Numbers 32

Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of ^aJazer, and the land of Gilead, that behold, the place was a place for cattle; ²the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, ³Ataroth, and ^bDibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and ^cNebo, and Beon, ⁴even the country ^dwhich the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle: ⁵wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan. ⁶And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? ⁷And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them? ⁸Thus did your fathers, ^ewhen I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹For when they went up unto ^fthe valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them. ^10gAnd the Lord’s anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying, ^11hSurely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, ⁱfrom twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware ^kunto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: ¹²save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the ^lKenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: ^mfor they have wholly followed the Lord. ¹³And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them ⁿwander in the wilderness forty years, until ^oall the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed. ¹⁴And behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel. ¹⁵For if ye ^pturn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people. ¹⁶And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: ¹⁷but ^qwe ourselves will go ready ^rarmed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ^18sWe will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. ¹⁹For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; ^tbecause our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward. ²⁰And ^uMoses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war, ²¹and will go all of you ^warmed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath ^xdriven out his enemies from before him, ²²and the land be subdued before the Lord: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. ²³But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure ^yyour sin will find you out. ^24zBuild ye cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth. ²⁵And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. ²⁶Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead: ²⁷but thy servants will pass over, every man ^aarmed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith. ²⁸So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and ^bJoshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel: ²⁹and Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: ³⁰but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. ³¹And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do. ³²We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours. ³³And ^cMoses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, ^dthe kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.

³⁴And the children of Gad built ^eDibon, and ^eAtaroth, and ^fAroer, ³⁵and Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah, ³⁶and Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, ^gfenced cities: and folds for sheep. ³⁷And the children of Reuben built ^hHeshbon, and ⁱElealeh, and Kirjathaim, ³⁸and ⁱNebo, and Baal-^jmeon, (^ktheir names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded. ³⁹And the children of ^lMachir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it. ⁴⁰And Moses ^mgave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein. ⁴¹And ⁿJair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them ^oHavoth-jair. ⁴²And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the ^pvillages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

XXXIII.