1Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had very large herds of cattle. They saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and saw that the place was a good place for cattle.
2So the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation. They said,
3"Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,"
4"the country which the LORD struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle."
5They said, "If we have found grace in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as our own. Do not take us over the Jordan."
6Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, "Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?"
7Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel, so that they will not go over into the land which the LORD has given them?
8Your fathers did the same, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to look at the land.
9For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they would not go into the land which the LORD had given them.
10The LORD's anger burned at that time, and he swore an oath, saying,
11'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I promised with an oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. For they have not followed me completely.'
12Only Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun, were left out of this, for they have followed the LORD completely.
13The LORD's anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone.
14And look, you have risen up in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to make the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel even greater.
15"For if you turn away from following him, he will leave them in the wilderness again, and you will destroy all this people."
16They came near to him and said, "We will build pens here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones."
17But we ourselves will go armed and ready ahead of the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall live in the walled cities, because of the people who live in the land.
18We will not return to our houses until the children of Israel have each received their inheritance.
19"For we will not take an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan, or beyond it, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan, on the east."
20Moses said to them, "If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go to war before the LORD,"
21and all of you will go armed over the Jordan before the LORD, until he has driven out his enemies from before him,
22and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you shall return and be free from blame before the LORD and before Israel. And this land shall be yours to own before the LORD.
23But if you will not do so, look, you have sinned against the LORD. And be sure your sin will find you out.
24"Build cities for your little ones, and pens for your sheep. And do what you have said with your own mouths."
25The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, "Your servants will do as my lord commands."
26Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle shall stay 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."
28So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the families of the tribes of the children of Israel.
29Moses said to them, "If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will cross 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 to own."
30"But if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have their holdings among you in the land of Canaan."
31The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, "As the LORD has said to your servants, so we will do."
32"We will cross over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, so that the land we inherit on this side of the Jordan may be ours."
33So Moses gave them - to the children of Gad, 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 with its cities and their borders, the cities of the country all around.
34The children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,
35and Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,
36and Bethnimrah, and Bethharan, walled cities, and pens for sheep.
37The children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,
38and Nebo, and Baalmeon (their names being changed), and Shibmah. And they gave other names to the cities which they built.
39The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and drove out the Amorites who were in it.
41Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its small towns, and called them Havothjair.
42And Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.