<p class="bodytext">You also do this: You cover the altar of the <sc>Lordsc> with tears<n id="1" /> as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you.

But if your own land<n id="1" /> is impure,<n id="2" /> cross over to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s own land,<n id="3" /> where the <sc>Lordsc> himself lives,<n id="4" /> and settle down among us.<n id="5" /> But don&#8217;t rebel against the <sc>Lordsc> or us<n id="6" /> by building for yourselves an altar aside from the altar of the <sc>Lordsc> our God.

<p class="bodytext">Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel<n id="1" /> and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the <sc>Lordsc> and worshiped the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then God said to Jacob, &#8220;Go up at once<n id="1" /> to Bethel<n id="2" /> and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.&#8221;<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">&#8216;You must make for me an altar made of earth,<n id="1" /> and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings,<n id="2" /> your sheep and your cattle. In every place<n id="3" /> where I cause my name to be honored<n id="4" /> I will come to you and I will bless you.

and Moses wrote down all the words of the <sc>Lordsc>. Early in the morning he built<n id="1" /> an altar at the foot<n id="2" /> of the mountain and arranged<n id="3" /> twelve standing stones<n id="4" /> &#8211; according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

With it he made the bases for the door of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, and all the utensils of the altar,

He also put the altar for the burnt offering by the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, just as the <sc>Lordsc> had commanded Moses.p>

Then he must present a gift to the <sc>Lordsc> from the peace offering sacrifice: He must remove all the fatty tail up to the end of the spine, the fat covering the entrails, and all the fat on the entrails,<n id="1" />

He must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar<n id="1" /> which is before the <sc>Lordsc> in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.p>

Then the one who brought the offering<n id="1" /> must remove all its fat (just as the fat of the sheep is removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the <sc>Lordsc>. So the priest will make atonement<n id="2" /> on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven.<n id="3" />p>

just as Moses the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s servant had commanded the Israelites. As described in the law scroll of Moses, it was made with uncut stones untouched by an iron tool.<n id="1" /> They offered burnt sacrifices on it and sacrificed tokens of peace.<n id="2" />

&#8220;The entire community of the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;Why have you disobeyed the God of Israel by turning back today from following the <sc>Lordsc>? You built an altar for yourselves and have rebelled today against the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="1" />

If we have built<n id="1" /> an altar for ourselves to turn back from following the <sc>Lordsc> by making<n id="2" /> burnt sacrifices and grain offerings on it, or by offering<n id="3" /> tokens of peace<n id="4" /> on it, the <sc>Lordsc> himself will punish us.<n id="5" />

We said, &#8216;If in the future they say such a thing<n id="1" /> to us or to our descendants, we will reply, &#8220;See the model of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s altar that our ancestors<n id="2" /> made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a reminder to us and you.&#8221;&#8217;<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">That night the <sc>Lordsc> said to him, &#8220;Take the bull from your father&#8217;s herd, as well as a second bull, one that is seven years old.<n id="1" /> Pull down your father&#8217;s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.

Then build an altar for the <sc>Lordsc> your God on the top of this stronghold according to the proper pattern.<n id="1" /> Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt sacrifice on the wood from the Asherah pole that you cut down.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw<n id="1" /> the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar.

The men of the city said to Joash, &#8220;Bring out your son, so we can execute him!<n id="1" /> He pulled down the Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.&#8221;

Araunah said, &#8220;Why has my lord the king come to his servant?&#8221; David replied, &#8220;To buy from you the threshing floor so I can build an altar for the <sc>Lordsc>, so that the plague may be removed from the people.&#8221;