Numbers 32:1–19

The Tribes of Reuben and Gad Request Land East of the Jordan River

¹The tribes of Reuben and Gad had a large number of livestock. They saw that the regions of Jazer and Gilead were a good place for livestock. ²So they came to Moses, the priest Eleazar, and the leaders of the community, and said to them, ³“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, ⁴the land that the Lord won for the community of Israel, is a good place for livestock. Gentlemen, we have livestock. ⁵Please give us this land as our property. Don’t make us cross the Jordan River.” 

⁶Moses asked the tribes of Gad and Reuben, “Are you going to stay here while the rest of the Israelites go to war? ⁷That might discourage them from entering the land the Lord has given them. ⁸That’s what your ancestors did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to take a look at the land. ⁹They went as far as the Eshcol Valley and saw the land. But then they discouraged the rest of the Israelites from entering the land that the Lord had given them. ¹⁰That day the Lord became angry and swore this oath, ¹¹‘None of the people 20 years old or older, who came from Egypt, will see the land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with an oath. This is because they didn’t wholeheartedly follow me.’ ¹²Only Caleb (son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite) and Joshua (son of Nun) will get to see the land. This is because they wholeheartedly followed the Lord. ¹³Since the Lord was angry with the Israelites, he made them wander in the desert for 40 years until the whole generation of those who had done evil in the Lord’s presence was gone. 

¹⁴“You’re just like your parents! You’re a bunch of sinners trying to make the Lord angry with Israel again. ¹⁵If you turn away from him, he will abandon all these people in the desert. You would be responsible for their destruction.” 

¹⁶Then the tribes of Gad and Reuben came up to Moses and said, “Allow us to build stone fences for our livestock and cities for our families here. ¹⁷Then we’ll be ready ⸤to march⸥ in battle formation^aahead of the other Israelites until we have brought them to their land. Meanwhile our families will live in walled cities, safe from the other people who live here. ¹⁸We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his own land. ¹⁹We won’t take possession of any land on the other side of the Jordan River, to the west and beyond. We already have our land here, east of the Jordan.”