Old/New Testament
Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead
32 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very large herds of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan River], and indeed, the place was suitable for raising livestock. 2 So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “[The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land which the Lord conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land [suitable] for livestock, and your servants have [very large herds of] livestock.” 5 They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan [River].”
6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? 7 Now why are you discouraging the hearts of the Israelites from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land! 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 And the Lord’s anger was kindled on that day and He swore an oath, saying, 11 ‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not followed Me completely, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the Lord completely.’ 13 So the Lord’s anger was kindled against the sons of Israel (Jacob) and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord was destroyed. 14 Now look, you [the tribes of Reuben and Gad] have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. 15 For if you turn back from following Him [completely], He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”
16 But the people of Reuben and Gad approached Moses and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and [walled] cities for our children, 17 but we will be armed and ready to go to war before the [other tribes of the] Israelites, until we have brought them to their place, while our children live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until every one of the [other] sons of Israel has taken possession of his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the west side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan [River] toward the east.”
20 Moses replied, “If you will do as you say, if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for war, 21 and every armed man of yours will cross the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies before Him, 22 and the land [west of the Jordan] is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be blameless [in this matter] before the Lord and before Israel, and this land [east of the Jordan] shall be yours as a possession before the Lord. 23 But if you do not do this, behold, you will have sinned against the Lord; and be sure that your sin will find you out. 24 Build yourselves cities for your children, and folds for your sheep, and do that of which you have spoken.”
25 Then the descendants of Gad and of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. 26 Our children, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead. 27 But your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the battle, just as my lord says.”
28 So Moses gave the command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the leaders of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the Israelites. 29 Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben will cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead [east of the Jordan River] as a possession; 30 but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan [and surrender their right to their land east of the Jordan River].” 31 The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, “As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. 32 We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, so that the possession of our inheritance on [the east] side of the Jordan may be ours.”
33 So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities and territories, the cities of the surrounding land. 34 The sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified (walled) cities, and sheepfolds for sheep. 37 The sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 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 Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and drove out the Amorites who were in it. 40 So Moses gave Gilead to [the tribe of] Machir the son of Manasseh, and they settled in it. 41 [The sons of] Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns (tent villages) and called them Havvoth-jair. 42 Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah after his own name.
Review of the Journey from Egypt to Jordan
33 These are the stages of the journeys of the Israelites, by which they came out of the land of Egypt by their [tribal] armies, under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses recorded their points of departure, as the Lord commanded, stage by stage; and these are their journeys according to their points of departure: 3 They set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the Israelites moved out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the Lord had struck down among them. Upon their gods the Lord also executed judgments.
5 Then the Israelites moved out from Rameses [where they had all joined together], and camped in Succoth. 6 They moved out from Succoth and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7 They moved out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. 8 They moved out from before Pi-hahiroth and passed through the midst of the [Red] Sea into the wilderness; and they went a three days’ journey in the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. 9 They moved out from Marah and came to Elim; in Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10 They moved out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds). 11 They moved out from the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin. 12 They moved out from the Wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13 They moved out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14 They moved out from Alush and camped at Rephidim; now it was there that the people had no water to drink. 15 They moved out from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai [where they remained for about a year]. 16 They moved out from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.
17 They moved out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. 18 They moved out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah [near Kadesh, the place from which the twelve spies were sent to spy out the land of Canaan]. 19 They moved out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. 20 They moved out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. 21 They moved out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22 They moved out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23 They moved out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 They moved out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25 They moved out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26 They moved out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27 They moved out from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28 They moved out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29 They moved out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30 They moved out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. 31 They moved out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. 32 They moved out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. 33 They moved out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. 34 They moved out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35 They moved out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber [or Elath on the gulf of Aqabah]. 36 They moved out from Ezion-geber and camped in the Wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh. 37 They moved out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.
38 Aaron the priest went up on Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.(A) 39 Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.
40 The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev (the South country) in the land of Canaan, heard that the sons of Israel were coming.
41 They moved out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42 Then they moved out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43 They moved out from Punon and camped at Oboth. 44 They moved out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, on the border of Moab. 45 They moved out from Iyim (Iye-abarim) and camped at Dibon-gad. 46 They moved out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. 47 They moved out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before [Mount] Nebo. 48 They moved out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho [their last stop on the journey to Canaan]. 49 They camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.
Law of Possessing the Land
50 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, saying, 51 “Say to the children of Israel, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you and destroy all their sculpted images, and destroy all their cast idols and completely eliminate all their [idolatrous] high places, 53 and you shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess. 54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the large tribe you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the small tribe you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be [the location of] his [inheritance]. According to the tribes of your fathers (ancestors) you shall inherit. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and like thorns in your sides, and they will attack you in the land in which you live. 56 And as I [the Lord] planned to do to them, so I will do to you.’”
Instruction for Apportioning Canaan
34 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the Israelites, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall be yours as an inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its boundaries, 3 your southern region shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern boundary from the end of the Salt (Dead) Sea eastward. 4 Your boundary shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and continue on to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar and pass on to Azmon. 5 Then the boundary shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-arish), and its limit shall be at the [Mediterranean] Sea.
6 ‘As the western boundary you shall have the Great [Mediterranean] Sea and its coastline. This shall be your western boundary.
7 ‘And this shall be your north border: from the Great [Mediterranean] Sea mark out your boundary line to [a]Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you shall mark out your boundary to the entrance of Hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad; 9 then the [northern] boundary shall go on to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern boundary.
10 ‘You shall mark out your eastern boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham; 11 the [eastern] boundary shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and shall descend and reach to the [b]slope on the east of the Sea of Chinnereth [the Sea of Galilee]; 12 and the [eastern] boundary shall go down to the Jordan [River], and its limit shall be at the Salt (Dead) Sea. This shall be your land according to its boundaries all around.’”
13 So Moses commanded the Israelites, saying, “This is the land you are to inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to be given to the nine tribes and the half-tribe [of Manasseh], 14 for the tribe of the sons of Reuben and the tribe of the sons of Gad have received their inheritance by their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their possession. 15 The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan [River] opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrise.”
16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one leader from every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men: From the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 20 from the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud; 21 from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon; 22 from the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli; 23 of the sons of Joseph: from the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod; 24 from the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan; 25 from the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach; 26 from the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan; 27 from the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi; 28 from the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29 These are the [twelve] men whom the Lord commanded [to work with Joshua and Eleazar] to divide the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.
Death and Resurrection Foretold
30 They went on from there and began to go through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know it, 31 because He was teaching His disciples [and preparing them for the future]. He told them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed and handed over to men [who are His enemies], and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise [from the dead] three days later.” 32 But [a]they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him [what He meant].
33 They arrived at Capernaum; and when He was in the [b]house, He asked them, “What were you discussing and arguing about on the road?”(A) 34 But they kept quiet, because on the road they had discussed and debated with one another which one [of them] was the greatest. 35 Sitting down [to teach], He called the twelve [disciples] and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all [in importance] and a servant of all.” 36 Taking a child, He set him before them; and taking him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever receives and welcomes one child such as this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives not [only] Me, but Him who sent Me.”(B)
Dire Warnings
38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not accompanying us [as Your disciple].”(C) 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. 40 For he who is not against us is for us.(D) 41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he will not lose his reward.
42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe and trust in Me to stumble [that is, to sin or lose faith], it would be better for him if a heavy millstone [one requiring a donkey’s strength to turn it] were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.(E) 43 If your hand causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It is better for you to enter life crippled, than to have two hands and go into [c]hell, into the unquenchable fire, 44 [d][where their worm does not die, and the fire is not put out.](F) 45 If your foot causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It would be better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell, 46 [e][where their worm does not die, and the fire is not put out.](G) 47 If your eye causes you to stumble and sin, throw it out [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It would be better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm [that feeds on the dead] does not die, and the fire is not put out.(H)
49 “For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good and useful; but if salt has lost its saltiness (purpose), how will you make it salty? Have salt within yourselves continually, and be at peace with one another.”
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.