1 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gadhad an 1exceedinglylargenumber of livestock. So when they saw the land of 2Jazer and the land of Gilead, that it was indeed a placesuitable for livestock,
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the sons of Gad and the sons of Reubencame and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,
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"3Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon,
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the land4which the LORDconqueredbefore the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock."
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They said, "If we have foundfavor in your sight, let thisland be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan."
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But Mosessaid to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, "Shall your brothersgo to war while you yourselvessithere?
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"5Now why are you discouraging* the sons of Israel from crossingover into the landwhich the LORD has given them?
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"This is what your fathersdid when I sent them from 6Kadesh-barnea to see the land.
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"For when they went up to 7the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged* the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the landwhich the LORD had given them.
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"So 8the LORD'Sangerburned in that day, and He swore, saying,
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'9None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twentyyearsold and upward, shall see the landwhich I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully,
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exceptCaleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, 10for they have followed the LORDfully.'
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"11So the LORD'Sangerburned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wildernessfortyyears, until the entiregeneration of those who had doneevil in the sight of the LORD was destroyed.
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"Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers'place, a brood of sinfulmen, to addstillmore to the burning12anger of the LORDagainstIsrael.
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"For if you 13turnaway from following Him, He will once*more*abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroyallthesepeople."
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Then they camenear to him and said, "We will buildheresheepfolds* for our livestock and cities for our littleones;
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14but we ourselves will be armedready to go before the sons of Israel, until** we have brought them to their place, while our littleoneslive in the fortifiedcitiesbecause* of the inhabitants of the land.
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"15We will not return to our homesuntileveryone of the sons of Israel has possessed his inheritance.
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"For we will not have an inheritance with them on the otherside of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us 16on this side of the Jordan toward the east."
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17So Mosessaid to them, "If you will dothis, if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for the war,
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and all of you armed men crossover the Jordanbefore the LORDuntil He has driven His enemies out from before Him,
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18and the land is subduedbefore the LORD, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligationtoward the LORD and towardIsrael, and thisland shall be yours for a possessionbefore the LORD.
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"But if you will not doso, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure19your sin will find you out.
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"Build yourselves cities for your littleones, and sheepfolds for your sheep, and 20do what you have promised**."
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The sons of Gad and the sons of Reubenspoke to Moses, saying, "Your servants will dojust as my lordcommands.
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"21Our littleones, our wives, our livestock and all our cattle shall remainthere in the cities of Gilead;
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while your servants, everyone who is armed for war, will 22crossover in the presence of the LORD to battle, just as my lordsays."
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So Mosesgavecommand 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.
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Mosessaid 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 the LORD, and the land is subduedbefore you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession;
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but if they will not crossover with you armed, they shall havepossessionsamong you in the land of Canaan."
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The sons of Gad and the sons of Reubenanswered, saying, "As the LORD has said to your servants, so we will do.
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"We ourselves will crossoverarmed in the presence of the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us across* the Jordan."
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23So Mosesgave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe* of Joseph'ssonManasseh, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities with their territories, the cities of the surroundingland.
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The sons of GadbuiltDibon and Ataroth and 24Aroer,