¹⁴ Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan. But all the warriors among you shall cross over armed before your kindred and shall help them,

The Eastern Tribes Return to Their Territory

22 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh ² and said to them, “You have observed all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and have obeyed me in all that I have commanded you;^{(A) 3} you have not forsaken your kindred these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. ⁴ And now the Lord your God has given rest to your kindred, as he promised them; therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.^(B)

¹² The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the Israelites, as Moses had ordered them.^{(A) 13} About forty thousand armed for war crossed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for battle.

¹⁶ Then they came up to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and towns for our little ones, ¹⁷ but we will take up arms as a vanguard^[a] before the Israelites, until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our little ones will stay in the fortified towns because of the inhabitants of the land.^{(A) 18} We will not return to our homes until all the Israelites have obtained their inheritance.^{(B) 19} 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 to the east.”^(C)

²⁰ So Moses said to them, “If you do this—if you take up arms to go before the Lord for the war^{(D) 21} and all those of you who bear arms cross 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 after that you may return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.^{(E) 23} But if you do not do this, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. ²⁴ Build towns for your little ones and folds for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”^(F)

²⁵ Then the Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. ²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall remain there in the towns of Gilead,^{(G) 27} but your servants will cross over, everyone armed for war, to do battle for the Lord, just as my lord orders.”^(H)

²⁸ So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelite tribes.^{(I) 29} And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and the Reubenites, everyone armed for battle before the Lord, will cross over the Jordan with you and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession,^{(J) 30} but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” ³¹ The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, saying, “As the Lord has spoken to your servants, so we will do. ³² We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of^[b] the Jordan.”

³³ Moses gave to them—to the Gadites and to the Reubenites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites and the kingdom of King Og of Bashan, the land and its towns, with the territories of the surrounding towns.^{(K) 34} And the Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. ³⁷ And the Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ Nebo, and Baal-meon (some names being changed), and Sibmah, and they gave names to the towns that they rebuilt. ³⁹ The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were there, ⁴⁰ so Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he settled there. ⁴¹ Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their villages and renamed them Havvoth-jair.^{[c](L) 42} And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages and renamed it Nobah after himself.

Conquest and Division of Transjordan

32 Now the Reubenites and the Gadites owned a very great number of cattle. When they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle,^{(A) 2} the Gadites and the Reubenites came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, ³ “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon— ⁴ the land that the Lord subdued before the congregation of Israel—is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle.” ⁵ They continued, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not make us cross the Jordan.”

⁶ But Moses said to the Gadites and to the Reubenites, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?