with the intention of trespassing, that is, for idolatry, the Lord should not allow us to live, and he should punish us right now; yea, if we did it for this purpose, so that we could put on it burnt sacrifices, and sacrifices, and peace offerings, or grain offerings, let him seek it out, and judge us right now;)

²⁴ and not more, rather, (that) we did it with this thinking and treating, that we should say thus, (If) Your sons hereafter shall say to our sons, What is to you and to the Lord God of Israel? or, What claim (have) ye to be of his people?

²⁵ O! ye sons of Reuben, and ye sons of Gad, the Lord hath set a term, the flood Jordan, betwixt us and you; and therefore ye have no part in the Lord; and by this occasion your sons shall turn away our sons from the dread of the Lord. (and they say, O ye sons of Reuben! and ye sons of Gad, the Lord hath set a border, the Jordan River, between us and you; and so ye have no part in the Lord; and in this way your sons and daughters shall turn away our sons and daughters from the fear of the Lord or from reverence for the Lord.)

²⁶ Therefore we guessed (it) better, and we said, Build we an altar to us, not into burnt sacrifices, neither to sacrifices to be offered, (And so we thought about it, and we said to each other, Let us build an altar for ourselves, not for burnt sacrifices, nor for sacrifices to be offered,)

²⁷ but into witnessing betwixt us and you, and betwixt our children and your generation, that we serve the Lord, and that it be of our right to offer burnt sacrifices, and sacrifices, and peaceable sacrifices; and that your sons say not tomorrow to our sons, No part in the Lord is to you. (but as a witness between us and you, and between our children and your children, that we serve the same Lord, and that it be our right to offer burnt sacrifices, and sacrifices, and peace offerings, or grain offerings; and so your children shall not be able to say to our children tomorrow, and the next day, There is no part for you in the Lord.)

²⁸ And if your sons will say this, our sons shall answer (to) them, Lo! the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not into burnt sacrifices, neither into slain sacrifices, but into our and your witnessing everlasting, (or not for burnt sacrifices, nor for slain sacrifices, but for an everlasting witness between us and you).

²⁹ Far be this trespass from us, that we go away from the Lord, and forsake his steps, by an altar builded to burnt sacrifices, and slain sacrifices, and sacrifices of praising to be offered thereon, besides the altar of the Lord our God, that is builded before his tabernacle. (So let this trespass be far from us, that we would ever go away from the Lord, and forsake to follow his steps, with an altar built for burnt sacrifices, and slain sacrifices, and grain offerings to be offered on it, in addition to the altar of the Lord our God, that standeth before his Tabernacle.)

³⁰ And when these things were heard, Phinehas, the priest, and the princes of the message of Israel, that were with him, were pleased; and they received gladly the words of the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the half lineage of Manasseh. (And when these words were heard, Phinehas, the priest, and the leaders of the families of Israel who were with him, were pleased; and they gladly received the words of the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and of the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh.)

¹⁶ 'Thus said all the company of Jehovah, What is this trespass which ye have trespassed against the God of Israel, to turn back to-day from after Jehovah, by your building for you an altar, for your rebelling to-day against Jehovah?

¹⁷ Is the iniquity of Peor little to us, from which we have not been cleansed till this day — and the plague is in the company of Jehovah,

¹⁸ that ye turn back to-day from after Jehovah? and it hath been — ye rebel to-day against Jehovah — and to-morrow against all the company of Israel He is wroth.

¹⁹ 'And surely, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over for you unto the land of the possession of Jehovah, where the tabernacle of Jehovah hath tabernacled, and have possession in our midst; and against Jehovah rebel not, and against us rebel not, by your building for you an altar, besides the altar of Jehovah our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and on all the company of Israel there was wrath? and he alone expired not in his iniquity.'

²¹ And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, answer and speak with the heads of the thousands of Israel:

²² 'The God of gods — Jehovah, the God of gods — Jehovah, He is knowing, and Israel, he doth know, if in rebellion, and if in trespass against Jehovah (Thou dost not save us this day!)

²³ we are building for ourselves an altar to turn back from after Jehovah, and if to cause to go up on it burnt-offering and present, and if to make on it peace-offerings — Jehovah Himself doth require it.

²⁴ 'And if not, from fear of this thing we have done it, saying, Hereafter your sons do speak to ours sons, saying, What to you and to Jehovah God of Israel?

²⁵ for a border hath Jehovah put between us and you, O sons of Reuben, and sons of Gad — Jordan; ye have no portion in Jehovah — and your sons have caused our sons to cease, not to fear Jehovah.

²⁶ 'And we say, Pray let us prepare for ourselves to build the altar — not for burnt-offering nor for sacrifice —

²⁷ but a witness it is between us and you, and between our generations after us, to do the service of Jehovah before Him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings, and your sons do not say hereafter to our sons, Ye have no portion in Jehovah.

²⁸ 'And we say, And it hath been, when they say so unto us, and unto our generations hereafter, that we have said, See the pattern of the altar of Jehovah, which our fathers made — not for burnt-offering nor for sacrifice — but a witness it is between us and you.

²⁹ 'Far be it from us to rebel against Jehovah, and to turn back to-day from after Jehovah, to build an altar for burnt-offering, for present, and for sacrifice, apart from the altar of Jehovah our God, which is before His tabernacle.'

³⁰ And Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the company, and the heads of the thousands of Israel, who are with him, hear the words which the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh have spoken, and it is good in their eyes.