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Numbers 32:1-42 — Reuben and Gad Settle East of Jordan

Num.32.1-42

¹Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a very large amount of livestock. When they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, they saw that the place was well suited for livestock. ²So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and said to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, ³"Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon— ⁴the land that the LORD struck down before the congregation of Israel is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock." ⁵And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.” ⁶But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, "Are your brothers to go to war while you sit here? ⁷Why do you discourage the hearts of the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land that the LORD has given them? ⁸This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹For when they went up as far as the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the sons of Israel so that they would not enter the land that the LORD had given them. ¹⁰So the anger of the LORD burned on that day, and he swore, saying, ¹¹"Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not fully followed me, ¹²except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, because they fully followed the LORD." ¹³And the anger of the LORD burned 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 had come to an end. ¹⁴And now, behold, you have risen up in place of your fathers, an offspring of sinful men, to add still more to the burning anger of the LORD against Israel. ¹⁵For if you turn away from following him, he will again leave them in the wilderness, and you will bring destruction on all this people." ¹⁶Then they came near to him and said, "We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones. ¹⁷But we ourselves will arm ourselves and go as the vanguard before the sons of Israel until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁸We will not return to our houses until each of the sons of Israel has received his inheritance. ¹⁹For we will not inherit with them on the far side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan, to the east." ²⁰And Moses said to them, "If you do this, if you arm yourselves before the LORD for war, ²¹and every armed man among you crosses the Jordan before the LORD until he has driven out his enemies from before him, ²²and the land has been subdued before the LORD, then afterward you may return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel, and this land shall be yours as a possession before the LORD. ²³But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out. ²⁴Build cities for your little ones and folds for your flocks, but do what has gone out from your mouth." ²⁵And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said to Moses, "Your servants will do just as my lord commands. ²⁶Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our animals will remain there in the cities of Gilead. ²⁷But your servants, every man armed for war, will cross over before the LORD to battle, just as my lord says." ²⁸So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the sons of Israel. ²⁹And Moses said to them, "If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben cross the Jordan with you, every armed man for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession. ³⁰But if they do not cross over with you armed, then they shall receive property among you in the land of Canaan." ³¹And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, "As the LORD has spoken to your servants, so we will do. ³²We will cross over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of the Jordan." ³³So Moses gave to them—to the sons of Gad, to the sons of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land with its cities in their territories, the cities of the surrounding land. ³⁴And the sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, and Aroer, ³⁵Atroth-shophan, Jazer, and Jogbehah, ³⁶and Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran—fortified cities—and folds for sheep. ³⁷And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, and Kiriathaim, ³⁸and Nebo and Baal-meon, whose names were changed, and Sibmah. And they gave names to the cities that they built. ³⁹And the sons of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰And Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. ⁴¹And Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their villages and called them Havvoth-jair . ⁴²And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its dependent villages , and he called it Nobah after his own name.

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4/11/2026

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