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.
Footnotes
- 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
King James Version
32 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;
2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,
3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
4 Even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle:
5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan.
6 And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?
7 And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them?
8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land.
9 For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them.
10 And the Lord'S anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying,
11 Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
12 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord.
13 And the Lord'S anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed.
14 And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel.
15 For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.
16 And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones:
17 But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
18 We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.
19 For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward.
20 And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war,
21 And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,
22 And the land be subdued before the Lord: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.
23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.
24 Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.
25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth.
26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead:
27 But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith.
28 So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel:
29 And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:
30 But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.
31 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.
32 We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be our's.
33 And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.
34 And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,
35 And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,
36 And Bethnimrah, and Bethharan, fenced cities: and folds for sheep.
37 And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,
38 And Nebo, and Baalmeon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded.
39 And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it.
40 And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein.
41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havothjair.
42 And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.
Numbers 32
Living Bible
32 When Israel arrived in the land of Jazar and Gilead, the tribes of Reuben and Gad (who had large flocks of sheep) noticed what wonderful sheep country it was. 2 So they came to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the other tribal leaders and said, 3-4 “The Lord has used Israel to destroy the population of this whole countryside—Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon. And it is all wonderful sheep country, ideal for our flocks. 5 Please let us have this land as our portion instead of the land on the other side of the Jordan River.”
6 “You mean you want to sit here while your brothers go across and do all the fighting?” Moses demanded. 7 “Are you trying to discourage the rest of the people from going across to the land that the Lord has given them? 8 This is the same kind of thing your fathers did! I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, 9 but when they finished their survey and returned from the valley of Eshcol, they discouraged the people from going on into the Promised Land. 10-11 And the Lord’s anger was hot against them, and he swore that of all those he had rescued from Egypt, no one over twenty years of age would ever see the land he promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they had refused to do what he wanted them to.
12 “The only exceptions were Caleb (son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite) and Joshua (son of Nun)—for they wholeheartedly followed the Lord and urged the people to go on into the Promised Land.
13 “The Lord made us wander back and forth in the wilderness for forty years until all that evil generation died. 14 But here you are, a brood of sinners doing exactly the same thing! Only there are more of you, so Jehovah’s anger against Israel will be even fiercer this time. 15 If you turn away from God like this, he will make the people stay even longer in the wilderness, and you will be responsible for destroying his people and bringing disaster to this entire nation!”
16 “Not at all!” they explained. “We will build sheepfolds for our flocks and cities for our little ones, 17 but we ourselves will go over armed, ahead of the rest of the people of Israel, until we have brought them safely to their inheritance. But first we will need to build walled cities here for our families, to keep them safe from attack by the local inhabitants. 18 We will not settle down here until all the people of Israel have received their inheritance. 19 We don’t want land on the other side of the Jordan; we would rather have it on this side, on the east.”
20 Then Moses said, “All right, if you will do what you have said and arm yourselves for Jehovah’s war, 21 and keep your troops across the Jordan until the Lord has driven out his enemies, 22 then, when the land is finally subdued before the Lord, you may return. Then you will have discharged your duty to the Lord and to the rest of the people of Israel. And the land on the eastern side shall be your possession from the Lord. 23 But if you don’t do as you have said, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will catch up with you. 24 Go ahead and build cities for your families and sheepfolds for your sheep, and do all you have said.”
25 “We will follow your instructions exactly,” the people of Gad and Reuben replied. 26 “Our children, wives, flocks, and cattle shall stay here in the cities of Gilead. 27 But all of us who are conscripted will go over to battle for the Lord, just as you have said.”
28 So Moses gave his approval by saying to Eleazar, Joshua, and the tribal leaders of Israel, 29 “If all the men of the tribes of Gad and Reuben who are conscripted for the Lord’s battles go with you over the Jordan, then, when the land is conquered, you must give them the land of Gilead; 30 but if they refuse, then they must accept land among the rest of you in the land of Canaan.”
31 The tribes of Gad and Reuben said again, “As the Lord has commanded, so we will do— 32 we will follow the Lord fully armed into Canaan, but our own land shall be here on this side of the Jordan.”
33 So Moses assigned the territory of King Sihon of the Amorites, and of King Og of Bashan—all the land and cities—to the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh (son of Joseph).
34-36 The people of Gad built these cities: Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, Beth-nimrah, Beth-haran. They were all fortified cities with sheepfolds.
37-38 The children of Reuben built the following cities: Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, Nebo, Baal-meon, Sibmah. (The Israelites later changed the names of some of these cities they had conquered and rebuilt.)
39 Then the clan of Machir of the tribe of Manasseh went to Gilead and conquered it, and drove out the Amorites who were living there. 40 So Moses gave Gilead to the Machirites, and they lived there. 41 The men of Jair, another clan of the tribe of Manasseh, occupied many of the towns in Gilead, and changed the name of their area to Havroth-jair. 42 Meanwhile, a man named Nobah led an army[a] to Kenath and its surrounding villages, and occupied them, and he called the area Nobah, after his own name.
Footnotes
- Numbers 32:42 led an army, implied.
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The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.