< Numbers 32 >

1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle; and they saw the land of Ya'zer, and the land of Gil'ad, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle.
The people of the tribes of Reuben and Gad had much livestock. They saw that the land near Jazer [city] and the Gilead [region east of the Jordan River] had good [grass] for the animals [to graze on].
2 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came, and said unto Moses, and unto Elazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, as followeth,
So their leaders came to Eleazar and the other leaders of the people and Moses/me. They said,
3 'Ataroth, and Dibon, and Ya'zer, and Nimrah, and Cheshbon, and El'aleh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Be'on,
“We have a great amount of livestock.
4 The country which the Lord hath smitten before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle; and thy servants have cattle.
Yahweh has enabled us Israelis to capture some land that is very good for animals [to graze on]—the land near Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon [towns].
5 And they said, If we have found grace in thy eyes, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession: do not compel us to go over the Jordan.
If it pleases you, we would like this land to be ours, instead of land on the other side of the Jordan River.”
6 And Moses said unto the children of Gad, and unto the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to the war, and will ye sit here?
Moses/I replied to the leaders of the tribes of Gad and Reuben, “It is not right for [RHQ] your fellow Israelis to go to fight in wars and you stay here!
7 And wherefore will you turn aside the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them?
[If you do that], you will cause the other Israelis to be discouraged, with the result that they will not cross [the Jordan River] to the land that Yahweh is giving to them [RHQ].
8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea' to see the land.
Your ancestors did the same kind of thing. I sent them from Kadesh-Barnea to see what the land [of Canaan] was like.
9 For they went up as far as the valley of Eshcol, and they saw the land, and then they turned aside the heart of the children of Israel, so that they would not go into the land which the Lord had given them.
They went as far as Eshcol Valley, but when they saw [the huge people in] the land, [they returned and] caused the Israeli people to be discouraged, saying ‘We should not try to enter the land that Yahweh said that he is giving to us.’
10 And the anger of the Lord was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying,
So Yahweh became very angry with them, and he solemnly declared this:
11 Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
‘From all the people who came out of Egypt, the only ones who are at least 20 years old who will see the land that I promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are Jephunneh’s son Caleb and Nun’s son Joshua, because they trusted me completely. None of the other people who came out of Egypt will even see that land, because they have not completely believed in my [power].’
12 Save Caleb the son of Yephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; for they have wholly followed the Lord.
13 And the anger of the Lord was thus kindled against Israel, and he made them wander about in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation was spent, that had done the evil in the eyes of the Lord.
So Yahweh was angry with the Israeli people, and [as a result] he has caused us to wander in this desert for 40 years. Finally, all the people who had sinned against Yahweh [by refusing to trust him] died, [one by one].
14 And now, behold, ye are risen up in your father's stead, a new race of sinful men, to augment yet more the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel.
And you are acting like your ancestors did! You sinful Israeli people are going to cause Yahweh to be more angry with you [than he was with our ancestors]
15 For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet longer leave them in the wilderness; and ye will thus be destruction to all this people.
If you stop trusting him, he will cause you and all your fellow Israelis to stay longer in the desert, and he will get rid of all of you!”
16 And they came near unto him, and said, Sheepfolds will we build for our cattle here, and cities for our little ones;
Then the [leaders of the tribes of Reuben and Gad] said to Moses/me, “First we will build pens for our animals and build cities for our families here.
17 But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until that we have brought them unto their place; and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities, because of the inhabitants of the land.
Then our families will live in strong cities with walls around them, and they will be safe from the people who live in this land. Then we will get ready to fight battles. We will help the other Israelis to get land [on the other side of the river].
18 We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have acquired for themselves every man his inheritance.
We will not return to our homes until every Israeli has received some land.
19 For we will not take possession with them on the other side of the Jordan, and farther on: when our inheritance hath come to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.
We will not take any land on the west side of the Jordan [River]; our land will be here on the east side.”
20 And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will arm yourselves before the Lord for the war;
So Moses/I told them, “[Okay, I will tell you] what you all must do. You must get ready to fight battles for Yahweh.
21 And every armed man of you will go over the Jordan before the Lord, until he have driven out his enemies from before him;
You all must cross the Jordan [River] carrying your weapons.
22 And when, only after the land hath been subdued before the Lord, ye will return, and ye be thus guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel: then shall this land be yours for a possession before the Lord.
After Yahweh helps us to take that land [from the people who live there], you will be permitted to return to your homes. You will have done what you have promised Yahweh and the Israeli people that you would do, and you may keep this land to be your own, given to you by Yahweh.
23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord; and ye shall experience the punishment of your sin which will overtake you.
“But if you do not do these things, you will be sinning against Yahweh, and he will punish you for [that] sin.
24 Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and folds for your flocks; and that which hath proceeded out of your mouth shall ye do.
Now you can build cities for your families and pens for your animals, but after doing that, you must do what you have promised.”
25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said unto Moses, as followeth, Thy servants will do as my Lord commandeth.
The leaders of the tribes of Gad and Reuben replied, “We will do what you have asked us to do [MTY], because you are our leader.
26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall remain there in the cities of Gil'ad;
Our wives and children and our cattle and sheep and goats will stay here in the cities in the Gilead area,
27 But thy servants will pass over, every one that is armed for the army, before the Lord, to the war, as my Lord speaketh.
but we will prepare to go to battle. We will take our weapons and go across [the Jordan River] and fight for Yahweh, just as you, our leader, have said.”
28 And Moses commanded concerning them Elazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chiefs of the families of the tribes of the children of Israel;
So Moses/I gave instructions about them to Eleazar, Joshua, and the leaders of the Israeli tribes.
29 And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben do pass with you over the Jordan, every one that is armed for the war, before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you: then shall ye give to them the land of Gil'ad for a possession;
Moses/I said to them, “If the men from the tribes of Gad and Reuben prepare for battle and cross the Jordan [River] with you, in order to do what Yahweh desires and help you to take that land, give them the Gilead area to belong to them.
30 But if they should not pass over armed with you, they shall take possessions among you in the land of Canaan.
But if they do not take their weapons and go with you prepared to fight, they will not receive this land. They will need to accept some land in Canaan, like the rest of you will do.”
31 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, That which the Lord hath spoken concerning thy servants, even so will we do.
The [leaders of the tribes of Gad and Reuben] replied, “We will do what you have said and what Yahweh has said.
32 We will indeed pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, while ours remaineth the possession of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan.
We will cross the river into Canaan land, and we will do what Yahweh desires and be prepared for battle. But our land will be [here] on the east side of the Jordan [River].”
33 And Moses gave unto them, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Menasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sichon, the king of the Emorites, and the kingdom of 'Og, the king of Bashan, the land, with its cities within the boundaries, the cities of the country round about.
So Moses/I agreed to give that land to the tribes of Gad and Reuben and to half of the tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh. That land was previously the land where Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group, ruled, and the land where Og, the king of Bashan [region], ruled, including its cities and surrounding land.
34 And the children of Gad built Dibon, and 'Ataroth, and 'Aro'er,
The people of the tribe of Gad rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
35 And 'Atroth-shophan, and Ya'zer, and Yogbehah.
Atroth-Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,
36 And Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for flocks,
Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-Haran cities. Those were cities with strong walls around them. And they also built pens for their sheep.
37 And the children of Reuben built Cheshbon, and El'aleh, and Kiryathayim,
The people of the tribe of Reuben rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
38 And Nebo, and Ba'al-me'on [their names being changed], and Shibmah; and they gave the former names unto the cities which they built.
Nebo, Baal-Meon, and Sibmah cities. When they rebuilt Nebo and Baal-Meon, they gave new names to those cities.
39 And the children of Machir the son of Menasseh went to Gil'ad, and conquered it, and dispossessed the Emorites who were in it.
The descendants of Manasseh’s son Makir went to the Gilead [region] and compelled the people of the Amor people-group to leave that area.
40 And Moses gave Gil'ad unto Machir the son of Menasseh; and he dwelt therein.
So Moses/I gave Gilead to the family of Makir, and they started to live there.
41 And Yair the son of Menasseh went and conquered the small towns thereof, and called them Chavoth-yair.
Jair, who was also a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured the small towns in that region, and he named them the Towns of Jair.
42 And Nobach went and conquered Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobach, after his own name.
A man named Nobah went and captured Kenath [city] and the nearby towns, and then he put his own name to be the new name of that area.

< Numbers 32 >