Numbers 32–33

Gad and Reuben Inherit Gilead

32The descendants^a of Reuben and the descendants^b of Gad had a very large number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold it was a place for livestock. ²The descendants^c of Gad and the descendants^d of Reuben came, and they said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community, saying, ³“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, ⁴the land that Yahweh struck before the community of Israel, is a land of livestock, and your servants have livestock.” ⁵They said, “If we have found favor in your sight,^e let this land be given to your servants as property; do not lead us across the Jordan.”

⁶But Moses said to the descendants^f of Gad and to the descendants^g of Reuben, “Will your brothers go to war while you yourselves live here? ⁷Why are you discouraging the hearts of the Israelites^h from crossing into the land that Yahweh gave to them? ⁸This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. ⁹When they went up to the valleyⁱ of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the Israelites^j so that they did not come to the land that Yahweh gave to them. ¹⁰So Yahweh’s anger burned^k on that day, and he swore an oath, saying, ¹¹‘The men who went up from Egypt, from those twenty years old^l and above, will not see the land that I swore with an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because they have not wholly followed me, ¹²except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, because they followed Yahweh wholly.’ ¹³And Yahweh became angry,^m and he made them wander in the desert forty years until the entire generation who did evil in the sight of Yahwehⁿ had died.^{o 14}Behold, you stand in the place of your fathers, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more Yahweh’s fierce anger^p against Israel. ¹⁵If you turn from following him, he will again abandon them^q in the wilderness, and you would have destroyed all these people.”

¹⁶They came near to him and said, “We will build sheep pens here for the flock of our livestock and cities for our little children; ¹⁷but we ourselves will become armed and ready before the Israelites^r until we have brought them to their place, and our little children will live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁸We will not return to our houses until the Israelites^s each obtain their^t inheritance for themselves. ¹⁹For we will not take possession with them from across the Jordan and beyond because our inheritance has come to us from across the Jordan to the east.”

²⁰So Moses said to them, “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before^u Yahweh for the war, ²¹and everyone of you armed cross the Jordan before^v Yahweh until he has driven out his enemies from before him, ²²and the land is subdued before^w Yahweh, then afterward you will return and be free of obligation from Yahweh and from Israel, and this land will be your property before^x Yahweh. ²³But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh, and know that your sin will find you. ²⁴Build for yourselves cities for your little children and sheep pens for your flocks; what has gone out from your mouth you will do.”

²⁵So the descendants^y of Gad and the descendants^z of Reuben said to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. ²⁶Our little children, our wives, our livestock, and all of our animals^a will remain^b in the cities of Gilead, ²⁷but your servants, everyone who is armed for battle, will cross over before^c Yahweh to the war, just as my lord says.”

²⁸So Moses commanded them, Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families^d of the tribes of the Israelites.^{e 29}Moses said to them, “If the descendants^f of Gad and the descendants^g of Reuben, everyone who is armed for the war, cross over the Jordan before^h Yahweh, and the land is subdued before you, you will give them the land of Gilead as property. ³⁰But if they will not cross over with you armed, they will acquire land in your midst in Canaan.” ³¹The descendantsⁱ of Gad and the descendants of Reuben answered and said, “What Yahweh has commanded your servants, we will do. ³²We ourselves will cross over armed before^j Yahweh to the land of Canaan, and the property of our inheritance will remain with us beyond the Jordan.”

³³So Moses gave to them, to the descendants^k of Gad and the descendants^l of Reuben, and to half of the tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, the kingdom of Sihon the king of Amorites and the kingdom of Og the king of the Bashan, the land with its cities and their territories, the cities of the surrounding land. ³⁴The descendants^m of Gad rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, and Aroer, ³⁵and Atroth Shophan, Jazer, and Jogbehah, ³⁶and Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran, the cities of Mibzar, and the sheep pens for flocks. ³⁷The descendantsⁿ of Reuben rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, and Kiriathaim, ³⁸and Nebo, Baal Meon (their names^o were changed), and Sibmah, and they renamed^p the cities that they rebuilt. ³⁹The descendants^q of Makir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and they captured it and drove out the Amorites^r who were in it. ⁴⁰So Moses gave Gilead to Makir son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. ⁴¹And Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their unwalled villages, and he called them Havvoth Jair. ⁴²Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah after his own name.

The Travels Are Recounted

33These were the journeys of the Israelites,^a who went out from the land of Egypt according to their divisions, by the hand of Moses and Aaron. ²Moses wrote down their movements according to their journeys on the command of Yahweh, and these are their journeys according to their movements. ³They set out from Rameses on the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover the Israelites^b went out boldly^c in the sight^d of all the Egyptians ⁴while the Egyptians were burying all the firstborn among them whom Yahweh struck. Yahweh also executed punishments among their gods.

⁵Then the Israelites^e set out from Rameses, and they camped in Succoth. ⁶They journeyed from Succoth and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the desert. ⁷Then they set out from Etham and returned to Pi-Hahiroth, which faces Baal Zephon, and they camped before Migdol. ⁸They set out from Pi-Hahiroth and went through the midst of the sea into the desert; and they went a journey of three days into the desert of Etham and camped at Marah. ⁹They set out from Marah and came to Elim, and in Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. ¹⁰They set out from Elim, and they camped at the Red Sea.^{f 11}They set out from the Red Sea^g and camped at the desert of Sin. ¹²They set out from the desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah. ¹³They set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. ¹⁴They set out from Alush and encamped at Rephidim; and it was there that the people had no water to drink. ¹⁵They set out from Rephidim and camped in the desert of Sinai. ¹⁶They set out from the desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.

¹⁷They set out from Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. ¹⁸They set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. ¹⁹They set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez. ²⁰They set out from Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah. ²¹They set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. ²²They set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. ²³They set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shapher. ²⁴They set out from Mount Shapher and camped at Haradah. ²⁵They set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. ²⁶They set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. ²⁷They set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. ²⁸They set out from Terah and camped at Mithcah. ²⁹They set out from Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah. ³⁰They set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moserah. ³¹They set out from Moserah and camped at Bene-Jaakan. ³²They set out from Bene-Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad. ³³They set out from Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. ³⁴They set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. ³⁵They set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber. ³⁶They set out from Ezion Geber and camped in the desert of Zin, that is, Kadesh. ³⁷They set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, at the edge of the land of Edom.

³⁸Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the command^h of Yahweh, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Israelitesⁱ had gone out from the land of Egypt, in the fifth month on the first day of the month. ³⁹Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years old^j when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰Now the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who was living in the Negev^k in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the Israelites.^l

⁴¹Then they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. ⁴²They set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. ⁴³They set out from Punon and camped at Oboth. ⁴⁴They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, the boundary of Moab. ⁴⁵They set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon Gad. ⁴⁶They set out from Dibon Gad and camped at Almon-Diblatayim. ⁴⁷They set out from Almon-Diblatayim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. ⁴⁸They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped on the desert-plateau of Moab by the Jordan across Jericho. ⁴⁹They camped by the Jordan, from Beth-Jeshimoth up to Abel Shittim, on the desert-plateau of Moab.

⁵⁰Then Yahweh spoke to Moses on the desert-plateau of Moab by the Jordan across Jericho, saying, ⁵¹“Speak to the Israelites^m and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵²you will drive out the inhabitants of the land from your presence, and you will destroy all their idols and all the images of their molten idols, and you will demolish all their high places; ⁵³you will dispossess the land and live in it because I have given the land to you to possess it. ⁵⁴You will…