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¹ 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, behold, the place was a place for cattle;² The children of Reuben and the children of Gad came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the princes of the congregation,³ Ataroth, Ribon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sheba, Nebo, and Beon,⁴ The land which the LORD smote before the children of Israel is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle;⁵ Wherefore, they said, if we have found mercy in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession, and bring us not across the Jordan.⁶ And Moses said to the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad, Shall your brethren go to war, while you settle here?⁷ Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them?⁸ Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Rakim-gia to spy out the land.⁹ For when they went up as far as the valley of Segola, and spied out 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 LORDS anger was kindled against them on that day, and he swore, saying,¹¹ Surely none of the men who came up out of the land 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 Jophaniah the Kenezite and Joshua the son of Nun; for they have wholly followed the LORD.¹³ And the LORDS 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, you also are risen up in your fathers stead, a generation of sinful men, to augment still the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel.¹⁵ For if you turn away from after the LORD, he will again make you wander in the wilderness; and you shall destroy all this people.

¹⁶ Then they came near to him and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle and cities for our little ones;¹⁷ But we ourselves will arm and go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones shall dwell in fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.¹⁸ We will not return to our houses until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance;¹⁹ For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan or beyond; because we have already received our inheritance on this side of the Jordan eastward.²⁰ And Moses said to them, If you will do this thing and arm yourselves before the LORD for war,²¹ And will go all of you armed across the Jordan before the LORD, to war, until he has destroyed his enemies from before his presence,²² And the land is subdued before the LORD; then after that you shall return and be guiltless before the LORD and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.²³ But if you will not do so, behold, you will he sinning against the LORD; and be sure your sins will overtake you.²⁴ Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep; and do that which you have promised.²⁵ And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad said to Moses, Your servants will do as our lord commands.²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead;²⁷ But your servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the LORD for battle, as our lord said.

²⁸ So concerning all of them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the chiefs of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel;²⁹ And Moses said to them, If the children of Reuben and the children of Gad will cross with you over the Jordan, every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession;³⁰ But if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.³¹ And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad answered, saying, As the LORD has said to your servants, so will we do.³² We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan to war, that the possession of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan may be ours.³³ And Moses gave to them, to the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to half of the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Mathnin, all the land with its cities throughout its territories and the towns of the country round about it.³⁴ And the children of Gad built Ribon and Ataroth and Adoer³⁵ And Atroth, Shopham and Jazer and Jogbehah,³⁶ Beth-nimrah and Beth-hauran, fenced cities and folds for sheep.³⁷ And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Koriathaim,³⁸ Nebo, and Baal-meon (their names being changed), and Sibmah; and gave other names to the cities which they built.³⁹ And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and destroyed the Amorites who were in it.⁴⁰ And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein.⁴¹ And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took their villages, and called them Caproney Jair (hamlets of Jair, to this day).⁴² And Nocah went and took Keeth and its villages, and called it Nocah, after his own name.