1Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a great number of cattle: and when they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle;
2The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the meeting,
3Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
4The land which the Lord gave into the hands of the children of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle.
5And they said, With your approval, let this land be given to your servants as their heritage: do not take us over Jordan.
6And Moses said to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, Are your brothers to go to the war, while you take your rest here?
7Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them?
8So did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.
9For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them.
10And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying,
11Truly, not one of the men of twenty years old and over who came out of Egypt will see the land which I gave by oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; because they have not been true to me with all their heart;
12But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord.
13Then the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made them wanderers in the waste land for forty years? till all that generation who had done evil in the eyes of the Lord was dead.
14And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel.
15For if you are turned away from him, he will send them wandering again in the waste land; and you will be the cause of the destruction of all this people.
16Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones;
17But we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel till we have taken them to their place: but our little ones will be safe in the walled towns against the people of the land.
18We will not come back to our houses till every one of the children of Israel has come into his heritage.
19For we will not have our heritage with them on the other side of Jordan and forward; because our heritage has come to us on this side of Jordan to the east.
20Then Moses said to them, If you will do this, arming yourselves to go before the Lord to the war,
21Every armed man of you going across Jordan before the Lord till he has overcome and sent in flight all who are against him,
22And the land is under the rule of the Lord: then after that you may come back, having done no wrong to the Lord and to Israel; and this land will be yours for your heritage before the Lord.
23But if you do not do this, then you are sinners against the Lord; and you may be certain that your sin will have its reward.
24So get to work building your towns for your little ones, and safe places for your sheep; and do as you have said.
25And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord says.
26Our little ones, our wives, and our flocks, and all our cattle, will be there in the towns of Gilead;
27But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the fight, as my lord says.
28So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel.
29And Moses said to them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben go with you over Jordan, every man armed for the fight before the Lord, and all the land is given into your hands, then let them have the land of Gilead for a heritage:
30But if they do not go over with you armed, they will have to take their heritage with you in the land of Canaan.
31Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do.
32We will go over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, and you will give us our heritage on this side of Jordan.
33So Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and Og, king of Bashan, all the land with its towns and the country round them.
34And the children of Gad were the builders of Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer;
35And Atroth-shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah;
36And Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran: walled towns and shut-in places for sheep.
37And the children of Reuben were the builders of Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim;
38And Nebo and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Sibmah: and they gave other names to the towns they made.
39And the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, went to Gilead and took it, driving out the Amorites who were living there.
40And Moses gave Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh; and he made it his living-place.
41And Jair, the son of Manasseh, went and took the towns of Gilead, naming them Havvoth-Jair.
42And Nobah went and took Kenath and its small towns, naming it Nobah, after himself.