9
And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh returned, departing from the sons of Israel out of Shiloh, which
is in the land of Canaan, to go unto the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, of which they were the possessors, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
10
And when they came unto the borders of the Jordan, which
is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built an altar there next to the Jordan, a great altar to look upon.
11
And the sons of Israel heard it said, Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of the Jordan, at the passage of the sons of Israel.
12
And when the sons of Israel heard
of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.
13
And the sons of Israel sent unto the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half tribe of Manasseh into the land of Gilead, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest,
14
and with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one
was the head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.
15
And they came unto the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half tribe of Manasseh unto the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying,
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 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, for which there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD?
18
And ye turn away this day from following the LORD; and it will be,
seeing ye rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
19
If the land of your possession seems unto you
to be unclean,
then pass ye over unto the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD’s tabernacle dwells and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building yourselves an altar in addition to the altar of the LORD our God.