The Tribes East of the Jordan
Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had much livestock, exceedingly numerous; and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead — and look, the place was a place for livestock.
And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,
“Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon —
the land that the LORD struck down before the congregation of Israel — is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock.”
And they said, “If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as a holding. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”
And Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here?
And why would you discourage the heart of the sons of Israel from crossing into the land that the LORD has given them?
Thus your fathers did, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land:
they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, and discouraged the heart of the sons of Israel from coming into the land that the LORD had given them.
And the anger of the LORD burned on that day, and he swore, saying:
‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the ground that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob — because they have not followed me fully —
except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the LORD fully.’
And the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that did evil in the eyes of the LORD came to an end.
And look — you have risen up in place of your fathers, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the burning anger of the LORD against Israel.
For if you turn back from following him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people.”
And they came near to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones.
But we ourselves will be armed and ready 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 the inhabitants of the land.
We will not return to our houses until the sons of Israel have each taken possession of his inheritance.
For we will not inherit with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan, eastward.”
And Moses said to them, “If you do this thing — if you arm yourselves before the LORD for the war,
and every armed man of you crosses the Jordan before the LORD, until he has dispossessed his enemies from before him,
and the land is subdued before the LORD — then afterward you may return, and you shall be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel; and this land shall be yours as a holding before the LORD.
But if you do not do so — look, you have sinned against the LORD; and know that your sin will find you out.
Build cities for your little ones and folds for your flocks; and what has gone out of your mouth, do.”
And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.
Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our beasts shall be there in the cities of Gilead;
but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the LORD, to the battle — as my lord speaks.”
And Moses commanded concerning them Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the sons of Israel.
And Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben cross the Jordan with you, every man armed for the war before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a holding.
But if they do not cross over armed with you, then they shall receive holdings among you in the land of Canaan.”
And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “What the LORD has spoken to your servants — so we will do.
We ourselves will cross over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, and with us shall be the holding of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan.”
And 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 king of the Amorite and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan: the land with its cities, within the borders, the cities of the land all around.
And the sons of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,
and Atroth-shophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah,
and Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran — fortified cities, and folds for flocks.
And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim,
and Nebo, and Baal-meon — their names changed — and Sibmah; and they called by other names the cities they built.
And the sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorite who was in it.
And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it.
And Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.
And Nobah went and captured Kenath and her daughter towns, and called it Nobah, after his own name.