Numbers 32

¹Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock,

²the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,

³“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon,

⁴the country which the Lord

⁵Therefore they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.”

⁶And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?

⁷Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord

⁸Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.

⁹For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the Lord

¹⁰So the Lord

¹¹‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me,

¹²except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord

¹³So the Lord

¹⁴And look! You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord

¹⁵For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

¹⁶Then they came near to him and said: “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones,

¹⁷but we ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁸We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance.

¹⁹For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.”

²⁰Then Moses said to them: “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the Lord

²¹and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord

²²and the land is subdued before the Lord

²³But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord

²⁴Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what has proceeded out of your mouth.”

²⁵And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying: “Your servants will do as my lord commands.

²⁶Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead;

²⁷but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the Lord

²⁸So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel.

²⁹And Moses said to them: “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord

³⁰But if they do not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”

³¹Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying: “As the Lord

³²We will cross over armed before the Lord

³³So Moses gave to the children of Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land with its cities within the borders, the cities of the surrounding country.

³⁴And the children of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer,

³⁵Atroth and Shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah,

³⁶Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep.

³⁷And the children of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kirjathaim,

³⁸Nebo and Baal Meon (their names being changed) and Shibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built.

³⁹And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.

⁴⁰So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt in it.

⁴¹Also Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its small towns, and called them Havoth Jair.

⁴²Then Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah, after his own name.