The Tribes on the East Side of the Jordan River

32 The tribes of Reuben and Gad had very large herds and flocks. They looked at the lands of Jazer and Gilead. They saw that those lands were just right for livestock. ² So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest. They also came to the leaders of the community. They said, ³ “We have seen the cities of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah and Heshbon. We’ve seen Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon. ⁴ All of them are in the land the Lord has brought under Israel’s control. This land is just right for livestock. And we have livestock. ⁵ We hope you are pleased with us,” they continued. “If you are, please give us this land. Then it will belong to us. But don’t make us go across the Jordan River.”

⁶ Moses spoke to the people of Gad and Reuben. He said, “Should the rest of us go to war while you stay here? ⁷ The Lord has given the land of Canaan to the Israelites. So why would you want to keep them from going over into it? ⁸ That’s what your fathers did. I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to check out the land. ⁹ They went up to the Valley of Eshkol and looked at the land. Then they talked the Israelites out of entering the land the Lord had given them. ¹⁰ The Lord’s anger was stirred up that day. So he made a promise. He said, ¹¹ ‘Not one of those who were 20 years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land. They have not followed me with their whole heart. I promised to give the land to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ¹² But not one of the people who came up out of Egypt will see the land except Caleb and Joshua. Caleb is the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite. And Joshua is the son of Nun. They will see the land. They followed the Lord with their whole heart.’ ¹³ The Lord became very angry with Israel. He made them wander around in the desert for 40 years. They wandered until all the people who had done evil in his sight had died.

¹⁴ “Now here you are, you bunch of sinners! You have taken the place of your fathers. And you are making the Lord even angrier with Israel. ¹⁵ What if you turn away from following him? Then he’ll leave all these people in the desert again. And it will be your fault when they are destroyed.”

¹⁶ Then they came up to Moses. They said, “We would like to build pens here for our livestock. We would also like to build cities for our women and children. ¹⁷ But we will prepare ourselves for battle. We’re even ready to go ahead of the Israelites. We’ll march out with them until we’ve brought them to their place. While we’re gone, our women and children will live in cities that have high walls around them. That will keep them safe from the people living in this land. ¹⁸ We won’t return to our homes until each of the Israelites has received their share of the land. ¹⁹ We won’t receive any share with them on the west side of the Jordan River. We’ve already received our share here on the east side.”

²⁰ Then Moses said to them, “Do what you have promised to do. Get ready to fight for the Lord. ²¹ Prepare yourselves and go across the Jordan River. Fight for the Lord until he has driven out his enemies in front of him. ²² When the land is under the Lord’s control, you can come back here. Your duty to the Lord and Israel will be over. Then the Lord will give you this land as your own.

²³ “But what if you fail to do your duty? Then you will be sinning against the Lord. And you may be sure that your sin will be discovered. It will be brought out into the open. ²⁴ So build up cities for your women and children. Make sheep pens for your flocks. But do what you have promised to do.”

²⁵ The people of Gad and Reuben spoke to Moses. They said, “We will do just as you command. ²⁶ Our children and wives will remain here in the cities of Gilead. So will our flocks and herds. ²⁷ But we will prepare ourselves for battle. We’ll go across the Jordan River and fight for the Lord. We will do just as you have said.”

²⁸ Then Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest. He gave the same orders to Joshua, the son of Nun. He also spoke to the family leaders of the Israelite tribes. ²⁹ He said, “The men of Gad and Reuben must get ready for battle. They must go across the Jordan River with you. They must help you fight for the Lord. They must stay with you until the land has been brought under your control. If they do, you must give them the land of Gilead as their own. ³⁰ But what if they don’t get ready for battle? What if they don’t go across the Jordan with you? Then they must accept a share with you in Canaan.”

³¹ The people of Gad and Reuben gave their answer. They said, “We will do what the Lord has said. ³² We’ll get ready for battle. We’ll go across the Jordan into Canaan. We’ll fight for the Lord there. But the property we receive will be on this side of the Jordan River.”

³³ Then Moses gave their land to them. He gave it to the tribes of Gad and Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh was Joseph’s son. One part of that land had belonged to the kingdom of Sihon. He was the king of the Amorites. The other part had belonged to the kingdom of Og. He was the king of Bashan. Moses gave that whole land to those two and a half tribes. It included its cities and the territory around them.

³⁴ The people of Gad built up the cities of Dibon, Ataroth and Aroer. ³⁵ They built up Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran. They built a high wall around each of those cities. They also built sheep pens for their flocks. ³⁷ The people of Reuben built up Heshbon, Elealeh and Kiriathaim. ³⁸ They also built up Nebo, Baal Meon and Sibmah. They gave new names to the cities they had built up.

³⁹ The people of Makir, the son of Manasseh, went to the land of Gilead. They captured it. They drove out the Amorites living there. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to the people of Makir, the son of Manasseh. And they settled there. ⁴¹ Jair was from the family line of Manasseh. Jair captured Gilead’s settlements. He called them Havvoth Jair. ⁴² Nobah captured Kenath and the settlements around it. He named it after himself.

The Places Where Israel Camped During Their Journey

33 Here are the places where the Israelites camped during their journey. When they came out of Egypt, they marched in groups like an army. Moses and Aaron led them. ² The Lord commanded Moses to record their journey. Here are the places where they camped.

³ The Israelites started out from Rameses on the 15th day of the first month. It was the day after the Passover Feast. They marched out boldly in plain sight of all the Egyptians. ⁴ The Egyptians were burying all their oldest sons. The Lord had struck them down. He had done it when he punished their gods.

⁵ The Israelites left Rameses and camped at Sukkoth.

⁶ They left Sukkoth and camped at Etham. Etham was on the edge of the desert.

⁷ They left Etham and turned back to Pi Hahiroth. It was east of Baal Zephon. They camped near Migdol.

⁸ They left Pi Hahiroth. Then they passed through the Red Sea into the desert. They traveled for three days in the Desert of Etham. Then they camped at Marah.

⁹ They left Marah and went to Elim. Twelve springs and 70 palm trees were there. So they camped at Elim.

¹⁰ They left Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

¹¹ They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin.

¹² They left the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.

¹³ They left Dophkah and camped at Alush.

¹⁴ They left Alush and camped at Rephidim. But there was no water there for the people to drink.

¹⁵ They left Rephidim and camped in the Desert of Sinai.

¹⁶ They left the Desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.

¹⁷ They left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

¹⁸ They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

¹⁹ They left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.

²⁰ They left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.

²¹ They left Libnah and camped at Rissah.

²² They left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

²³ They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

²⁴ They left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

²⁵ They left Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

²⁶ They left Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

²⁷ They left Tahath and camped at Terah.

²⁸ They left Terah and camped at Mithkah.

²⁹ They left Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.

³⁰ They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

³¹ They left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan.

³² They left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.

³³ They left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

³⁴ They left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

³⁵ They left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.

³⁶ They left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh. Kadesh was in the Desert of Zin.

³⁷ They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor. It was on the border of Edom. ³⁸ Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor when the Lord commanded him to. That’s where he died. It happened on the first day of the fifth month. It was the 40th year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. ³⁹ Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit

³¹ Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee. On the Sabbath day he taught the people. ³² They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.

³³ In the synagogue there was a man controlled by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice. ³⁴ “Go away!” he said. “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God!”

³⁵ “Be quiet!” Jesus said firmly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of everybody. And it came out without hurting him.

³⁶ All the people were amazed. They said to each other, “What he says is amazing! With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits. And they come out!” ³⁷ The news about Jesus spread throughout the whole area.

Jesus Heals Many People

³⁸ Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. At that time, Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. So they asked Jesus to help her. ³⁹ He bent over her and commanded the fever to leave, and it left her. She got up right away and began to serve them.

⁴⁰ At sunset, people brought to Jesus all who were sick. He placed his hands on each one and healed them. ⁴¹ Also, demons came out of many people. The demons shouted, “You are the Son of God!” But he commanded them to be quiet. He would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

⁴² At dawn, Jesus went out to a place where he could be by himself. The people went to look for him. When they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving them. ⁴³ But he said, “I must announce the good news of God’s kingdom to the other towns also. That is why I was sent.” ⁴⁴ And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Jesus Chooses His First Disciples

5 One day Jesus was standing by the Sea of Galilee. The people crowded around him and listened to the word of God. ² Jesus saw two boats at the edge of the water. They had been left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. ³ He got into the boat that belonged to Simon. Jesus asked him to go out a little way from shore. Then he sat down in the boat and taught the people.

⁴ When he finished speaking, he turned to Simon. Jesus said, “Go out into deep water. Let down the nets so you can catch some fish.”

⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

⁶ When they had done so, they caught a large number of fish. There were so many that their nets began to break. ⁷ So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord!” he said. “I am a sinful man!” ⁹ He and everyone with him were amazed at the number of fish they had caught. ¹⁰ So were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who worked with Simon.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will fish for people.” ¹¹ So they pulled their boats up on shore. Then they left everything and followed him.

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

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