Numbers 32

¹Forsothe the sones of Ruben and of Gad hadden many beestis, and catel with out noumbre was to hem, in werk beestis. And whanne thei hadden seyn Jazer and Galaad, couenable londis to beestis to be fed,

²thei camen to Moyses and Eleazar, preest, and to the princes of the multitude, and seiden,

³Astaroth, and Dibon, and Jacer, and Nemra, Esebon, and Eleale, and Sabam,

⁴and Nebo, and Beon, the lond which the Lord smoot in the siyt of the sones of Israel, is of moost plenteuous cuntrey to the pasture of beestis; and we thi seruauntis han ful many beestis;

⁵and we preyen, if we han founde grace bifor thee, that thou yyue to vs thi seruauntis that cuntrey in to possessioun, and make not vs to passe Jordan.

⁶To whiche Moises answeride, Whether youre britheren schulen go to batel, and ye schulen sitte here?

⁷Whi peruerten ye the soulis of Israel, that thei doren not passe in to the place, which the Lord schal yyue to hem?

⁸Whether youre fadris diden not so, whanne Y sente fro Cades Barne to aspie the lond,

⁹and whanne thei camen to the valey of Clustre, whanne al the cuntrey was cumpassid, thei peruertiden the herte of the sones of Israel, that thei entriden not in to the coostis, whiche the Lord yaf to hem.

¹⁰And the Lord was wrooth, and swoor,

¹¹seiynge, Thes men that stieden fro Egipt, fro twenti yeer and aboue, schulen not se the lond which Y bihiyte vndur an ooth to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and nolden sue me,

¹²outakun Caleph, Cenezei, the sone of Jephone, and Josue, the sone of Nun; these tweyne filliden my wille.

¹³And the Lord was wrooth ayens Israel, and ledde hym aboute the deseert bi fourti yeer, til al the generacioun was wastid, that hadde do yuel in the `siyt of the Lord.

¹⁴And Moyses seide, Lo! ye encressyngis, and nurreis, `ether nurschid children, of synful men, han ryse for youre fadris, that ye schulden encreesse the strong veniaunce of the Lord ayens Israel.

¹⁵That if ye nylen sue the Lord, in `the wildirnesse he schal forsake the puple, and ye schulen be cause of the deeth of alle men.

¹⁶And thei neiyiden nyy, and seiden, We schulen make foldis of scheep, and the stablis of beestis, and we schulen make strengthid citees to oure litle children.

¹⁷Forsothe we vs silf schulen be armed `to defence, and schulen be gird `with armeris to asailyng, and schulen go to batel bifor the sones of Israel, til we bryngen hem in to her places; oure litle children and what euer thing we moun haue, schulen be in strengthid cytees, for the tresouns of the dwelleris.

¹⁸We schulen not turne ayen in to oure housis, til the sones of Israel welden her eritage;

¹⁹and we schulen not axe ony thing ouer Jordan, for we han now oure possessioun in the eest coost therof.

²⁰To whiche Moises seide, If ye doen that, that ye biheten, be ye maad redi, and go ye to batel bifor the Lord;

²¹and ech man fiytere be armed, and passe Jordan, til the Lord distrye hise enemyes,

²²and al the lond be maad suget to hym; thanne ye schulen be giltles anentis God, and anentis Israel, and ye schulen holde the cuntreys, whiche ye wolen, bifor the Lord.

²³But if ye doon not that, that ye seien, it is not doute to ony man, that ne ye synnen ayens God; and wite ye, that youre synne schal take you.

²⁴Therfor bilde ye citees to youre litle children, and foldis and stablis to scheep, and to beestis; and fille ye that, that ye bihiyten.

²⁵And the sones of Gad and of Ruben seiden to Moises, We ben thi seruauntis; we schulen do that, that oure lord comaundith.

²⁶We schulen leeue oure litle children, and wymmen, and scheep, and beestis in the citees of Galaad;

²⁷forsothe alle we thi seruauntis schulen go redi to batel, as thou, lord, spekist.

²⁸Therfor Moyses comaundide to Eleazar, preest, and to Josue, the sone of Nun, and to the princes of meynees, bi the lynagis of Israel, and seide to hem,

²⁹If the sones of Gad, and the sones of Ruben goen alle armed with you, to batel bifor the Lord, and the lond be maad suget to you, yyue ye to hem Galaad in to possessioun;

³⁰but if thei nylen passe with you in to the lond of Chanaan, take thei places to dwelle among you.

³¹And the sones of Gad and the sones of Ruben answeriden, As the Lord spak to hise seruauntis, so we schulen do;

³²we schulen go armed bifor the Lord, in to the lond of Chanaan, and we knowlechen, that we han take now possessioun ouer Jordan.

³³And so Moises yaf to the sones of Gad and of Ruben, and to half the lynage of Manasses, sone of Joseph, the rewme of Seon, kyng of Ammorey, and the rewme of Og, kyng of Basan, and `the lond of hem, with her citees, bi cumpas.

³⁴Therfor the sones of Gad bildiden Dibon, and Astaroth, and Aroer,

³⁵and Roth-Sophan, and Jazer, and Jebaa,

³⁶and Beeth-Nemra, and Betharan, strengid citees; and foldis to her beestis.

³⁷Forsothe the sones of Ruben bildiden Esebon, and Eleale, and Cariathiarym, and Nabo,

³⁸and Balmeon, whanne the names weren turned, and thei bildiden Sabama; and puttiden names to the citees, whiche thei hadden bildid.

³⁹Forsothe the sones of Machir, sone of Manasses, yeden in to Galaad, and distrieden it, and killiden Ammorei, enhabitere therof.

⁴⁰Therfor Moises yaf the lond of Galaad to Machir, sone of Manasses, which Machir dwellide ther ynne.

⁴¹Forsothe Jair, the sone of Manasses, yede, and occupiede the townes therof, whiche he clepide Anochiair, that is, the townes of Jair.

⁴²Also Nobe yede, and took Canath, with hise townes, and clepide it, bi his name, Nobe.

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.