rsv Joshua:22:11-34 SEEK
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And the people of Israel heard say , "
Behold ,
the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas '
seh have built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan ,
in the region about the Jordan ,
on the side that belongs to the people of Israel ."
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And when the people of Israel heard of it ,
the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh ,
to make war against them .
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Then the people of Israel sent to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manas '
seh ,
in the land of Gilead ,
Phin '
ehas the son of Elea '
zar the priest ,
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and with him ten chiefs ,
one from each of the tribal families of Israel ,
every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel .
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And they came to the Reubenites ,
the Gadites ,
and the half-tribe of Manas '
seh ,
in the land of Gilead ,
and they said to them ,
* "
Thus says the whole congregation of the LORD , `
What is this treachery which you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the LORD ,
by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the LORD ?
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Have we not had enough of the sin at Pe '
or from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves ,
and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the LORD ,
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that you must turn away this day from following the LORD ?
And if you rebel against the LORD today he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow .
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But now ,
if your land is unclean ,
pass over into the LORD '
s land where the LORD '
s tabernacle stands ,
and take for yourselves a possession among us ;
only do not rebel against the LORD ,
or make us as rebels by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God .
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Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things ,
and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel ?
And he did not perish alone for his iniquity .'"
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Then the Reubenites ,
the Gadites ,
and the half-tribe of Manas '
seh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel ,
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The Mighty One ,
God ,
the LORD !
The Mighty One ,
God ,
the LORD !
He knows ;
and let Israel itself know !
If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith toward the LORD ,
spare us not today
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for building an altar to turn away from following the LORD ;
or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or cereal offerings or peace offerings on it ,
may the LORD himself take vengeance .
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Nay ,
but we did it from 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 ?
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For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you ,
you Reubenites and Gadites ;
you have no portion in the LORD .'
So your children might make our children cease to worship the LORD .
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Therefore we said , `
Let us now build an altar ,
not for burnt offering ,
nor for sacrifice ,
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but to be a witness between us and you ,
and between the generations after us ,
that we do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings ;
lest your children say to our children in time to come , "
You have no portion in the LORD ."'
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And we thought ,
If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come ,
we should say , `
Behold the copy of the altar of the LORD ,
which our fathers made ,
not for burnt offerings ,
nor for sacrifice ,
but to be a witness between us and you .'
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Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD ,
and turn away this day from following the LORD by building an altar for burnt offering ,
cereal offering ,
or sacrifice ,
other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle !"
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When Phin '
ehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation ,
the heads of the families of Israel who were with him ,
heard the words that the Reubenites and the Gadites and the Manas '
sites spoke ,
it pleased them well .
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And Phin '
ehas the son of Elea '
zar the priest said to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the Manas '
sites , "
Today we know that the LORD is in the midst of us ,
because you have not committed this treachery against the LORD ;
now you have saved the people of Israel from the hand of the LORD ."
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Then Phin '
ehas the son of Elea '
zar the priest ,
and the chiefs ,
returned from the Reubenites and the Gadites in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan ,
to the people of Israel ,
and brought back word to them .
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And the report pleased the people of Israel ;
and the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them ,
to destroy the land where the Reubenites and the Gadites were settled .
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The Reubenites and the Gadites called the altar Witness ; "
For ,"
said they , "
it is a witness between us that the LORD is God ."