Numbers 32

1 Now the sons of Ruben and of Gad had many herds, and their substance in cattle was inestimable. And when they had seen that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for feeding animals,

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:

2 they went to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the multitude, and they said:

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,

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

Ataroth, and Daebon, and Jazer, and Namra, and Esebon, and Eleale, and Sebama, and Nabau, and Baean,

4 the land, which the Lord has struck in the sight of the sons of Israel, is a very fertile region for pasturing animals. And we, your servants, have very many cattle.

the land which the Lord has delivered up before the children of Israel, is pasture land, and your servants have cattle.

5 And so we beseech you, if we have found favor before you, that you give it to us, your subjects, as a possession, and that you not cause us cross the Jordan.”

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.

6 And Moses answered them: “Should your brothers go to battle, while you sit here?

And Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Ruben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall you sit here?

7 Why do you subvert the minds of the sons of Israel, so that they might not dare to cross into the place which the Lord will give to them?

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?

8 Did not your fathers act in the same way, when I sent them from Kadesh-Barnea to explore the land?

Did not your fathers thus, when I sent them from Cades Barne to spy out the land?

9 And when they had gone all the way to the Valley of the Cluster of Grapes, having viewed the entire region, they subverted the hearts of the sons of Israel, so that they would not enter into the parts that the Lord gave to them.

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.

10 And being angry, the Lord swore an oath, saying:

And the Lord was very angry in that day, and sware, saying,

11 ‘These men, who ascended out of Egypt, from twenty years and above, will not see the land, which I have promised under an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For they were not willing to follow me,

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:

12 except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; these have fulfilled my will.’

save Caleb the son of Jephonne, who was set apart, and Joshua the son of Naue, for they closely followed after the Lord.

13 And the Lord, being angry against Israel, led them in a course through the desert for forty years, until the entire generation, which had done evil in his sight, was consumed.

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.

14 And behold,” he said, “you have risen up in the place of your fathers, the offshoots and the nurslings of sinful men, in order to augment the fury of the Lord against Israel.

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.

15 But if you are not willing to follow him, he will leave the people behind in the wilderness, and you will have been the cause of all our deaths.”

For you will turn away from him to desert him yet once more in the wilderness, and you will sin against this whole congregation.

16 But approaching closer, they said: “We will manufacture sheep pens and cattle stalls, as well as fortified cities, for our little ones.

And they came to him, and said, We will build here folds for our cattle, and cities for our possessions;

17 But we ourselves will continue on, armed and girded for battle, before the sons of Israel, until we lead them to their places. Our little ones, and whatever we may be able to have, shall be in walled cities, because of the treachery of the inhabitants.

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.

18 We will not return to our houses, even until the sons of Israel may possess their inheritance.

We will not return to our houses till the children of Israel shall have been distributed, each to his own inheritance.

19 Neither will we seek anything across the Jordan, because we already have our possession on its eastern side.”

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.

20 And Moses said to them: “If you accomplish what you have promised, you may go out, equipped for battle, before the Lord.

And Moses said to them, If you will do according to these words, if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle,

21 And let every fighting man cross over the Jordan, until the Lord overthrows his enemies,

and every one of you will pass over Jordan fully armed before the Lord, until his enemy be destroyed from before his face,

22 and all the land is subjected to him. Then you will be guiltless with the Lord and with Israel, and you will obtain the regions which you desire before the Lord.

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.

23 But if you do not do what you have said, no one could doubt that you will have sinned against God. And know this: your sin shall overtake you.

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.

24 Therefore, build cities for your little ones, and pens and stables for your sheep and cattle; and fulfill what you have promised.”

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.

25 And the sons of Gad and of Ruben said to Moses: “We are your servants, we shall do what you, our ruler, orders.

And the sons of Ruben and the sons of Gad spoke to Moses, saying, Your servants will do as our lord commands.

26 We will leave behind our little ones, and our wives, and the sheep and cattle, in the cities of Gilead.

Our store, and our wives, and all our cattle shall be in the cities of Galaad.

27 And we, your servants, all well-equipped, will go forth to battle, just as you, our ruler, has spoken.”

But your servants will go over all armed and set in order before the Lord to battle, as [our] lord says.

28 Therefore, Moses instructed Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the princes of the families throughout the tribes of Israel, and he said to them:

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.

29 “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Ruben cross over the Jordan with you, all armed for war before the Lord, and if the land becomes subject to you, give them Gilead as a possession.

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.

30 But if they are not willing to cross with you, armed, into the land of Canaan, then let them receive places among you for their dwellings.”

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.

31 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Ruben responded: “Just as the Lord has spoken to his servants, so shall we do.

And the sons of Ruben and the sons of Gad answered, saying, Whatsoever the Lord says to his servants, that will we do.

32 We will go forth, armed, before the Lord into the land of Canaan; and we acknowledge that we have already received our possession across the Jordan.”

We will go over armed before the Lord into the land of Chanaan, and you shall give us our inheritance beyond Jordan.

33 And so, Moses gave to the sons of Gad and of Ruben, 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, and their land with its surrounding cities.

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.

34 Therefore, the sons of Gad built up Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

And the sons of Gad built Daebon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

35 and Atroth and Shophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah,

and Sophar, and Jazer, and they set them up,

36 and Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-Haran, as fortified cities with pens for their cattle.

and Namram, and Baetharan, strong cities, and folds for sheep.

37 Yet truly, the sons of Ruben built up Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim,

And the sons of Ruben built Esebon, and Eleale, and Kariatham,

38 and Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names having been changed) and Sibmah, appointing names for the cities which they had built.

and Beelmeon, surrounded [with walls], and Sebama; and they called the names of the cities which they built, after their own names.

39 Moreover, the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, continued on within Gilead, and they devastated it, putting to death its inhabitant, the Amorite.

And a son of Machir the son of Manasse went to Galaad, and took it, and destroyed the Amorite who lived in it.

40 Therefore, Moses gave the land of Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it.

And Moses gave Galaad to Machir the son of Manasse, and he lived there.

41 But Jair, the son of Manasseh, went out and occupied its villages, which he called Havoth Jair, that is, the Villages of Jair.

And Jair the [son] of Manasse went and took their villages, and called them the villages of Jair.

42 Likewise, Nobah went forth and captured Kenath with its villages. And he called it by his own name, Nobah.

And Nabau went and took Caath and her villages, and called them Naboth after his name.