12 When the ⌊Israelites⌋o heard of it, the whole congregation of the ⌊Israelites⌋p gathered at Shiloh to go up against them for battle. 13 And the ⌊Israelites⌋q sent to the descendantsr of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, Phinehas the priest son of Eleazar, 14 and ten leaders with him, ⌊one leader for each⌋s ⌊family⌋t from each of the tribes of Israel; and each one was the head of ⌊his family⌋u among the clans of Israel.v 15 They came to the descendantsw of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, 16 “Thus says all the congregation of Yahweh: ‘What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel by turning away today from following Yahweh, by building for yourselves an altar to rebel today against Yahweh? 17 Is not the sin of Peor ⌊enough for us⌋,x from which we have not cleansed ourselves today, and for which a plague came to the congregation of Yahweh, 18 that you must turn today from following Yahweh? If you rebel today against Yahweh, tomorrow he will be angry with all of the congregation of Israel; 19 if, however, the land of your property is unclean, cross over to the land of Yahweh’s property, where Yahweh’s tabernacle resides,y and take possession among us. But you must not rebel against Yahweh or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of Yahweh our God. 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 34 The descendantsb of Reuben and Gad called the altar Witness, “Because,” they said, “it is a witness between us that Yahweh is God.”