⁷ Some of them crossed the Jordan River and escaped into the land of Gad and Gilead.

Saul’s Disobedience and Samuel’s Rebuke

Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear.

³ Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain^[a] and go home.’” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.

The Land Given to the Tribe of Gad

²⁴ Moses had assigned the following area to the clans of the tribe of Gad.

The Land Given to the Half-Tribe of Manasseh

²⁹ Moses had assigned the following area to the clans of the half-tribe of Manasseh.

²⁵ “The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will attack your enemies from one direction, but you will scatter from them in seven! You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

⁸ “Then the officers will also say, ‘Is anyone here afraid or worried? If you are, you may go home before you frighten anyone else.’

Land Division East of the Jordan

¹² “When we took possession of this land, I gave to the tribes of Reuben and Gad the territory beyond Aroer along the Arnon Gorge, plus half of the hill country of Gilead with its towns.

³³ So Moses assigned land to the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph. He gave them the territory of King Sihon of the Amorites and the land of King Og of Bashan—the whole land with its cities and surrounding lands.

³⁴ The descendants of Gad built the towns of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran. These were all fortified towns with pens for their flocks.

³⁷ The descendants of Reuben built the towns of Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo, Baal-meon, and Sibmah. They changed the names of some of the towns they conquered and rebuilt.

³⁹ Then the descendants of Makir of the tribe of Manasseh went to Gilead and conquered it, and they drove out the Amorites living there. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to the Makirites, descendants of Manasseh, and they settled there. ⁴¹ The people of Jair, another clan of the tribe of Manasseh, captured many of the towns in Gilead and changed the name of that region to the Towns of Jair.^{[a] 42} Meanwhile, a man named Nobah captured the town of Kenath and its surrounding villages, and he renamed that area Nobah after himself.

The Tribes East of the Jordan

32 The tribes of Reuben and Gad owned vast numbers of livestock. So when they saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were ideally suited for their flocks and herds, ² they came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the other leaders of the community. They said, ³ “Notice the towns of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sibmah,^[a] Nebo, and Beon. ⁴ The Lord has conquered this whole area for the community of Israel, and it is ideally suited for all our livestock. ⁵ If we have found favor with you, please let us have this land as our property instead of giving us land across the Jordan River.”

³⁶ “And for those of you who survive, I will demoralize you in the land of your enemies. You will live in such fear that the sound of a leaf driven by the wind will send you fleeing. You will run as though fleeing from a sword, and you will fall even when no one pursues you. ³⁷ Though no one is chasing you, you will stumble over each other as though fleeing from a sword. You will have no power to stand up against your enemies.