Numbers 32
1 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].
Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a great number of cattle: and when they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle;
2 So their leaders came to Eleazar and the other leaders of the people and Moses/me. They said,
The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the meeting,
3 “We have a great amount of livestock.
Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
4 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].
The land which the Lord gave into the hands of the children of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle.
5 If it pleases you, we would like this land to be ours, instead of land on the other side of the Jordan River.”
And they said, With your approval, let this land be given to your servants as their heritage: do not take us over Jordan.
6 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!
And Moses said to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, Are your brothers to go to the war, while you take your rest here?
7 [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].
Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them?
8 Your ancestors did the same kind of thing. I sent them from Kadesh-Barnea to see what the land [of Canaan] was like.
So did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.
9 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.’
For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them.
10 So Yahweh became very angry with them, and he solemnly declared this:
And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying,
11 ‘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].’
Truly, not one of the men of twenty years old and over who came out of Egypt will see the land which I gave by oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; because they have not been true to me with all their heart;
But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord.
13 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].
Then the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made them wanderers in the waste land for forty years? till all that generation who had done evil in the eyes of the Lord was dead.
14 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]
And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel.
15 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!”
For if you are turned away from him, he will send them wandering again in the waste land; and you will be the cause of the destruction of all this people.
16 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.
Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones;
17 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].
But we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel till we have taken them to their place: but our little ones will be safe in the walled towns against the people of the land.
18 We will not return to our homes until every Israeli has received some land.
We will not come back to our houses till every one of the children of Israel has come into his heritage.
19 We will not take any land on the west side of the Jordan [River]; our land will be here on the east side.”
For we will not have our heritage with them on the other side of Jordan and forward; because our heritage has come to us on this side of Jordan to the east.
20 So Moses/I told them, “[Okay, I will tell you] what you all must do. You must get ready to fight battles for Yahweh.
Then Moses said to them, If you will do this, arming yourselves to go before the Lord to the war,
21 You all must cross the Jordan [River] carrying your weapons.
Every armed man of you going across Jordan before the Lord till he has overcome and sent in flight all who are against him,
22 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.
And the land is under the rule of the Lord: then after that you may come back, having done no wrong to the Lord and to Israel; and this land will be yours for your heritage before the Lord.
23 “But if you do not do these things, you will be sinning against Yahweh, and he will punish you for [that] sin.
But if you do not do this, then you are sinners against the Lord; and you may be certain that your sin will have its reward.
24 Now you can build cities for your families and pens for your animals, but after doing that, you must do what you have promised.”
So get to work building your towns for your little ones, and safe places for your sheep; and do as you have said.
25 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.
And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord says.
26 Our wives and children and our cattle and sheep and goats will stay here in the cities in the Gilead area,
Our little ones, our wives, and our flocks, and all our cattle, will be there in the towns of Gilead;
27 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.”
But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the fight, as my lord says.
28 So Moses/I gave instructions about them to Eleazar, Joshua, and the leaders of the Israeli tribes.
So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel.
29 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.
And Moses said to them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben go with you over Jordan, every man armed for the fight before the Lord, and all the land is given into your hands, then let them have the land of Gilead for a heritage:
30 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.”
But if they do not go over with you armed, they will have to take their heritage with you in the land of Canaan.
31 The [leaders of the tribes of Gad and Reuben] replied, “We will do what you have said and what Yahweh has said.
Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do.
32 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].”
We will go over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, and you will give us our heritage on this side of Jordan.
33 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.
So Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and Og, king of Bashan, all the land with its towns and the country round them.
34 The people of the tribe of Gad rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
And the children of Gad were the builders of Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer;
35 Atroth-Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,
And Atroth-shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah;
36 Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-Haran cities. Those were cities with strong walls around them. And they also built pens for their sheep.
And Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran: walled towns and shut-in places for sheep.
37 The people of the tribe of Reuben rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
And the children of Reuben were the builders of Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim;
38 Nebo, Baal-Meon, and Sibmah cities. When they rebuilt Nebo and Baal-Meon, they gave new names to those cities.
And Nebo and Baal-meon, (their names being changed, ) and Sibmah: and they gave other names to the towns they made.
39 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.
And the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, went to Gilead and took it, driving out the Amorites who were living there.
40 So Moses/I gave Gilead to the family of Makir, and they started to live there.
And Moses gave Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh; and he made it his living-place.
41 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.
And Jair, the son of Manasseh, went and took the towns of Gilead, naming them Havvoth-Jair.
42 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.
And Nobah went and took Kenath and its small towns, naming it Nobah, after himself.
