Numbers 32:1–36:13

Chapter 32

Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead

1 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had an aexceedingly large number of livestock. So when they saw the land of bJazer and the land of Gilead, that 1it was indeed a place suitable for livestock,

2 the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,

3 “aAtaroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon,

4 the land awhich the Lord 1conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.”

5 They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan.”

6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here?

7 “aNow why are you 1discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them?

8 “1This is what your fathers did when I sent them from aKadesh-barnea to see the land.

9 “For when they went up to athe 1valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they 2discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them.

10 “So athe Lord’s anger burned in that day, and He swore, saying,

11 ‘aNone of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully,

12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, afor they have followed the Lord fully.’

13 “aSo the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord was destroyed.

14 “Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the burning aanger of the Lord against Israel.

15 “For if you aturn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

16 Then they came near to him and said, “We will build here sheepfolds for our livestock and cities for our little ones;

17 abut we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

18 “aWe will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has possessed his inheritance.

19 “For we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us aon this side of the Jordan toward the east.”

20 aSo Moses said to them, “If you will do 1this, if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for the war,

21 and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven His enemies out from before Him,

22 aand the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligation toward the Lord and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours for a possession before the Lord.

23 “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure ayour sin will find you out.

24 “Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and sheepfolds for your sheep, and ado 1what you have promised.”

25 The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands.

26 “aOur little ones, our wives, our livestock and all our cattle shall 1remain there in the cities of Gilead;

27 while your servants, everyone who is armed for war, will across over in the presence of the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.”

28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

29 Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, everyone who is armed for battle, will cross with you over the Jordan in the presence of the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession;

30 but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”

31 The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do.

32 “We ourselves will cross over armed in the presence of the Lord into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us across the Jordan.”

33 aSo Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities with their 1territories, the cities of the surrounding land.

34 The sons of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and aAroer,

35 and Atroth-shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah,

36 and aBeth-nimrah and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and sheepfolds for sheep.

37 The sons of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim,

38 and aNebo and Baal-meon—their names being changed—and Sibmah, and they gave other names to the cities which they built.

39 The sons of aMachir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.

40 So Moses gave aGilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it.

41 Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its 1towns, and called them 2aHavvoth-jair.

42 Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah after ahis own name.

Chapter 33

Review of the Journey from Egypt to Jordan

1 These are the journeys of the sons of Israel, by which they came out from the land of Egypt by their armies, under athe 1leadership of Moses and Aaron.

2 Moses recorded their starting places according to their journeys by the 1command of the Lord, and these are their journeys according to their starting places.

3 aThey journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the 1next day after the Passover the sons of Israel bstarted out 2boldly in the sight of all the Egyptians,

4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the Lord had struck down among them. The Lord had also executed judgments aon their gods.

5 Then athe sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses and camped in Succoth.

6 aThey journeyed from Succoth and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.

7 aThey journeyed from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol.

8 aThey journeyed 1from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness; and bthey went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.

9 aThey journeyed from Marah and came to Elim; and in Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.

10 They journeyed from Elim and camped by the 1Red Sea.

11 They journeyed from the 1Red Sea and camped in athe wilderness of Sin.

12 They journeyed from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah.

13 They journeyed from Dophkah and camped at Alush.

14 They journeyed from Alush and camped aat Rephidim; now it was there that the people had no water to drink.

15 They journeyed from Rephidim and camped in athe wilderness of Sinai.

16 They journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at aKibroth-hattaavah.

17 They journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at aHazeroth.

18 They journeyed from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

19 They journeyed from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez.

20 They journeyed from Rimmon-perez and camped at aLibnah.

21 They journeyed from Libnah and camped at Rissah.

22 They journeyed from Rissah and camped in Kehelathah.

23 They journeyed from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

24 They journeyed from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

25 They journeyed from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

26 They journeyed from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

27 They journeyed from Tahath and camped at Terah.

28 They journeyed from Terah and camped at Mithkah.

29 They journeyed from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.

30 They journeyed from Hashmonah and camped at aMoseroth.

31 They journeyed from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan.

32 They journeyed from aBene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad.

33 They journeyed from Hor-haggidgad and camped at aJotbathah.

34 They journeyed from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

35 They journeyed from Abronah and camped at aEzion-geber.

36 They journeyed from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of aZin, that is, Kadesh.

37 They journeyed from Kadesh and camped at aMount Hor, bat the edge of the land of Edom.

38 aThen Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the 1command of the Lord, and died there in the fortieth year after the sons of Israel had come from the land of Egypt, on the first day in the fifth month.

39 Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

40 Now the Canaanite, the king of aArad 1who lived in the 2Negev in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the sons of Israel.

41 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

42 They journeyed from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

43 They journeyed from Punon and camped at aOboth.

44 They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, at the border of Moab.

45 They journeyed from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad.

46 They journeyed from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim.

47 They journeyed from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of aAbarim, before Nebo.

48 They journeyed from the mountains of Abarim and acamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.

49 They camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth as far as aAbel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

Law of Possessing the Land

50 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying,

51 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘aWhen you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, …