¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

² Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, saying,

³ Whatever man there may be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp,

⁴ And bringeth it not to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed to that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people:

⁵ To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them to the LORD, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to the priest, and offer them for peace-offerings to the LORD.

⁶ And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savor to the LORD.

⁷ And they shall no more offer their sacrifices to idols, with which they have committed idolatry: This shall be a statute for ever to them throughout their generations.

⁸ And thou shalt say to them, Whatever man there may be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt-offering or sacrifice,

⁹ And bringeth it not to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it to the LORD; even that man shall be cut off from among his people.

¹⁰ And whatever man there may be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

¹¹ For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

¹² Therefore I said to the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.

¹³ And whatever man there may be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, who hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out its blood, and cover it with dust.

¹⁴ For it is the life of all flesh, the blood of it is for the life of it; therefore I said to the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is its blood: whoever eateth it shall be cut off.

¹⁵ And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, (whether it is one of your own country, or a stranger) he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening; then shall he be clean.

¹⁶ But if he doth not wash them, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.

¹ Then Joshua called the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,

² And said to them, Ye have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you:

³ Ye have not left your brethren these many days to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God.

⁴ And now the LORD your God hath given rest to your brethren, as he promised them: therefore now return ye, and go to your tents, and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of Jordan.

⁵ But take diligent heed to perform the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave to him, and to serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul.

⁶ So Joshua blessed them and sent them away; and they went to their tents.

⁷ Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given possession in Bashan: but to the other half of it gave Joshua among their brethren on this side of Jordan westward. And when Joshua sent them away also to their tents, then he blessed them,

⁸ And he spoke to them, saying, Return with much riches to your tents, and with very many cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.

⁹ And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, of which they were possessed, according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

¹⁰ And when they came to the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to the sight.

¹¹ And the children of Israel heard it said, Behold, the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, have built an altar over against the land of Canaan, in the borders of Jordan, at the passage of the children of Israel.

¹² And when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled at Shiloh, to go up to war against them.

¹³ And the children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben, and to the children 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 a head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.

¹⁵ And they came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to 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 you 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, although there was a plague in the congregation of the LORD,

¹⁸ But that ye must turn away this day from following the LORD? and it will be, seeing ye rebel to-day against the LORD, that to-morrow he will be wroth with the whole congregation of Israel.

¹⁹ Not withstanding, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass ye over to the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD'S tabernacle dwelleth, and take possession among us: but rebel not against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building you an altar besides the altar of the LORD our God.

²⁰ Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.

²¹ Then the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and said to the heads of the thousands of Israel,

²² The LORD God of gods, The LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it is in rebellion, or if in transgression against The LORD, (save us not this day,)

²³ That we have built us an altar to turn from following the LORD, or if to offer on it burnt-offering, or meat-offering, or if to offer peace-offerings on it, let the LORD himself require it;

²⁴ And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children may speak to our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel?

²⁵ For the LORD hath made Jordan a boundary between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the LORD. So shall your children make our children cease from fearing the LORD.

²⁶ Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt-offering, nor for sacrifice:

²⁷ But that it may be a witness between us, and you, and our generations after us, that we may do the service of the LORD before him with our burnt-offerings, and with our sacrifices, and with our peace-offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the LORD.

²⁸ Therefore said we, that it shall be, when they shall so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, Behold the pattern of the altar of the LORD, which our fathers made, not for burnt-offerings, nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you.

²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the LORD, and turn this day from following the LORD, to build an altar for burnt-offerings, for meat-offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the LORD our God that is before his tabernacle.

³⁰ And when Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, and heads of the thousands of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them.

³¹ And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because ye have not committed this trespass against the LORD: now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD.

³² And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again.

³³ And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and did not intend to go up against them in battle, to destroy the land in which the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

³⁴ And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed: for it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.