Reuben and Gad Ask for Gilead

1And the children of Ruben and the children of Gad had a multitude of cattle, very great; and they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Galaad; and the place was a place for cattle: 2and the children of Ruben and the children of Gad came, and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying, 3Ataroth, and Daebon, and Jazer, and Namra, and Esebon, and Eleale, and Sebama, and Nabau, and Baean, 4the land which the Lord has delivered up before the children of Israel, is pasture land, and thy servants have cattle. 5And they said, If we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given to thy servants for a possession, and do not cause us to pass over Jordan.

Moses Reproves Reuben and Gad

6And Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Ruben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? 7And why do ye pervert the minds of the children of Israel, that they should not cross over into the land, which the Lord gives them? 8Did not your fathers thus, when I sent them from Cades Barne to spy out the land? 9And they went up to the valley of the cluster, and spied the land, and turned aside the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land, which the Lord gave them. 10And the Lord was very angry in that day, and sware, saying, 11Surely these men who came up out of Egypt from twenty years old and upward, who know good and evil, shall not see the land which I sware to give to Abraam and Isaac and Jacob, for they have not closely followed after me: 12save Caleb the son of Jephonne, who was set apart, and Joshua the son of Naue, for they closely followed after the Lord. 13And the Lord was very angry with Israel; and for forty years he caused them to wander in the wilderness, until all the generation which did evil in the sight of the Lord was extinct. 14Behold, ye are risen up in the room of your fathers, a combination of sinful men, to increase yet farther the fierce wrath of the Lord against Israel. 15For ye will turn away from him to desert him yet once more in the wilderness, and ye will sin against this whole congregation.

Reuben and Gad Appease Moses

16And they came to him, and said, We will build here folds for our cattle, and cities for our possessions; 17and we will arm ourselves and go as an advanced guard before the children of Israel, until we shall have brought them into their place; and our possessions shall remain in walled cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18We will not return to our houses till the children of Israel shall have been distributed, each to his own inheritance. 19And we will not any longer inherit with them from the other side of Jordan and onwards, because we have our full inheritance on the side beyond Jordan eastward.

20And Moses said to them, If ye will do according to these words, if ye will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle, 21and every one of you will pass over Jordan fully armed before the Lord, until his enemy be destroyed from before his face, 22and the land shall be subdued before the Lord, then afterwards ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and as regards Israel; and this land shall be to you for a possession before the Lord. 23But if ye will not do so, ye will sin against the Lord; and ye shall know your sin, when afflictions shall come upon you. 24And ye shall build for yourselves cities for your store, and folds for your cattle; and ye shall do that which proceeds out of your mouth.

25And the sons of Ruben and the sons of Gad spoke to Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as our lord commands. 26Our store, and our wives, and all our cattle shall be in the cities of Galaad. 27But thy servants will go over all armed and set in order before the Lord to battle, as our lord says.

28And Moses appointed to them for judges Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Naue, and the chiefs of the families of the tribes of Israel. 29And Moses said to them, If the sons of Ruben and the sons of Gad will pass over Jordan with you, every one armed for war before the Lord, and ye shall subdue the land before you, then ye shall give to them the land of Galaad for a possession. 30But if they will not pass over armed with you to war before the Lord, then shall ye cause to pass over their possessions and their wives and their cattle before you into the land of Chanaan, and they shall inherit with you in the land of Chanaan. 31And the sons of Ruben and the sons of Gad answered, saying, Whatsoever the Lord says to his servants, that will we do. 32We will go over armed before the Lord into the land of Chanaan, and ye shall give us our inheritance beyond Jordan.

Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead

33And Moses gave to them, even to the sons of Gad and the sons of Ruben, and to the half tribe of Manasse of the sons of Joseph, the kingdom of Seon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Basan, the land and its cities with its coasts, the cities of the land round about. 34And the sons of Gad built Daebon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, 35and Sophar, and Jazer, and they set them up, 36and Namram, and Baetharan, strong cities, and folds for sheep. 37And the sons of Ruben built Esebon, and Eleale, and Kariatham, 38and Beelmeon, surrounded with walls, and Sebama; and they called the names of the cities which they built, after their own names. 39And a son of Machir the son of Manasse went to Galaad, and took it, and destroyed the Amorite who dwelt in it. 40And Moses gave Galaad to Machir the son of Manasse, and he dwelt there. 41And Jair the son of Manasse went and took their villages, and called them the villages of Jair. 42And Nabau went and took Caath and her villages, and called them Naboth after his name.