Numbers 32:1–19

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.