Numbers 32
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.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 32:1 Lit behold, the place, a place of
- Numbers 32:4 Lit struck
- Numbers 32:7 Lit heart of the sons
- Numbers 32:9 Or wadi
- Numbers 32:9 Lit heart of the sons
- Numbers 32:20 Lit this thing
- Numbers 32:22 Lit blameless toward
- Numbers 32:24 Lit that which has gone out of your mouth
- Numbers 32:26 Lit be
- Numbers 32:33 Lit borders
- Numbers 32:41 Lit tent villages
- Numbers 32:41 I.e., the towns of Jair
Numbers 32
Common English Bible
Reuben and Gad request land
32 The livestock owned by the Reubenites and the Gadites were unusually vast and numerous. They saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead were exactly the place for livestock. 2 So the Gadites and the Reubenites came and said to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs of the community: 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon is 4 the land that the Lord struck down before the Israelite community. It is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 They said, “If you approve our request, give this land to your servants as property. Don’t make us cross the Jordan.”
6 Moses said to the Gadites and the Reubenites, “Should your brothers go to war, while you stay here? 7 Why would you destroy the Israelites’ resolve to cross into the land that the Lord gave them? 8 Your ancestors did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to inspect the land. 9 They went up to the Cluster ravine, saw the land, and destroyed the Israelites’ resolve to enter the land that the Lord had given them. 10 The Lord became angry on that day and promised, 11 ‘None of the persons that went up from Egypt, those 20 years old and above, will see the fertile ground that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they didn’t remain true to me, 12 except Caleb, Jephunneh the Kenizzite’s son, and Joshua, Nun’s son, because they remained true to the Lord.’ 13 The Lord became angry with the Israelites and made them wander in the desert for forty years until the entire generation had died, which had done evil in the Lord’s eyes. 14 Now you’ve taken the place of your ancestors, a group of sinful men, to intensify the Lord’s anger against Israel. 15 If you turn away from him, he will turn away again to abandon Israel in the desert. Then you will destroy this entire people.”
Conditions for possession of the land
16 So they approached him and said, “We will build walled enclosures here for our livestock and towns for our children. 17 Then we will eagerly fight in front of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Our children will live in the fortified cities because of the land’s inhabitants. 18 And we won’t return to our homes until each one of the Israelites takes possession of his property. 19 We won’t inherit land with them there across the Jordan, because we’ve received our property on the east side of the Jordan.”
20 Moses said to them, “Do this and fight before the Lord in war. 21 All of you who are equipped for war, cross the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven his enemies out before him 22 and the land is subdued in the Lord’s presence. Then you may return innocently before the Lord and Israel, and this land will be your property before the Lord. 23 But if you don’t do this, you’ve sinned against the Lord. Know that your sin will find you. 24 So build towns for your children and walled enclosures for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”
25 The Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my master has commanded. 26 Our children, wives, livestock, and all of our animals will remain in the cities of Gilead. 27 But your servants, everyone equipped for war before the Lord, will go over to do battle as my master said.”
28 Moses made demands for them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua, Nun’s son, and to the leaders of the households of the Israelite tribes. 29 Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, each equipped for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you will give them the land of Gilead as a possession. 30 If, however, they don’t cross with you, equipped for war, they will take possession of property with you in the land of Canaan.”
31 The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, “We’ll do just as the Lord has spoken to your servants. 32 We’ll cross into the land of Canaan before the Lord, equipped for war. But the property we inherit will be across the Jordan.”
Territory of Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh
33 So Moses gave to them—to the Gadites, the Reubenites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s son—the kingdom of Sihon the king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og the king of Bashan, including the land, its cities, and the territory surrounding the land’s cities. 34 The Gadites built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities and walled enclosures for flocks. 37 The Reubenites built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo, and Baal-meon (whose names were changed), and Sibmah. They named the cities that they built. 39 The descendants of Machir, Manasseh’s son, went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there. 40 So Moses gave Gilead to Machir, Manasseh’s son, and he lived there. 41 Manasseh’s son Jair went and captured their villages and named them Havvoth-jair.[a] 42 Nobah went and captured Kenath and its surrounding villages. He renamed it Nobah after himself.
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- Numbers 32:41 Or the villages of Jair
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