Numbers 32:1–19

The Transjordan Tribes

32The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks,^a saw that the lands of Jazer^b and Gilead^c were suitable for livestock.^{d 2}So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the community,^e and said, ³“Ataroth,^f Dibon,^g Jazer,^h Nimrah,ⁱ Heshbon,^j Elealeh,^k Sebam,^l Nebo^m and Beonⁿ—⁴the land the Lord subdued^o before the people of Israel—are suitable for livestock,^p and your servants have livestock. ⁵If we have found favor in your eyes,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.^q”

⁶Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, “Should your fellow Israelites go to war while you sit here? ⁷Why do you discourage the Israelites from crossing over into the land the Lord has given them?^{r 8}This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land.^{s 9}After they went up to the Valley of Eshkol^t and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them. ¹⁰The Lord’s anger was aroused^u that day and he swore this oath:^{v 11}‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were twenty years old or more^w when they came up out of Egypt^x will see the land I promised on oath^y to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob^z—¹²not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.’^{a 13}The Lord’s anger burned against Israel^b and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.^c

¹⁴“And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel.^{d 15}If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.^e”

¹⁶Then they came up to him and said, “We would like to build pens^f here for our livestock^g and cities for our women and children. ¹⁷But we will arm ourselves for battle^a and go ahead of the Israelites^h until we have brought them to their place.ⁱ Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁸We will not return to our homes until each of the Israelites has received their inheritance.^{j 19}We will not receive any inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance^k has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.”^l