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The Reubenites and Gadites had a very large number of livestock. When they surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, they saw that the region was a good one for livestock.

So the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the community and said:

"The territory of Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam,^[a] Nebo, and Beon,

which the Lord struck down^(a) before the community of Israel, is good land for livestock, and your servants own livestock."

They said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Don't make us cross the Jordan."

But Moses asked the Gadites and Reubenites, "Should your brothers go to war while you stay here?

Why are you discouraging^[b] the Israelites from crossing into the land the Lord has given them?

That's what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.^(b)

After they went up as far as Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them.

So the Lord 's anger burned that day, and He swore an oath:

‘Because they did not follow Me completely,^(c) none of the men 20 years old or more who came up from Egypt will see the land I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—

none except Caleb^(d) son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua^(e) son of Nun, because they did follow the Lord completely.'

The Lord 's anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness 40 years until the whole generation that had done what was evil in the Lord 's sight was gone.

And here you, a brood of sinners, stand in your fathers' place adding even more to the Lord 's burning anger against Israel.

If you turn back from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will destroy all of them."

Then they approached him and said, "We want to build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our dependents.

But we will arm ourselves and be ready to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our dependents will remain in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

We will not return to our homes until each of the Israelites has taken possession of his inheritance.

Yet we will not have an inheritance with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance will be across the Jordan to the east."

Moses replied to them, "If you do this—if you arm yourselves for battle before the Lord ,

and every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven His enemies from His presence,

and the land is subdued before the Lord —afterward you may return and be free from obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the Lord .

But if you don't do this, you will certainly sin against the Lord ; be sure your sin will catch up with you.

Build cities for your dependents and folds for your flocks, but do what you have promised."^(f)

The Gadites and Reubenites answered Moses, "Your servants will do just as my lord commands.

Our little children, wives, livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead,

but your servants are equipped for war before the Lord and will go across to the battle as my lord orders."

So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the family leaders of the Israelite tribes.

Moses told them, "If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, every man in battle formation before the Lord , and the land is subdued before you, you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession.^(g)

But if they don't go across with you in battle formation, they must accept land in Canaan with you."

The Gadites and Reubenites replied, "What the Lord has spoken to your servants is what we will do.

We will cross over in battle formation before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but we will keep our hereditary possession across the Jordan."

So Moses gave them—the Gadites, Reubenites, and half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land including its cities with the territories surrounding them.

The Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,

Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran^(h) as fortified cities, and built sheepfolds.

The Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,

as well as Nebo and Baal-meon (whose names were changed), and Sibmah. They gave names to the cities they rebuilt.

The descendants of Machir⁽ⁱ⁾ son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

So Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir son of Manasseh, and they settled in it.

Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages, which he renamed Jair's Villages.^[c](j)

Nobah went and captured Kenath with its villages and called it Nobah after his own name.

These were the stages of the Israelites' journey when they went out of the land of Egypt by their military divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

At the Lord 's command, Moses wrote down the starting points for the stages of their journey; these are the stages listed by their starting points:

They departed from Rameses^(a) in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month. On the day after the Passover^(b) the Israelites went out triumphantly^[a](c) in the sight of all the Egyptians.

⁴Meanwhile, the Egyptians were burying every firstborn male the Lord had struck down among them, for the Lord had executed judgment against their gods.^(d)

⁵The Israelites departed from Rameses and camped at Succoth.^(e)

They departed from Succoth and camped at Etham,^(f) which is on the edge of the wilderness.

They departed from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol.^(g)

They departed from Pi-hahiroth^[b] and crossed through the middle of the sea^(h) into the wilderness. They took a three-day journey into the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.⁽ⁱ⁾

They departed from Marah and came to Elim.^(j) There were 12 springs of water and 70 date palms at Elim, so they camped there.

They departed from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

They departed from the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin.^(k)

They departed from the Wilderness of Sin and camped in Dophkah.

They departed from Dophkah and camped at Alush.

They departed from Alush and camped at Rephidim,^(l) where there was no water for the people to drink.^(m)

They departed from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai.⁽ⁿ⁾

They departed from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.^(o)

They departed from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.^(p)

They departed from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

They departed from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez.

They departed from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah.

They departed from Libnah and camped at Rissah.

They departed from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

They departed from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

They departed from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

They departed from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

They departed from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

They departed from Tahath and camped at Terah.

They departed from Terah and camped at Mithkah.

They departed from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.

They departed from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

They departed from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan.^(q)

They departed from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad.

They departed from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

They departed from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

They departed from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber.^(r)

They departed from Ezion-geber and camped in the Wilderness of Zin^(s) (that is, Kadesh).

They departed from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor^(t) on the edge of the land of Edom.

³⁸At the Lord 's command, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor and died there on the first day of the fifth month in the fortieth year after the Israelites went out of the land of Egypt.^(u)

³⁹Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰At that time the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan,^(v) heard the Israelites were coming.

They departed from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

They departed from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

They departed from Punon and camped at Oboth.^(w)

They departed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim on the border of Moab.^(x)

They departed from Iyim^[c] and camped at Dibon-gad.^(y)

They departed from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim.^(z)

They departed from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the Abarim^(aa) range facing Nebo.^(ab)

They departed from the Abarim range and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.^(ac)

⁴⁹They camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth^(ad) to the Acacia Meadow^[d](ae) on the plains of Moab.

The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho,

"Tell the Israelites: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you, destroy all their stone images^(af) and cast images,^(ag) and demolish all their high places.

You are to take possession of the land and settle in it because I have given you the land^(ah) to possess.

You are to receive the land as an inheritance by lot according to your clans. Increase the inheritance for a large clan and decrease it for a small one. Whatever place the lot indicates for someone will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to your ancestral tribes.

But if you don't drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become thorns in your eyes and in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you will live.

And what I had planned to do to them, I will do to you."^(ai)

The Lord spoke to Moses,

"Command the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, it will be allotted to you as an inheritance^[a] with these borders:

Your southern side will be from the Wilderness of Zin along the boundary of Edom. Your southern border on the east will begin at the east end of the Dead Sea.

Your border will turn south of the Ascent of Akrabbim,^[b] proceed to Zin, and end south of Kadesh-barnea. It will go to Hazar-addar and proceed to Azmon.^(a)

The border will turn from Azmon^(b) to the Brook of Egypt,^(c) where it will end at the Mediterranean Sea.

Your western border will be the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea; this will be your western border.

This will be your northern border: From the Mediterranean Sea draw a line to Mount Hor;^[c](d)

from Mount Hor draw a line to the entrance of Hamath,^[d](e) and the border will reach Zedad.^(f)

Then the border will go to Ziphron and end at Hazar-enan.^(g) This will be your northern border.

For your eastern border, draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham.

The border will go down from Shepham to Riblah east of Ain.^(h) It will continue down and reach the eastern slope of the Sea of Chinnereth.^[e](i)

Then the border will go down to the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea. This will be your land defined by its borders on all sides."

So Moses commanded the Israelites, "This is the land you are to receive by lot as an inheritance, which the Lord commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes.

For the tribe of the Reubenites and the tribe of the Gadites have received their inheritance according to their ancestral houses, and half the tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance.

The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance^(j) across the Jordan from Jericho, eastward toward the sunrise."

The Lord spoke to Moses,

"These are the names of the men who are to distribute the land as an inheritance for you: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.

Take one leader from each tribe to distribute the land.

These are the names of the men: Caleb^(k) son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;

Shemuel son of Ammihud from the tribe of Simeon;

Elidad son of Chislon from the tribe of Benjamin;

Bukki son of Jogli, a leader from the tribe of Dan;

from the sons of Joseph: Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh,

Kemuel son of Shiphtan, a leader from the tribe of Ephraim;

Eli-zaphan son of Parnach, a leader from the tribe of Zebulun;

Paltiel son of Azzan, a leader from the tribe of Issachar;

Ahihud son of Shelomi, a leader from the tribe of Asher;

Pedahel son of Ammihud, a leader from the tribe of Naphtali."

These are the ones the Lord commanded to distribute the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.