1 Now livestock {mikneh: domesticated herds} was abundant {rav: abundant quantity} for the sons of Reuben and for the sons of Gad, exceedingly numerous, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was suitable for livestock.
2 The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came to Moses and to Eleazar the priest {kohen: mediator} and to the leaders of the assembly {ha'edah: gathered community}, saying:
3 Ataroth {atarot: crown towns}, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon {cheshbon: calculated plan}, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon.
4 The land which the LORD {YHWH, Divine Victor} struck down before the assembly {adat: gathered community} of Israel is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.
5 And they said, “If we have found favor {chen: gracious acceptance} in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as a possession {achuzah: permanent inheritance}. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”
6 And Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Will your brothers {ach: close kin} go to war {milchamah: armed conflict} while you sit here?”
7 And why do you discourage the heart {lev: inner resolve} of the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the LORD {YHWH, Promise Giver} has given to them?
8 This is what your fathers {avoteikhem: ancestral representatives} did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land {haʾaretz: promised territory}.
9 And they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, and they discouraged the heart {lеv: inner resolve} of the sons of Israel so that they would not enter the land which the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Giver} had given to them.
10 And the anger {af: intense wrath} of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} was kindled on that day, and He swore, saying:
11 Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years of age and upward, shall see the land which I {YHWH, Faithful Oath-Keeper} swore {nishba’ti: declared on oath} to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not fully followed after Me.
12 Except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite {qenizzi: tribal group} and Joshua son of Nun, for they fully followed after the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Rewarder}.
13 And the anger of the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge} burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until the entire generation {dor: people group} who had done evil in the eyes of the LORD was finished.
14 And behold, you have risen up in place of your fathers, a brood of sinful men, to add yet more to the burning anger of the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge} against Israel {yisra’el: God’s people}.
15 For if you turn away from following Him {YHWH, Faithful Judge}, then He will again let them remain in the wilderness {midbar: desolate place}, and you will bring destruction upon all this people.
16 Then they came near to him and said, “We will build enclosures here for our livestock {mikneh: acquired animals} and cities for our little ones {taph: dependent children}.”
17 We will arm ourselves {nechaletz: prepare for battle} in haste before the sons of Israel until we bring them to their place, and our dependents {tapenu: noncombatant group} will live in the fortified cities, because of the inhabitants of the land.
18 We will not return to our homes {batteinu: family dwellings} until each of the sons of Israel receives his inheritance {nachalah: tribal land allotment}.
19 For we will not inherit {ninkhal: will inherit} with them from the other side of the Jordan and beyond, for our inheritance has come to us from the other side of the Jordan, eastward {mizrachah: direction of sunrise}.
20 And Moses said to them, “If you do this thing {davar: specified command}, and if you arm yourselves before the LORD {YHWH, Commander-in-Battle} for war.”
21 And all of you who are armed {ḥālūṣ: equipped for battle} will cross the Jordan before the LORD {YHWH, Divine Commander} until He has driven out His enemies from before Him.
22 And the land will be subdued before the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Witness}; and afterward you will return and be innocent {nekiyim: morally clean} from the LORD and from Israel. And this land will become yours as a possession before the LORD.
23 But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Judge}; and know that your sin {khatat: moral failure} will catch up with you.
24 Build for yourselves cities for your little ones {tap: young children}, and enclosures for your flocks {tson: herd animals}; and what has gone out from your mouth, you shall do.
25 The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord {adoni: respected leader} commands {metsaveh: directive act}.”
26 Our children and our wives, our livestock {mikneh: herd property} and all our cattle, will remain there in the cities of Gilead {Gilad: eastern territory}.
27 But your servants—all armed for the army—will cross over before the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Commander} to the battle {milchamah: war campaign}, just as my lord is speaking.
28 And Moses {mosheh: Covenant Mediator} gave command to them—Eleazar the priest {kohen: sacred official}, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel.
29 And Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben cross the Jordan with you, every armed man for battle before the LORD {YHWH, Covenant-Witness} and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession {achuzzah: permanent inheritance}.”
30 And if they do not cross over armed {khalutsim: equipped for battle} with you, then they shall receive their possession among you in the land of Canaan {Kena‘an: promised territory}.
31 The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “What the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Commander} has spoken to your servants, so we will do {na‘ăśēh: act in obedience}.”
32 We will cross over armed before the LORD {YHWH, Divine Commander} into the land of Canaan, while the holding {achuzah: legal property} of our inheritance remains ours beyond the Jordan.
33 Moses gave to the sons of Gad, to the sons of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan—the land {ha’aretz: allotted territory} with its cities {areha: urban centers} within its borders, the cities of the land all around.
34 And the sons of Gad {bnei Gad: tribal descendants} built Dibon, Ataroth, and Aroer {aroer: border settlement},
35 And Atroth {atrot: crown city} Shophan, Jazer {yazer: helper}, and Jogbehah,
36 And they rebuilt Beit Nimrah {Gadite settlement} and Beit Haran as fortified cities {mivtzar: defensive strongholds} and sheepfolds for the flocks.
37 And the sons of Reuben {Reuven: patriarchal tribe} built {banu: collective building} Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim,
38 And Nebo, and Baal Meon—changed in name {musabbot: altered identity}—and Sibmah; and they called {vayikre’u: designated} the names of the cities which they built.
39 The sons {benei: clan designation} of Machir, son of Manasseh, went to Gilead and captured it, and they drove out the Amorites {ha-Emori: original inhabitants} who were there.
40 And Moses {Mosheh: Lawgiver} gave Gilead {gilad: rocky region east of the Jordan} to Makir the son of Manasseh, and he settled there.
41 And Jair, the son of Manasseh, went and captured their villages {khavvoteyhem: settlements and encampments}, and he called them villages of Jair {yair: leader from Manasseh}.
42 And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages {benot: dependent settlements}, and called it Nobah after his own name {shem: personal identity}.