1 ¶ Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very large number of cattle: and when they saw that the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, was a good place for livestock;

2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, and said,

3 The territory around Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon,

4 The land that the LORD defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock:

5 Therefore, they said, if we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession, and do not take us across the Jordan.

6 And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, while you sit here?

7 Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land that the LORD has given them?

8 That is what your fathers did, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land.

9 For after they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, from going into the land which the LORD had given them.

10 And the LORD’S anger was kindled at the same time, and he swore, saying,

11 Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and up, shall see the land which I promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:

12 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD.

13 And the LORD’S anger was kindled against Israel, and he caused them to wander in the wilderness for forty years, until the entire generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.

14 And, behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel.

15 For if you turn from following him, he will again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.

16 ¶ But they came near to him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and cities for our little ones:

17 But we ourselves will be armed and ready before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

18 We will not return to our homes, until each of the children of Israel has received his inheritance.

19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, or beyond; because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.

20 And Moses said to them, If you will do this, if you will go armed before the LORD to war,

21 And every armed man of you will go over the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven his enemies out from before him,

22 And the land is subdued before the LORD: then afterward 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 have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

24 Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do what you said you would do.

25 And the children of Gad and the children 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 cross over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord says.

28 ¶ So Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel concerning them:

29 And Moses said to them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben 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 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.

31 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben 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, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours.

33 And Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to half the 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, including its cities and the territories around them.

34 And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

35 And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,

36 And Bethnimrah, and Bethharan, fenced cities: and folds for sheep.

37 And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,

38 And Nebo, and Baalmeon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names to the cities that they built.

39 And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.

40 And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he settled in it.

41 Likewise Jair a descendant of Manasseh went out and captured its villages, and called them Havothjair.

42 And Nobah went and captured Kenath, and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.