Numbers 32

1And much livestock has [belonged] 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 behold, the place [is] a place [for] livestock;

2and the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben come in and speak to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying,

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

4the land which YHWH has struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.”

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

6And Moses says to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Do your brothers go to the battle, and you—do you sit here?

7And why discourage the heart of the sons of Israel from passing over to the land which YHWH has given to them?

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

9and they go up to the Valley of Eshcol, and see the land, and discourage the heart of the sons of Israel so as not to go into the land which YHWH has given to them;

10and the anger of YHWH burns in that day, and He swears, saying,

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

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

13and the anger of YHWH burns against Israel, and He causes them to wander in the wilderness [for] forty years, until the consumption of all the generation which is doing evil in the eyes of YHWH.

14And behold, you have risen in the stead of your fathers, an increase of sinful men, to add yet to the fury of the anger of YHWH toward Israel;

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

16And they come near to him and say, “We build folds for the flock here for our livestock, and cities for our infants;

17but we are armed, hastening before the sons of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our infants have dwelt in the cities of defense because of the inhabitants of the land;

18we do not return to our houses until the sons of Israel have each inherited his inheritance,

19for we do not inherit with them across the Jordan and beyond, for our inheritance has come to us beyond the Jordan at the [sun]-rising.”

20And Moses says to them, “If you do this thing, if you are armed before YHWH for battle,

21and every armed one of you has passed over the Jordan before YHWH, until His dispossessing His enemies from before Him,

22and the land has been subdued before YHWH, then afterward you return, and have been acquitted by YHWH and by Israel, and this land has been to you for a possession before YHWH.

23And if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against YHWH, and know that your sin finds you;

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

25And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben speak to Moses, saying, “Your servants do as my lord is commanding;

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

27and your servants pass over, every armed one of the host, before YHWH, to battle, as my lord is saying.”

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

29and Moses says to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben pass over the Jordan with you, everyone armed for battle, before YHWH, and the land has been subdued before you, then you have given the land of Gilead to them 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 YHWH has spoken to your servants, so we do;

32we pass over armed before YHWH [to] the land of Canaan, and with us [is] the possession of our inheritance beyond the Jordan.”

33And Moses gives 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 surrounding land.

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 defense, and sheepfolds.

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

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

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

40and Moses gives Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he dwells in it.

41And Jair son of Manasseh has gone and captures their towns, and calls them “Towns of Jair”;

42and Nobah has gone and captures Kenath and its villages, and calls it Nobah, by his own name.