Numbers 32
1 And the children of Ruben and the children of Gad had a multitude of cattle, very great; and they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Galaad; and the place was a place for cattle:
The tribes of Reuben and Gad had large numbers of livestock and saw that the land of Jazer and Gilead was a good place to rear them.
2 and the children of Ruben and the children of Gad came, and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying,
So they came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the Israelite leaders and said,
3 Ataroth, and Daebon, and Jazer, and Namra, and Esebon, and Eleale, and Sebama, and Nabau, and Baean,
“The towns of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
4 the land which the Lord has delivered up before the children of Israel, is pasture land, and your servants have cattle.
which the Lord conquered in full view of the Israelites, are well-suited for the livestock that we your servants own.”
5 And they said, If we have found grace in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession, and do not cause us to pass over Jordan.
They continued, “Please respond to our request favorably: give us this land. Don't make us cross the Jordan.”
6 And Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Ruben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall you sit here?
In reply Moses asked the tribes of Gad and Reuben, “Are you expecting your brothers to go and fight while you just sit here?
7 And why do you pervert the minds of the children of Israel, that they should not cross over into the land, which the Lord gives them?
Why discourage the Israelites from crossing into the country that the Lord has given them?
8 Did not your fathers thus, when I sent them from Cades Barne to spy out the land?
This is just what your fathers did when I sent them out from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land.
9 And they went up to the valley of the cluster, and spied the land, and turned aside the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land, which the Lord gave them.
After your fathers traveled up the valley of Eshcol and explored the land, they discouraged the Israelites, persuading them not to enter the country that the Lord had given them.
10 And the Lord was very angry in that day, and sware, saying,
As a result, they made the Lord very angry that day, and he swore this oath,
11 Surely these men who came up out of Egypt from twenty years old and upward, who know good and evil, shall not see the land which I sware [to give] to Abraam and Isaac and Jacob, for they have not closely followed after me:
‘Not a single one of those I saved from Egypt who is twenty years old or older will ever see the land I promised with an oath to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they were not completely committed to me—
12 save Caleb the son of Jephonne, who was set apart, and Joshua the son of Naue, for they closely followed after the Lord.
no one except Caleb, son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua, son of Nun, because they were completely committed to me.’
13 And the Lord was very angry with Israel; and for forty years he caused them to wander in the wilderness, until all the generation which did evil in the sight of the Lord was extinct.
The Lord was angry with Israel, and made them wander around in the desert for forty years, until the whole generation who had done evil in his sight had died.
14 Behold, you are risen up in the room of your fathers, a combination of sinful men, to increase yet farther the fierce wrath of the Lord against Israel.
Now look at you, you brood of sinners who have come to take your fathers' place to make the Lord even angrier with Israel!
15 For you will turn away from him to desert him yet once more in the wilderness, and you will sin against this whole congregation.
If you give up following him, he will abandon these people in the desert once again, and their deaths will be your fault!”
16 And they came to him, and said, We will build here folds for our cattle, and cities for our possessions;
Then the tribes of Gad and Reuben came to Moses and told him, “We would plan to build stone walls to keep our livestock safe and towns for our children.
17 and we will arm ourselves and go as an advanced guard before the children of Israel, until we shall have brought them into their place; and our possessions shall remain in walled cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
But we will still get ourselves ready for battle, and we will be prepared to lead the Israelites until they can safely occupy their land. In the meantime, our children will stay behind, living in the fortified towns to protect them from the local people.
18 We will not return to our houses till the children of Israel shall have been distributed, each to his own inheritance.
We won't return to our homes until every Israelite is in possession of their allotted land.
19 And we will not any longer inherit with them from the other side of Jordan and onwards, because we have our full inheritance on the side beyond Jordan eastward.
However, we won't own any land on the other side of the Jordan because we've received this land to own on this eastern side of the Jordan.”
20 And Moses said to them, If you will do according to these words, if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle,
Moses responded, “If this is what you will actually do, if you will get yourselves ready for battle under the Lord's direction,
21 and every one of you will pass over Jordan fully armed before the Lord, until his enemy be destroyed from before his face,
and if all your troops cross the Jordan with the Lord until he has driven out his enemies ahead of him,
22 and the land shall be subdued before the Lord, then afterwards you shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and as regards Israel; and this land shall be to you for a possession before the Lord.
then once the country is conquered with the Lord's help then you may return, and you will have fulfilled your obligations to the Lord and to Israel. You will own this land, granted to you by the Lord.
23 But if you will not do so, you will sin against the Lord; and you shall know your sin, when afflictions shall come upon you.
But if you fail to do this, you will clearly be sinning against the Lord, and the consequences of your sin will catch up with you.
24 And you shall build for yourselves cities for your store, and folds for your cattle; and you shall do that which proceeds out of your mouth.
Go ahead and build towns for your children and stone walls for your flocks, but make sure you do what you've promised!”
25 And the sons of Ruben and the sons of Gad spoke to Moses, saying, Your servants will do as our lord commands.
The tribes of Gad and Reuben promised Moses, “Sir, we your servants will do just as you have ordered.
26 Our store, and our wives, and all our cattle shall be in the cities of Galaad.
Our wives and children, our livestock and all our animals, will all remain here in the towns of Gilead.
27 But your servants will go over all armed and set in order before the Lord to battle, as [our] lord says.
But we your servants are ready for battle, and all our troops will cross over to fight with the Lord's help, just as you have said, sir.”
28 And Moses appointed to them [for judges] Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Naue, and the chiefs of the families of the tribes of Israel.
Moses gave the following instructions about them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua, son of Nun, and to the family leaders of the tribes of Israel.
29 And Moses said to them, If the sons of Ruben and the sons of Gad will pass over Jordan with you, every one armed for war before the Lord, and you shall subdue the land before you, then you shall give to them the land of Galaad for a possession.
Moses told them, “If the tribes of Gadites and Reuben cross the Jordan with you, with all their troops ready for battle with the Lord's help, and the land is conquered as you advance, then give them the land of Gilead to own.
30 But if they will not pass over armed with you to war before the Lord, then shall you cause to pass over their possessions and their wives and their cattle before you into the land of Chanaan, and they shall inherit with you in the land of Chanaan.
But if they don't get themselves ready for battle and cross over with you, then they must accept their allotted land among you in the country of Canaan.”
31 And the sons of Ruben and the sons of Gad answered, saying, Whatsoever the Lord says to his servants, that will we do.
The tribes of Gad and Reuben responded, “We will do just as the Lord has told us, your servants.
32 We will go over armed before the Lord into the land of Chanaan, and you shall give us our inheritance beyond Jordan.
We will cross over and enter the country of Canaan ready for battle with the Lord's help, so that we may have our allotted share of land on this side of the Jordan.”
33 And Moses gave to them, even to the sons of Gad and the sons of Ruben, and to the half tribe of Manasse of the sons of Joseph, the kingdom of Seon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Basan, the land and its cities with its coasts, the cities of the land round about.
So Moses gave to the tribes of Gad and Reubenites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan. This land included its towns and their surrounding area.
34 And the sons of Gad built Daebon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,
The people of Gad rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
35 and Sophar, and Jazer, and they set them up,
Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,
36 and Namram, and Baetharan, strong cities, and folds for sheep.
Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified towns, and they built stone walls for their flocks.
37 And the sons of Ruben built Esebon, and Eleale, and Kariatham,
The people of Reuben rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
38 and Beelmeon, surrounded [with walls], and Sebama; and they called the names of the cities which they built, after their own names.
as well as Nebo and Baal-meon (changing their names), and Sibmah. In fact they renamed those towns they rebuilt.
39 And a son of Machir the son of Manasse went to Galaad, and took it, and destroyed the Amorite who lived in it.
The descendants of Machir, son of Manasseh, attacked Gilead and captured it. They drove out the Amorites who were living there.
40 And Moses gave Galaad to Machir the son of Manasse, and he lived there.
So Moses gave Gilead to the family of Machir, son of Manasseh, and they settled there.
41 And Jair the [son] of Manasse went and took their villages, and called them the villages of Jair.
Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, attacked their villages and captured them. He named them the Villages of Jair.
42 And Nabau went and took Caath and her villages, and called them Naboth after his name.
Nobah attacked Kenath and captured it, along with its villages. He named it Nobah after himself.
