20 Did not Achan son of Zerah commit treachery with devoted things,z and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? ⌊And he alone⌋a did not perish because of his iniquity.’ ”

21 And the descendantsb of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh spoke with the heads of the clansc of Israel, 22 “Yahweh, God of gods! Yahweh, God of gods knows. And let Israel itself know, if it was in rebellion or treachery against Yahweh, do not spare us this day 23 for building for ourselves an altar to turn away from Yahweh, or if it was to offer burnt offerings,d grain offerings,e or fellowship offerings on it, may Yahweh himself take vengeance. 24 But in fact, we have done this because of anxiety, because of a reason, saying, ‘In the future your children may say to our children, ‘⌊What is the relationship between you and Yahweh the God of Israel⌋?f 25 Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, the descendantsg of Reuben and Gad; you have no portion in Yahweh.’ So your children may put an end to our children worshipingh Yahweh. 26 So we said, ‘Let us build immediately for ourselves an altar, not for burnt offeringsi or for sacrifices;j 27 instead, it is a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us for performing the serving of Yahweh in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings; so that your children may not say in the future to our children, “You have no portion in Yahweh.” ’ 28 And we thought, if they say to us and to our children in the future, we can say, ‘Look at this replica of the altar of Yahweh, which our ancestorsk made, not for burnt offeringsl or sacrifices;m rather, it is a witness between us and you.’ 29 Far be it from us to rebel against Yahweh, to turn today from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offerings,n grain offerings,o or sacrifices,p instead of the altar of Yahweh our God that is before his tabernacle.”

30 Phinehas the priest, the leaders of the congregation, and the heads of the clansq of Israel who were with him heard the words that the descendantsr of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh spoke, and ⌊they were satisfied⌋.s 31 Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, said to the descendantst of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that Yahweh is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against Yahweh. Therefore you have rescued the ⌊Israelites⌋u from the hand of Yahweh.”

32 And Phinehas the priest, son of Eleazar, and the leaders returned from the descendantsv of Reuben and Gad, from the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan to the ⌊Israelites⌋,w and ⌊they gave them their report⌋.x 33 ⌊The report satisfied the Israelites⌋;y they blessed God, and they did not speak of going up for battle against them to destroy the land in which the descendantsz of Reuben and Gad were living.a