Numbers 32

32 ¹ Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very large herds of livestock. When they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, they noticed the place was well suited for livestock.

Gad and Reuben Make Their Case

² So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the community, saying, ³ "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon— ⁴ the land that our Father struck down before the community of Israel—is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock." ⁵ And they said, "If we have found favor in your eyes, 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 the sons of Reuben, "Should your brothers go to war while you sit here? ⁷ Why would you discourage the people of Israel from crossing over into the land that our Father has given them? ⁸ This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹ They went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, and then they discouraged the people of Israel from going into the land that our Father had given them. ¹⁰ And our Father's anger burned that day, and he swore an oath, saying, ¹¹ 'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, twenty years old or older, will see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me— ¹² none except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholly followed our Father.' ¹³ And our Father's anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation that had done evil in the sight of our Father had died.

¹⁴ And now you have risen up in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the fierce anger of our Father against Israel! ¹⁵ For if you turn away from following him, he will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people."

¹⁶ Then they came near to him and said, "We will build pens here for our livestock and cities for our little ones, ¹⁷ but we ourselves will take up arms, ready to go ahead of the people of Israel until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our little ones will live in the fortified cities, safe from the people of the land. ¹⁸ We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has secured his inheritance. ¹⁹ For we will not inherit with them on the far side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan, to the east."

²⁰ So Moses said to them, "If you will do this—if you will take up arms before the Sovereign Father for the war, ²¹ and every armed man among you crosses the Jordan before the Sovereign Father until he has driven out his enemies from before him, ²² and the land is subdued before the Sovereign Father — then afterward you may return and be free of obligation to him and to Israel, and this land will be your possession before our Father. ²³ But if you do not do so, look—you will have sinned against the Sovereign Father, and be sure your sin will catch up with you. ²⁴ Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what your mouths have promised."

²⁵ And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said to Moses, "Your servants will do just as my lord commands. ²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle will remain there in the cities of Gilead, ²⁷ but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the Sovereign Father to battle, just as my lord says."

²⁸ So Moses gave orders concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the clan leaders of the tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And Moses said to them, "If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben cross the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Sovereign Father, and the land is subdued before you, then you must give them the land of Gilead as a possession. ³⁰ But if they will not cross over with you armed, then they must accept their possession among you in the land of Canaan."

³¹ And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, "As our Father has said to your servants, so we will do. ³² We ourselves will cross over armed before the Sovereign Father into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance will remain ours beyond the Jordan."

³³ So Moses gave to them—to the sons of Gad, to the sons of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan: the land with its cities and the territories, the cities of the surrounding country.

³⁴ And the sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran—fortified cities and pens for sheep.

³⁷ And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo and Baal-meon (their names being changed) and Sibmah. And they gave new names to the cities they rebuilt.

³⁹ And the sons of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. ⁴¹ And Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair. ⁴² And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.