Numbers 32:1-19

1Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had an 1exceedingly large number of livestock. So when they saw the land of 2Jazer and the land of Gilead, that 3it was indeed a place suitable for livestock, 2the 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“4Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon, 4the land 5which the Lord 6conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5They 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.”

6But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here? 77Now why are you 8discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them? 89This is what your fathers did when I sent them from 10Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9For when they went up to 11the 12valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they 13discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10So 14the Lord’s anger burned in that day, and He swore, saying, 11‘15None 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, 12except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, 16for they have followed the Lord fully.’ 1317So the Lord’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 the Lord was destroyed. 14Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the burning 18anger of the Lord against Israel. 15For if you 19turn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

16Then they came near to him and said, “We will build here sheepfolds for our livestock and cities for our little ones; 1720but we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 1821We will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has possessed his inheritance. 19For we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us 22on this side of the Jordan toward the east.”