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¹ And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had many livestock, a very great multitude. And they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead. And, behold, the place was a place for livestock.² And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came in and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the rulers of the congregation, saying,³ Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,⁴ the land which Jehovah has struck before the congregation of Israel is a land for livestock, and your servants own livestock.⁵ And they said, If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not make us pass over the Jordan.⁶ And Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, Do your brothers go into the battle, and you, do you sit here?⁷ And why do you discourage the heart of the sons of Israel from passing over to the land which Jehovah has given to them?⁸ So your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.⁹ And they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, and discouraged the hearts of the sons of Israel, so as for them not to go into the land which Jehovah had given to them.¹⁰ And the anger of Jehovah glowed in that day, and He swore, 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 swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob because they have not wholly followed Me;¹² except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have fully followed Jehovah.¹³ And Jehovah's anger glowed against Israel. And He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the eyes of Jehovah was destroyed.¹⁴ And, behold, you have risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to add still more to the heat of Jehovah toward Israel!¹⁵ For if you turn away from following Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and so you will hurt all this people.

¹⁶ And they came near to him and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones.¹⁷ And we ourselves shall go armed, hurrying before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of those living in the land.¹⁸ We will not return to our houses until each man of the sons of Israel has inherited his inheritance.¹⁹ For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, and beyond; for our inheritance has fallen to us eastward on this side of Jordan.²⁰ And Moses said to them, If you will do this thing; if you will arm for battle before Jehovah,²¹ and all of you will go over Jordan armed before Jehovah, until He has driven His enemies out before Him,²² and the land is subdued before Jehovah, then afterwards you shall return and be guiltless before Jehovah, and before Israel. And this land shall be your possession before Jehovah.²³ But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Jehovah, and know that your sin will find you out.²⁴ Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep and do that which has come out of your mouth.²⁵ And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, Your servants will do as my lord commands.²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall be there in the cities of Gilead.²⁷ But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before Jehovah to battle, as my lord says.

²⁸ And Moses commanded Eleazar the priest concerning them, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel;²⁹ even Moses said to them, If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben pass over the Jordan with you each armed for battle before Jehovah, and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give to them the land of Gilead for a possession.³⁰ But if they will not go over armed with you, they shall have possession among you in the land of Canaan.³¹ And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben replied, saying, As Jehovah has said to your servants, so we will do.³² We ourselves will go over armed before Jehovah into the land of Canaan, so that the land of our inheritance on that side of Jordan may be ours.³³ And Moses gave to them, even 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 king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, by its cities with their borders, even the cities of the land all around.³⁴ And the sons of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,³⁵ and Ataroth-shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,³⁶ and Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep.³⁷ And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,³⁸ and Nebo, and Baal-meon, their names being changed, and Sibmah. And they called by name the names of the cities which they had built.³⁹ And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and expelled the Amorite who was in it.⁴⁰ And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it.⁴¹ And Jair the son of Manasseh went out and captured their towns, and called them Towns of Jair.⁴² And Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages; and he called it Nobah after his own name.