Numbers 32:1-19

1Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a 1very 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, 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.” 5And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as our property; do not take us across the Jordan.”

6But Moses said to the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, “Should your brothers go to war while you remain here? 77And why are you discouraging the 8sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8This is what your fathers did when I sent them from 9Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9For when they went up to 10the 11Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the 12sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10So 13the Lord’s anger burned on that day, and He swore, saying, 11‘14None 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; 15for they have followed the Lord fully.’ 1316So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord came to an end. 14Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, born of sinful men, to add still more to the burning 17anger of the Lord against Israel. 15For if you 18turn away from following Him, He will once more leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

16Then they approached him and said, “We will build sheepfolds for our livestock here and cities for our little ones; 1719but we ourselves will be armed, hurrying ahead of 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. 1820We will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has gained possession of his inheritance. 19But we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us 21on this side of the Jordan toward the east.”