Numbers 32 The abundance of cattle which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had came to be very substantial. Now they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for cattle.

CLV⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ The abundance of cattle which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had came to be very substantial. Now they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for cattle. ² So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest and to the princes of the congregation, saying. ³ Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo and Beon, ⁴ the land which Yahweh smote before the congregation of Israel, it is cattle land, and your servants have cattle. ⁵ They also said:If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants for a holding; do not make us cross over the Jordan. ⁶ Then Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben:Your brothers, shall they come to the war while you dwell here? ⁷ Why do you discourage the heart of the sons of Israel from crossing over to the land which Yahweh has given to them? ⁸ Thus your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹ They went up to the watercourse of Eshcol and saw the land, yet they discouraged the heart of the sons of Israel so as not to enter the land which Yahweh has given to them. ¹⁰ The anger of Yahweh grew hot on that day, and He swore, saying. ¹¹ Assuredly no one of the men coming up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward shall see the ground about which I had sworn to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob! For they have not fully followed after M. ¹² save Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they fully followed after Yahweh. ¹³ The anger of Yahweh grew hot against Israel, and He caused them to rove about in the wilderness forty years until the whole generation doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh came to end. ¹⁴ And behold, you have risen in your fathers' stead as a vast brood of sinful men to be swept up again on account of the heat of Yahweh's anger toward Israel!" ¹⁵ In case you turn back from following Him, then He will continue further to leave them in the wilderness, and you will ruin this whole people. ¹⁶ Now they came close to him and said:Stone dikes for flocks should we build here for our cattle and cities for our little ones. ¹⁷ Then we ourselves should be outfitted for the war, hurrying before the sons of Israel until whenever we should bring them to their place. Our little ones would dwell in fortress cities because of the presence of the dwellers of the land. ¹⁸ We shall not return to our houses until the sons of Israel entail each man his allotment, ¹⁹ for we shall not have an allotment with them across the Jordan and beyond since our allotment has come to us across the Jordan toward the sunrise. ²⁰ Moses said to them:If you should do this thing, if you should be outfitted before Yahweh for the wa. ²¹ so that every outfitted man you have will cross over the Jordan before Yahweh until He has evicted His enemies from His presence, ²² and the land is subdued before Yahweh, and if you return afterward, then you will be exempt from your obligation to Yahweh and Israel, and this land will become yours for a holding before Yahweh. ²³ Yet if you shall not do so, behold, you will have sinned against Yahweh; realize that your sin shall find you. ²⁴ Build cities for yourselves, for your little ones, and stone dikes for your flocks, but what is coming forth from your mouth shall you do. ²⁵ Then one spoke for the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben to Moses, saying:Your servants shall do just as my lord is giving instruction. ²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our cattle and all our beasts shall stay there in the cities of Gilead. ²⁷ As for your servants, every man outfitted for the militia host, shall cross over before Yahweh for the war, just as my lord is speaking. ²⁸ As for them Moses instructed Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the patriarchal heads of the stocks of the sons of Israel. ²⁹ And Moses said to them:If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben shall cross over the Jordan with you, every man outfitted for the war before Yahweh so that the land will be subdued before you, then give to them the land of Gilead for a holding. ³⁰ Yet if those outfitted should not cross over with you, then they will be given a holding in your midst in the land of Canaan. ³¹ The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying:What Yahweh has spoken to your servants so shall we do. ³² We, the outfitted, shall cross over before Yahweh to the land of Canaan, yet for us the holding of our allotment is across the Jordan. ³³ So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorite and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land belonging to its cities within its territories and the cities of the land around. ³⁴ The sons of Gad rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶ Beth-nimran and Beth-haran as fortress cities or stone dikes for flocks. ³⁷ As for the sons of Reuben, they rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸ as well as Nebo and Baal-meon (turned around in name), and Sibmah; for they called the names of the cities which they rebuilt by their own names. ³⁹ The sons of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead; they seized it and evicted the Amorite who was in it. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he dwelt in it. ⁴¹ As for Jair son of Manasseh, he went and seized their settlements and called them Havvoth-jair. ⁴² As for Nobah, he went and seized Kenath and its outskirts. And he called it Nobah by his own name.