Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a ^avery large number of livestock. So when they saw the land of ^bJazer and the land of Gilead, that ¹it was indeed a place suitable for livestock, 2 the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “^aAtaroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land ^awhich the LORD ¹conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as our property; do not take us across the Jordan.”

6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, “Should your brothers go to war while you remain here? 7 ^aAnd why are you discouraging the ¹sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the LORD has given them? 8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them from ^aKadesh-barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to ^athe ¹Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the ²sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10 So ^athe LORD’S anger burned on that day, and He swore, saying, 11 ‘^aNone of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun; ^afor they have followed the LORD fully.’ 13 ^aSo the LORD’S anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the LORD came to an end. 14 Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, born of sinful men, to add still more to the burning ^aanger of the LORD against Israel. 15 For if you ^aturn away from following Him, He will once more leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

16 Then they approached him and said, “We will build sheepfolds for our livestock here and cities for our little ones; 17 ^abut we ourselves will be armed, hurrying ahead of the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 ^aWe will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has gained possession of his inheritance. 19 But we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us ^aon this side of the Jordan toward the east.”

20 ^aSo Moses said to them, “If you will do ¹this, if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for the war, 21 and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven His enemies out from Him, 22 ^aand the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you may return and be ¹free of obligation toward the LORD and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours as property before the LORD. 23 But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure that ^ayour sin will find you out. 24 Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and sheepfolds for your sheep, and ^ado ¹what you have promised.”

25 Then the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. 26 ^aOur little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall ¹remain there in the cities of Gilead, 27 while your servants, that is, everyone who is armed for war, ^across over in the presence of the LORD to battle, just as my lord says.”

28 So Moses gave the command regarding them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 29 And Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, everyone who is armed for battle, cross with you over the Jordan in the presence of the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as their property; 30 but if they do not cross over with you armed, they shall instead be settled among you in the land of Canaan.” 31 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “As the LORD has said to your servants, so we will do. 32 We ourselves will cross over armed in the presence of the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the property of our inheritance shall remain with us across the Jordan.”

33 ^aSo Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad, the sons of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities with their ¹territories, the cities of the surrounding land. 34 And the sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, ^aAroer, 35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 ^aBeth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and sheepfolds for sheep. 37 The sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 ^aNebo, and Baal-meon—their names being changed—and Sibmah, and they gave other names to the cities which they built. 39 The sons of ^aMachir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40 So Moses gave ^aGilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. 41 Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its ¹towns, and called them ^2aHavvoth-jair. 42 Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and named it Nobah, after ^ahis own name.

Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had ^avery large herds of cattle, and they saw the land of ^bJazer and the land of Gilead on the east side of the Jordan River, and indeed, the place was suitable for raising livestock. 2 So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “ The country around ^aAtaroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land which ^athe LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land suitable for livestock, and your servants have very large herds of livestock.” 5 They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan River.”

6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? 7 ^aNow why are you discouraging the hearts of the Israelites from crossing over into the land which the LORD has given them? 8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them from ^aKadesh-barnea to see the land! 9 For when they went up to ^athe Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10 And ^athe LORD’S anger was kindled on that day and He swore an oath, saying, 11 ‘^aNone of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not followed Me completely, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, ^afor they have followed the LORD completely.’ 13 ^aSo the LORD’S anger was kindled against the sons of Israel (Jacob) and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the LORD was destroyed. 14 Now look, you the tribes of Reuben and Gad have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the fierce ^aanger of the LORD against Israel. 15 For if you ^aturn back from following Him completely, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

16 But the people of Reuben and Gad approached Moses and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and walled cities for our children, 17 ^abut we will be armed and ready to go to war before the other tribes of the Israelites, until we have brought them to their place, while our children live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 ^aWe will not return to our homes until every one of the other sons of Israel has taken possession of his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the west side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us ^aon this side of the Jordan River toward the east.”

20 ^aMoses replied, “If you will do as you say, if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for war, 21 and every armed man of yours will cross the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven out His enemies before Him, 22 ^aand the land west of the Jordan is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you shall return and be blameless in this matter before the LORD and before Israel, and this land east of the Jordan shall be yours as a possession before the LORD. 23 But if you do not do this, behold, you will have sinned against the LORD; and be sure that ^ayour sin will find you out. 24 Build yourselves cities for your children, and folds for your sheep, and ^ado that of which you have spoken.”

25 Then the descendants of Gad and of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. 26 ^aOur children, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead. 27 But your servants will ^across over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to the battle, just as my lord says.”

28 So Moses gave the command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the leaders of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the Israelites. 29 Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben will cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead east of the Jordan River as a possession; 30 but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan and surrender their right to their land east of the Jordan River.” 31 The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, “As the LORD has said to your servants, so will we do. 32 We will cross over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, so that the possession of our inheritance on the east side of the Jordan may be ours.”

33 ^aSo Moses gave to them, 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, the king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities and territories, the cities of the surrounding land. 34 The sons of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, ^aAroer, 35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 ^aBeth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified (walled) cities, and sheepfolds for sheep. 37 The sons of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 ^aNebo, and Baal-meon (their names being changed) and Sibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built. 39 The sons of ^aMachir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and drove out the Amorites who were in it. 40 So Moses gave ^aGilead to the tribe of Machir the son of Manasseh, and they settled in it. 41 The sons of Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns (tent villages) and called them ^aHavvoth-jair. 42 Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah after ^ahis own name.