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:
22. “The lord, the Mighty One, is God! The lord, 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.
26. “So we decided to build the altar, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices,
27. but as a memorial. It will remind our descendants and your descendants that we, too, have the right to worship the lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and peace offerings. Then your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no claim to the lord.’
28. “If they say this, our descendants can reply, ‘Look at this copy of the lord’s altar that our ancestors made. It is not for burnt offerings or sacrifices; it is a reminder of the relationship both of us have with the lord.’
29. Far be it from us to rebel against the lord or turn away from him by building our own altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings, or sacrifices. Only the altar of the lord our God that stands in front of the Tabernacle may be used for that purpose.”