Numbers 32

¹Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, 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 Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,

⁴Even the country which 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, when I sent them from Kadesh–barnea to see the land.

⁹For when they went up unto the 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.

¹⁰And the Lord’s anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying,

¹¹Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:

¹²Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord.

¹³And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all 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 turn 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 we ourselves will go ready armed 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.

¹⁸We 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; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward.

²⁰And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war,

²¹And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,

²²And the land be subdued before the Lord: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.

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

²⁴Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.

²⁵And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth.

²⁶Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead:

²⁷But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith.

²⁸So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel:

²⁹And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:

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

³¹And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.

³²We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours.

³³And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.

³⁴And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

³⁵And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,

³⁶And Beth–nimrah, and Beth–haran, fenced cities: and folds for sheep.

³⁷And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,

³⁸And Nebo, and Baal–meon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded.

³⁹And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it.

⁴⁰And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein.

⁴¹And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havoth–jair.

⁴²And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Numbers 32

¹And much cattle hath been to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad, very many; and they see the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, and lo, the place is a place for cattle;

²and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Reuben, come in and speak unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the company, saying:

³`Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon

⁴the land which Jehovah hath smitten before the company of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle.'

⁵And they say, `If we have found grace in thine eyes, let this land be given to thy servants for a possession; cause us not to pass over the Jordan.'

⁶And Moses saith to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, `Do your brethren go in to the battle, and yedo ye sit here?

⁷and why discourage ye the heart of the sons of Israel from passing over unto the land which Jehovah hath given to them?

⁸`Thus did your fathers in my sending them from Kadesh-Barnea to see the land;

⁹and they go up unto the valley of Eshcol, and see the land, and discourage the heart of the sons of Israel so as not to go in unto the land which Jehovah hath given to them;

¹⁰and the anger of Jehovah burneth in that day, and He sweareth, saying,

¹¹They do not seethe men who are coming up out of Egypt from a son of twenty years and upwardthe ground which I have sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, for they have not been fully after Me;

¹²save Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua son of Nun, for they have been fully after Jehovah;

¹³and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He causeth them to wander in the wilderness forty years, until the consumption of all the generation which is doing the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah.

¹⁴`And lo, ye have risen in the stead of your fathers, an increase of mensinners, to add yet to the fury of the anger of Jehovah toward Israel;

¹⁵when ye turn back from after Him, then He hath added yet to leave him in the wilderness, and ye have done corruptly to all this people.'

¹⁶And they come nigh unto him, and say, `Folds for the flock we build for our cattle here, and cities for our infants;

¹⁷and wewe are armed hasting before the sons of Israel till that we have brought them in unto their place; and our infants have dwelt in the cities of defence because of the inhabitants of the land;

¹⁸we do not turn back unto our houses till the sons of Israel have inherited each his inheritance,

¹⁹for we do not inherit with them beyond the Jordan and yonder, for our inheritance hath come unto us beyond the Jordan at the sun -rising.'

²⁰And Moses saith unto them, `If ye do this thing: if ye are armed before Jehovah for battle,

²¹and every armed one of you hath passed over the Jordan before Jehovah, till his dispossessing His enemies from before Him,

²²and the land hath been subdued before Jehovahthen afterwards ye do turn back, and have been acquitted by Jehovah, and by Israel; and this land hath been to you for a possession before Jehovah.

²³`And if ye do not so, lo, ye have sinned against Jehovah, and know ye your sin, that it doth find you;

²⁴build for yourselves cities for your infants, and folds for your flock, and that which is going out from your mouth do ye.'

²⁵And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben speak unto Moses, saying, `Thy servants do as my lord is commanding;

²⁶our infants, our wives, our cattle, and all our beasts, are there in cities of Gilead,

²⁷and thy servants pass over, every armed one of the host, before Jehovah, to battle, as my lord is saying.'

²⁸And Moses commandeth concerning them Eleazar the priest, and Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel;

²⁹and Moses saith unto them, `If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben pass over with you the Jordan, every one armed for battle, before Jehovah, and the land hath been subdued before you, then ye have given to them the land of Gilead for a possession;

³⁰and if they do not pass over armed with you, then they have possessions in your midst in the land of Canaan.'

³¹And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answer, saying, `That which Jehovah hath spoken unto thy servantsso we do;

³²wewe pass over armed before Jehovah to the land of Canaan, and with us is the possession of our inheritance beyond the Jordan.'

³³And Moses giveth to them, to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Reuben, and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorite, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land by its cities, in the borders, the cities of the land round about.

³⁴And the sons of Gad build Dihon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

³⁵and Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,

³⁶and Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-Haran, cities of defence, and sheepfolds.

³⁷And the sons of Reuben have build Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,

³⁸and Nebo, and Baal-Meon (changed in name), and Shibmah, and they call by these names the names of the cities which they have built.

³⁹And sons of Machir son of Manasseh go to Gilead, and capture it, and dispossess the Amorite, who is in it;

⁴⁰and Moses giveth Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he dwelleth in it.

⁴¹And Jair son of Manasseh hath gone and captureth their towns, and calleth them `Towns of Jair;'

⁴²and Nobah hath gone and captureth Kenath, and its villages, and calleth it Nobah, by his own name.