Numbers 32-33
Legacy Standard Bible
Reuben and Gad Possess Gilead
32 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had an (A)exceedingly large number of livestock. And they saw the land of (B)Jazer and the land of Gilead, that [a]it was indeed a place suitable for livestock, 2 so the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “(C)Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land, (D)which Yahweh struck 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 a possession; do not take us across the Jordan.”
6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here? 7 (E)Now why are you [b]discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which Yahweh has given them? 8 [c]This is what your fathers did when I sent them from (F)Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9 Indeed they went up to (G)the [d]valley of Eshcol and saw the land, and they [e]discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which Yahweh had given them. 10 So (H)Yahweh’s anger burned in that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 ‘(I)None 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, (J)for they have followed Yahweh fully.’ 13 (K)So Yahweh’s anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of Yahweh was brought to an end. 14 Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the burning (L)anger of Yahweh against Israel. 15 For if you (M)turn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”
16 Then they came near to him and said, “We will build here sheepfolds for our livestock and cities for our little ones; 17 (N)but we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, and our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 (O)We will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has possessed his inheritance. 19 For we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond because our inheritance has fallen to us (P)on this side of the Jordan east.”
20 (Q)So Moses said to them, “If you will do [f]this, if you will arm yourselves before Yahweh for the war, 21 and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before Yahweh until He has dispossessed His enemies from before Him, 22 (R)and the land is subdued before Yahweh, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligation toward Yahweh and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours for a possession before Yahweh. 23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh, and be sure (S)your sin will find you out. 24 Build yourselves cities for your little ones and sheepfolds for your sheep, and (T)do [g]what you have promised.”
25 And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. 26 (U)Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall [h]remain there in the cities of Gilead; 27 but your servants, everyone who is armed for war, will (V)cross over in the presence of Yahweh to battle, just as my lord says.”
28 So Moses gave a command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and 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, will cross with you over the Jordan in the presence of Yahweh, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for 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 sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “As Yahweh has said to your servants, so we will do. 32 We ourselves will cross over armed in the presence of Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us across the Jordan.”
33 (W)So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to 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 [i]territories, the cities of the surrounding land. 34 And the sons of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and (X)Aroer, 35 and Atroth-shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah, 36 and (Y)Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and sheepfolds for sheep. 37 And the sons of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim, 38 and (Z)Nebo and Baal-meon—their names being changed—and Sibmah, and they gave other names to the cities which they built. 39 And the sons of (AA)Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40 So Moses gave (AB)Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it. 41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its [j]towns and called them [k](AC)Havvoth-jair. 42 And Nobah went and took Kenath and its towns and called it Nobah after (AD)his own name.
The Journey from Egypt to Jordan
33 These are the journeys of the sons of Israel, by which they came out from the land of Egypt by their armies, by (AE)the hand of Moses and Aaron. 2 And Moses wrote down their starting places according to their journeys by the [l]command of Yahweh, and these are their journeys according to their starting places.
3 (AF)They journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the [m]next day after the Passover the sons of Israel (AG)started out [n]with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians,
4 but the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom Yahweh had struck down among them. Yahweh had also executed judgments (AH)on their gods.
5 Then (AI)the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses and camped in Succoth.
6 (AJ)They journeyed from Succoth and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.
7 (AK)They journeyed from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol.
8 (AL)They journeyed [o]from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness; and (AM)they went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.
9 (AN)They journeyed from Marah and came to Elim; and in Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.
10 They journeyed from Elim and camped by the [p]Red Sea.
11 They journeyed from the [q]Red Sea and camped in (AO)the wilderness of Sin.
12 They journeyed from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
13 They journeyed from Dophkah and camped at Alush.
14 They journeyed from Alush and camped (AP)at Rephidim; now it was there that the people had no water to drink.
15 They journeyed from Rephidim and camped in (AQ)the wilderness of Sinai.
16 They journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at (AR)Kibroth-hattaavah.
17 They journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at (AS)Hazeroth.
18 They journeyed from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.
19 They journeyed from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez.
20 They journeyed from Rimmon-perez and camped at (AT)Libnah.
21 They journeyed from Libnah and camped at Rissah.
22 They journeyed from Rissah and camped in Kehelathah.
23 They journeyed from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.
24 They journeyed from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.
25 They journeyed from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.
26 They journeyed from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.
27 They journeyed from Tahath and camped at Terah.
28 They journeyed from Terah and camped at Mithkah.
29 They journeyed from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.
30 They journeyed from Hashmonah and camped at (AU)Moseroth.
31 They journeyed from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan.
32 They journeyed from (AV)Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad.
33 They journeyed from Hor-haggidgad and camped at (AW)Jotbathah.
34 They journeyed from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.
35 They journeyed from Abronah and camped at (AX)Ezion-geber.
36 They journeyed from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of (AY)Zin, that is, Kadesh.
37 They journeyed from Kadesh and camped at (AZ)Mount Hor, (BA)at the edge of the land of Edom.
38 (BB)Then Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the [r]command of Yahweh, and he died there in the fortieth year after the sons of Israel had come from the land of Egypt, on the first day in the fifth month.
39 Now Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.
40 Now the Canaanite, the king of (BC)Arad [s]who lived in the [t]Negev in the land of Canaan, heard when the sons of Israel were coming.
41 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.
42 They journeyed from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.
43 They journeyed from Punon and camped at (BD)Oboth.
44 They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, at the border of Moab.
45 They journeyed from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad.
46 They journeyed from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim.
47 They journeyed from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of (BE)Abarim, before Nebo.
48 They journeyed from the mountains of Abarim and (BF)camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
49 They camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth as far as (BG)Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.
Statutes of Possessing the Land
50 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘(BH)When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall dispossess all the inhabitants of the land from before you and (BI)destroy all their carved stones and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places; 53 (BJ)and you shall take possession of the land and inhabit it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 (BK)And you shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. 55 But if you do not dispossess the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it will be that those whom you let remain of them will become (BL)as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land which you inhabit. 56 And it will be as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.’”
Footnotes
- Numbers 32:1 Lit behold, the place, a place for
- Numbers 32:7 Lit restraining the hearts of
- Numbers 32:8 Lit Thus your fathers
- Numbers 32:9 Or wadi
- Numbers 32:9 Lit restrained the hearts of
- Numbers 32:20 Lit this thing
- Numbers 32:24 Lit that which has come out of your mouth
- Numbers 32:26 Lit be
- Numbers 32:33 Lit borders
- Numbers 32:41 Lit tent villages
- Numbers 32:41 Lit the towns of Jair
- Numbers 33:2 Lit mouth
- Numbers 33:3 Lit morrow
- Numbers 33:3 Or boldly
- Numbers 33:8 Many mss from Pi-hahiroth
- Numbers 33:10 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Numbers 33:11 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Numbers 33:38 Lit mouth
- Numbers 33:40 Lit and he
- Numbers 33:40 South country
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