Inspire: Joshua, Judges & Ruth 978-1-4964-7519-0 - Flipbook - Page 47
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13 First, however, they sent a delegation led by Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest,
to talk with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 14 In this
delegation were ten leaders of Israel, one from each of the ten tribes, and each
the head of his family within the clans of Israel.
15 When they arrived in the land of Gilead, they said to the tribes of Reuben, Gad,
and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 16 “The whole community of the Lord demands
to know why you are betraying the God of Israel.
How could you turn away from the LORD
and build an altar
for yourselves
in rebellion against him?
17 Was our sin at Peor not enough? To this day we are not fully cleansed of it, even
after the plague that struck the entire community of the Lord. 18 And yet today
you are turning away from following the Lord. If you rebel against the Lord
today, he will be angry with all of us tomorrow.
19 “If you need the altar because the land you possess is defiled, then join us in
the Lord’s land, where the Tabernacle of the Lord is situated, and share our land
with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar other
than the one true altar of the Lord our God. 20 Didn’t divine anger fall on the
entire community of Israel when Achan, a member of the clan of Zerah, sinned
by stealing the things set apart for the Lord? He was not the only one who died
because of his sin.”
21 Then the people of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the
heads of the clans of Israel:
“The LORD, the Mighty One, is God!
22
TheL ORD ,
the Mighty One,
is God!
He knows the truth, and may Israel know it, too! We have not built the altar in
treacherous rebellion against the Lord. If we have done so, do not spare our lives
this day. 23 If we have built an altar for ourselves to turn away from the Lord or
to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings, may the Lord himself punish us.
24 “The truth is, we have built this altar because we fear that in the future your
descendants will say to ours, ‘What right do you have to worship the Lord, the
God of Israel? 25 The Lord has placed the Jordan River as a barrier between our
people and you people of Reuben and Gad. You have no claim to the Lord.’ So
your descendants may prevent our descendants from worshiping the Lord.
