1Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a very great abundance of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock.
2So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,
3“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon—
4the land that Yahweh struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.”
5And they said, “If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not make us cross over the Jordan.”
6But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here?
7Why do you discourage the heart of the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land that Yahweh has given them?
8This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.
9For they went up to the Wadi Eshcol and saw the land, and they discouraged the heart of the sons of Israel from going into the land that Yahweh had given them.
10And Yahweh’s anger burned on that day, and he swore, saying,
11‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not fully followed after me—
12except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they fully followed after Yahweh.’
13And Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that did evil in the eyes of Yahweh was finished.
14And behold, you have risen up in place of your fathers, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the burning anger of Yahweh against Israel.
15For if you turn away from following him, he will again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”
16Then they came near to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our little ones,
17but we ourselves will arm ourselves ready for battle before the sons of Israel until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
18We will not return to our houses until the sons of Israel have each taken possession of his inheritance.
19For we will not inherit with them beyond the Jordan and onward, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan, to the east.”
20And Moses said to them, “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before Yahweh for the war,
21and every armed man of you crosses the Jordan before Yahweh, until he has driven out his enemies from before him,
22and the land is subdued before Yahweh, then afterward you may return and be free of obligation to Yahweh and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before Yahweh.
23But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh, and be sure your sin will find you out.
24Build cities for your little ones and sheepfolds for your flocks, and do what has gone out of your mouth.”
25And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.
26Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle will remain there in the cities of Gilead,
27but your servants will cross over, every man armed for the army, before Yahweh to the war, as my lord says.”
28So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the sons of Israel.
29And Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben cross the Jordan with you, every man armed for the war, before Yahweh, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession.
30But if they do not cross over armed with you, then they shall receive possession among you in the land of Canaan.”
31Then the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “What Yahweh has spoken to your servants, so we will do.
32We ourselves will cross over armed for battle before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance will remain with us on this side of the Jordan.”
33So Moses gave to them—to the sons of Gad, to the sons of Reuben, and to half the 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 within the borders, the cities of the land all around.
34And the sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, and Aroer,
35and Atroth-shophan, Jazer, and Jogbehah,
36and Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep.
37And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, and Kiriathaim,
38and Nebo and Baal-meon (their names being changed) and Sibmah; and they gave names to the cities that they built.
39The sons of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.
40So Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he settled in it.
41And Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and he called them Havvoth-jair.
42And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its dependent villages, and he called it Nobah, after his own name.
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