New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Now the Reubenites and the Gadites owned a very great number of cattle. When they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle,
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Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a great number of cattle: and when they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle;
2 the Gadites and the Reubenites came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,
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The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the meeting,
3 "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon—
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Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
4 the land that the Lord subdued before the congregation of Israel—is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle."
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The land which the Lord gave into the hands of the children of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle.
5 They continued, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not make us cross the Jordan."
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And they said, With your approval, let this land be given to your servants as their heritage: do not take us over Jordan.
6 But Moses said to the Gadites and to the Reubenites, "Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?
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And Moses said to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, Are your brothers to go to the war, while you take your rest here?
7 Why will you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land that the Lord has given them?
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Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them?
8 Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.
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So did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.
9 When they went up to the Wadi Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land that the Lord had given them.
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For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them.
10 The Lord's anger was kindled on that day and he swore, saying,
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And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying,
11 "Surely none of the people who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not unreservedly followed me—
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Truly, not one of the men of twenty years old and over who came out of Egypt will see the land which I gave by oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; because they have not been true to me with all their heart;
12 none except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have unreservedly followed the Lord.'
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But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord.
13 And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord had disappeared.
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Then the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made them wanderers in the waste land for forty years? till all that generation who had done evil in the eyes of the Lord was dead.
14 And now you, a brood of sinners, have risen in place of your fathers, to increase the Lord's fierce anger against Israel!
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And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel.
15 If you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people."
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For if you are turned away from him, he will send them wandering again in the waste land; and you will be the cause of the destruction of all this people.
16 Then they came up to him and said, "We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks, and towns for our little ones,
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Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones;
17 but we will take up arms as a vanguard before the Israelites, until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our little ones will stay in the fortified towns because of the inhabitants of the land.
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But we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel till we have taken them to their place: but our little ones will be safe in the walled towns against the people of the land.
18 We will not return to our homes until all the Israelites have obtained their inheritance.
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We will not come back to our houses till every one of the children of Israel has come into his heritage.
19 We will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east."
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For we will not have our heritage with them on the other side of Jordan and forward; because our heritage has come to us on this side of Jordan to the east.
20 So Moses said to them, "If you do this—if you take up arms to go before the Lord for the war,
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Then Moses said to them, If you will do this, arming yourselves to go before the Lord to the war,
21 and all those of you who bear arms cross the Jordan before the Lord, until he has driven out his enemies from before him
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Every armed man of you going across Jordan before the Lord till he has overcome and sent in flight all who are against him,
22 and the land is subdued before the Lord—then after that you may return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.
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And the land is under the rule of the Lord: then after that you may come back, having done no wrong to the Lord and to Israel; and this land will be yours for your heritage before the Lord.
23 But if you do not do this, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.
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But if you do not do this, then you are sinners against the Lord; and you may be certain that your sin will have its reward.
24 Build towns for your little ones, and folds for your flocks; but do what you have promised."
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So get to work building your towns for your little ones, and safe places for your sheep; and do as you have said.
25 Then the Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, "Your servants will do as my lord commands.
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And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord says.
26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall remain there in the towns of Gilead;
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Our little ones, our wives, and our flocks, and all our cattle, will be there in the towns of Gilead;
27 but your servants will cross over, everyone armed for war, to do battle for the Lord, just as my lord orders."
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But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the fight, as my lord says.
28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelite tribes.
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So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel.
29 And Moses said to them, "If the Gadites and the Reubenites, everyone armed for battle before the Lord, will cross over the Jordan with you and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession;
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And Moses said to them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben go with you over Jordan, every man armed for the fight before the Lord, and all the land is given into your hands, then let them have the land of Gilead for a heritage:
30 but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan."
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But if they do not go over with you armed, they will have to take their heritage with you in the land of Canaan.
31 The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, "As the Lord has spoken to your servants, so we will do.
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Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do.
32 We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of the Jordan."
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We will go over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, and you will give us our heritage on this side of Jordan.
33 Moses gave to them—to the Gadites and to the Reubenites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites and the kingdom of King Og of Bashan, the land and its towns, with the territories of the surrounding towns.
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So Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and Og, king of Bashan, all the land with its towns and the country round them.
34 And the Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
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And the children of Gad were the builders of Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer;
35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,
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And Atroth-shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah;
36 Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep.
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And Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran: walled towns and shut-in places for sheep.
37 And the Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
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And the children of Reuben were the builders of Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim;
38 Nebo, and Baal-meon (some names being changed), and Sibmah; and they gave names to the towns that they rebuilt.
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And Nebo and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Sibmah: and they gave other names to the towns they made.
39 The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were there;
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And the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, went to Gilead and took it, driving out the Amorites who were living there.
40 so Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he settled there.
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And Moses gave Gilead to Machir, the son of Manasseh; and he made it his living-place.
41 Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and renamed them Havvoth-jair.
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And Jair, the son of Manasseh, went and took the towns of Gilead, naming them Havvoth-Jair.
42 And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and renamed it Nobah after himself.
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And Nobah went and took Kenath and its small towns, naming it Nobah, after himself.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.