Chapter 32
1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock . They saw the land of Jazer , and the land of Gilead . Behold , the place was a place for livestock .
2 Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses , and to Eleazar the priest , and to the princes of the congregation , saying,
3 " Ataroth , Dibon , Jazer , Nimrah , Heshbon , Elealeh, Sebam , Nebo , and Beon ,
4 the land which the LORD struck before the congregation of Israel , is a land for livestock ; and your servants have livestock ."
5 They said, "If we have found favour in your sight , let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Don’t bring us over the Jordan ."
6 Moses said to the children of Gad , and to the children of Reuben , " Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here ?
7 Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them ?
8 Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.
9 For when they went up to 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 .
10 The LORD ’s anger burnt in that day , and he swore , saying,
11 ‘ Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt , from twenty years old and upward , shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac , and to Jacob ; because they have not wholly followed me ,
12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite , and Joshua the son of Nun , because they have followed the LORD completely.’
13 The LORD ’s anger burnt against Israel , and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years , until all the generation who had done evil in the LORD ’s sight was consumed .
14 " Behold , you have risen up in your fathers’ place , an increase of sinful men , to increase the fierce anger of the LORD towards Israel .
15 For if you turn away from after him , he will yet again leave them in the wilderness ; and you will destroy all these people ."
16 They came near to him, and said, " We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock , and cities for our little ones ;
17 but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel , until we have brought them to their place . Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land .
18 We will not return to our houses until the children of Israel have all received their inheritance .
19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond , because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan eastward ."
20 Moses said to them : "If you will do this thing , if you will arm yourselves to go before the LORD to the war ,
21 and every one of your armed men will pass over the Jordan before the LORD until he has driven out his enemies from before him ,
22 and the land is subdued before the LORD ; then afterward you shall return , and be clear of obligation to the LORD and to Israel . Then this land shall be your possession before the LORD .
23 " But if you will not do so , behold , you have sinned against the LORD ; and be sure your sin will find you out .
24 Build cities for your little ones , and folds for your sheep ; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth ."
25 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses , saying, " Your servants will do as my lord commands .
26 Our little ones , our wives, our flocks , and all our livestock shall be there in the cities of Gilead ;
27 but your servants will pass over , every man who is armed for war , before the LORD to battle , as my lord says ."
28 So Moses commanded concerning them to Eleazar the priest , and to Joshua the son of Nun , and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the children of Israel .
29 Moses said to them , " If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan , every man who is armed to battle before the LORD , and the land is subdued before you , then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession;
30 but if they will not pass over with you armed , they shall have possessions amongst you in the land of Canaan ."
31 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered , saying , " As the LORD has said to your servants , so will we do .
32 We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan , and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan ."
33 Moses gave to them , even to the children of Gad , and to the children of Reuben , and to the half-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, according to its cities and borders , even the cities of the surrounding land.
34 The children of Gad built Dibon , Ataroth , Aroer ,
35 Atroth-shophan , Jazer , Jogbehah ,
36 Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities and folds for sheep .
37 The children of Reuben built Heshbon , Elealeh, Kiriathaim ,
38 Nebo , and Baal Meon, ( their names being changed ), and Sibmah . They gave other names to the cities which they built .
39 The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead , took it , and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein.
40 Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh ; and he lived therein .
41 Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its villages, and called them Havvoth Jair .
42 Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages , and called it Nobah , after his own name .