Numbers 32-33

New American Standard Bible

Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead

32 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a ^(A)very large number of livestock. So when they saw the land of ^(B)Jazer and the land of Gilead, that ^[a]it was indeed a place suitable for livestock, ² the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, ³ “^(C)Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, ⁴ the land ^(D)which the Lord ^[b]conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” ⁵ And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as our property; do not take us across the Jordan.”

⁶ But Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, “Should your brothers go to war while you remain here? ^7 (E)And why are you discouraging the ^[c]sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them? ⁸ This is what your fathers did when I sent them from ^(F)Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹ For when they went up to ^(G)the ^[d]Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the ^[e]sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. ¹⁰ So ^(H)the Lord’s anger burned on that day, and He swore, saying, ¹¹ ‘^(I)None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully, ¹² except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun; ^(J)for they have followed the Lord fully.’ ^13 (K)So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord came to an end. ¹⁴ Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, born of sinful men, to add still more to the burning ^(L)anger of the Lord against Israel. ¹⁵ For if you ^(M)turn away from following Him, He will once more leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

¹⁶ Then they approached him and said, “We will build sheepfolds for our livestock here and cities for our little ones; ^17 (N)but we ourselves will be armed, hurrying ahead of the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ^18 (O)We will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has gained possession of his inheritance. ¹⁹ But we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us ^(P)on this side of the Jordan toward the east.”

^20 (Q)So Moses said to them, “If you will do ^[f]this, if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for the war, ²¹ and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven His enemies out from Him, ^22 (R)and the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you may return and be ^[g]free of obligation toward the Lord and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours as property before the Lord. ²³ But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure that ^(S)your sin will find you out. ²⁴ Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and sheepfolds for your sheep, and ^(T)do ^[h]what you have promised.”

²⁵ Then the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. ^26 (U)Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall ^[i]remain there in the cities of Gilead, ²⁷ while your servants, that is, everyone who is armed for war, ^(V)cross over in the presence of the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.”

²⁸ So Moses gave the command regarding them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. ²⁹ And Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, everyone who is armed for battle, cross with you over the Jordan in the presence of the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as their property; ³⁰ but if they do not cross over with you armed, they shall instead be settled among you in the land of Canaan.” ³¹ And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do. ³² We ourselves will cross over armed in the presence of the Lord into the land of Canaan, and the property of our inheritance shall remain with us across the Jordan.”

^33 (W)So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad, the sons of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities with their ^[j]territories, the cities of the surrounding land. ³⁴ And the sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, ^(X)Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ^36 (Y)Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and sheepfolds for sheep. ³⁷ The sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ^38 (Z)Nebo, and Baal-meon—their names being changed—and Sibmah, and they gave other names to the cities which they built. ³⁹ The sons of ^(AA)Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave ^(AB)Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. ⁴¹ Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its ^[k]towns, and called them ^[l](AC)Havvoth-jair. ⁴² Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and named it Nobah, after ^(AD)his own name.

Review of the Journey from Egypt to Jordan

33 These are the journeys of the sons of Israel, by which they came out of the land of Egypt by their armies, ^[m]under ^(AE)the leadership of Moses and Aaron. ² Moses recorded their starting places according to their journeys by the ^[n]command of the Lord, and these are their journeys according to their starting places. ^3 (AF)Now they journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the sons of Israel ^(AG)started out ^[o]boldly in the sight of all the Egyptians, ⁴ while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the Lord had fatally struck among them. The Lord had also executed judgments ^(AH)against their gods.

⁵ Then ^(AI)the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses and camped in Succoth. ^6 (AJ)They journeyed from Succoth and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. ^7 (AK)Then they journeyed from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon; and they camped before Migdol. ^8 (AL)They journeyed ^[p]from Pi-hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea to the wilderness; and ^(AM)they went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. ^9 (AN)They journeyed from Marah and came to Elim; and in Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. ¹⁰ They journeyed from Elim and camped by the ^[q]Red Sea. ¹¹ And they journeyed from the ^[r]Red Sea and camped in ^(AO)the wilderness of Sin. ¹² They journeyed from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. ¹³ They journeyed from Dophkah and camped at Alush. ¹⁴ And they journeyed from Alush and camped ^(AP)at Rephidim; now it was there that the people had no water to drink. ¹⁵ And they journeyed from Rephidim and camped in ^(AQ)the wilderness of Sinai. ¹⁶ They journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai, and camped at ^(AR)Kibroth-hattaavah.

¹⁷ They journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at ^(AS)Hazeroth. ¹⁸ They journeyed from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. ¹⁹ They journeyed from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. ²⁰ They journeyed from Rimmon-perez and camped at ^(AT)Libnah. ²¹ They journeyed from Libnah and camped at Rissah. ²² They journeyed from Rissah and camped in Kehelathah. ²³ They journeyed from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. ²⁴ They journeyed from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. ²⁵ They journeyed from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. ²⁶ They journeyed from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. ²⁷ They journeyed from Tahath and camped at Terah. ²⁸ They journeyed from Terah and camped at Mithkah. ²⁹ They journeyed from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. ³⁰ They journeyed from Hashmonah and camped at ^(AU)Moseroth. ³¹ They journeyed from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. ³² They journeyed from ^(AV)Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. ³³ They journeyed from Hor-haggidgad and camped at ^(AW)Jotbathah. ³⁴ They journeyed from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. ³⁵ They journeyed from Abronah and camped at ^(AX)Ezion-geber. ³⁶ They journeyed from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of ^(AY)Zin, that is, Kadesh. ³⁷ They journeyed from Kadesh and camped at ^(AZ)Mount Hor, ^(BA)at the edge of the land of Edom.

^38 (BB)Then Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the ^[s]command of the Lord, and died there in the fortieth year after the sons of Israel had come from the land of Egypt, on the first day in the fifth month. ³⁹ Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰ Now the Canaanite, the king of ^(BC)Arad ^[t]who lived in the ^[u]Negev in the land of Canaan, heard about the coming of the sons of Israel.

⁴¹ Then they journeyed from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. ⁴² They journeyed from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. ⁴³ They journeyed from Punon and camped at ^(BD)Oboth. ⁴⁴ They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, at the border of Moab. ⁴⁵ They journeyed from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad. ⁴⁶ They journeyed from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. ⁴⁷ They journeyed from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of ^(BE)Abarim, before Nebo. ⁴⁸ They journeyed from the mountains of Abarim and ^(BF)camped in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho. ⁴⁹ They camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth as far as ^(BG)Abel-shittim, in the plains of Moab.

Law for Possessing the Land

⁵⁰ Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, ⁵¹ “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^(BH)When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵² you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from you, and ^(BI)destroy all their idolatrous sculptures, destroy all their cast metal images, and eliminate all their high places; ^53 (BJ)and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. ^54 (BK)You shall maintain the land as an inheritance by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give more inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give less inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall pass on land as an inheritance according to the tribes of your fathers. ⁵⁵ But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from you, then it will come about that those whom you let remain of them will be ^(BL)like thorns in your eyes and like pricks in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live. ⁵⁶ And just as I plan to do to them, I will do to you.’”