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 (A)And why are you discouraging the ^[a]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 ^(B)Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹ For when they went up to ^(C)the ^[b]Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the ^[c]sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. ¹⁰ So ^(D)the Lord’s anger burned on that day, and He swore, saying, ¹¹ ‘^(E)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; ^(F)for they have followed the Lord fully.’ ^13 (G)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 ^(H)anger of the Lord against Israel. ¹⁵ For if you ^(I)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 (J)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 (K)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 ^(L)on this side of the Jordan toward the east.”

^20 (M)So Moses said to them, “If you will do ^[d]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 (N)and the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you may return and be ^[e]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 ^(O)your sin will find you out. ²⁴ Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and sheepfolds for your sheep, and ^(P)do ^[f]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 (Q)Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall ^[g]remain there in the cities of Gilead, ²⁷ while your servants, that is, everyone who is armed for war, ^(R)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.”

¹⁸ “Then I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘^(A)The Lord your God has given you this land to possess it; ^(B)all you ^[a]valiant men shall cross over armed ahead of your brothers, the sons of Israel. ^19 (C)However, your wives, your little ones, and your livestock (I know that you have ^(D)much livestock) shall remain in your cities which I have given you, ^20 (E)until the Lord gives rest to your fellow countrymen as to you, and they also take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving them beyond the Jordan. ^(F)Then you may return, each man to his possession which I have given you.’