Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



So God made the wild animals of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and everything that creeps and crawls on the earth according to its kind; and God saw that it was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it.

and he drove away all his livestock and [took along] all his property which he had acquired, the livestock he had obtained and accumulated in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing that belongs to the Israelites will die.”’”

but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates.

Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very large herds of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan River], and indeed, the place was suitable for raising livestock.

For the sons of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and no portion was given in the land to the Levites except cities in which to live, with their pasture lands for their livestock and for their property.

You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan [east of the Jordan].

Hear this word, you [well-fed, pampered] cows (women) of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria,
Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
Who say to their husbands, “Bring [the wine] now, and let us drink!”


Now the sons of Reuben and of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan], and behold, the place was suitable for cattle. So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and said to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, [The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle.


“So we took possession of this land at that time. I gave the territory from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, along with half of the hill country of Gilead and its cities to the Reubenites and to the Gadites.

Now the sons of Reuben and of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan], and behold, the place was suitable for cattle. So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and said to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, [The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.

And to the Reubenites and Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as the boundary of it, as far over as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, The Arabah also, with the Jordan as its boundary, from Chinnereth as far as the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt [Dead] Sea, under the cliffs [of the headlands] of Pisgah on the east.

and we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.


Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very large herds of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan River], and indeed, the place was suitable for raising livestock.

and he said to them, “Return to your tents with great riches and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and with very many clothes; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers (fellow tribesmen).”


Now the sons of Reuben and of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan], and behold, the place was suitable for cattle. So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and said to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, [The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan. And Moses said to the sons of Gad and of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? Thus your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land! For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land the Lord had given them. And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day and He swore, saying, Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me -- " Except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord. 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 was consumed. And behold, you are risen up in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn from following Him, He will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people. But they came near to him and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and walled settlements for our little ones. But we will be armed and ready to go before the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified settlements because of the people of the land. We will not return to our homes until the Israelites have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the [west] side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward. Moses replied, If you will do as you say, going armed before the Lord to war, And every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies before Him And the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be guiltless [in this matter] before the Lord and before Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build settlements for your little ones, and folds for your sheep, and do that of which you have spoken. And the sons of Gad and of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead. But your servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord says. So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of Israel. And Moses said to them, If the sons of Gad and Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man armed to battle before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. The sons of Gad and Reuben answered, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan may be ours. Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and of Reuben and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan -- "the land with its cities and their territories, even the cities round about the country.


Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very large herds of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan River], and indeed, the place was suitable for raising livestock.

He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead that are called Havvoth-jair (towns of Jair) to this day.

from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the Arnon River, even Gilead and Bashan.

To the east Bela settled as far as the entrance into the desert from the river Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead.

Also some of the Hebrews had crossed the [river] Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling [in fear and anticipation].

So Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.


Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very large herds of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan River], and indeed, the place was suitable for raising livestock.

To the east Bela settled as far as the entrance into the desert from the river Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead.


Now the sons of Reuben and of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan], and behold, the place was suitable for cattle. So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and said to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, [The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan. And Moses said to the sons of Gad and of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? Thus your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land! For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land the Lord had given them. And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day and He swore, saying, Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me -- " Except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord. 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 was consumed. And behold, you are risen up in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn from following Him, He will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people. But they came near to him and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and walled settlements for our little ones. But we will be armed and ready to go before the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified settlements because of the people of the land. We will not return to our homes until the Israelites have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the [west] side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.

And when they came to the region of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar great to behold. And the [other] Israelites heard it said, Behold, the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the edge of the land of Canaan in the region [west] of the Jordan in the passage [belonging to us], the Israelites. When the Israelites heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war on them. read more.
And the [other] Israelites sent to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, And with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel; and each one was a head of a father's house among the clans of Israel. And they came to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, The whole congregation of the Lord says, What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built yourselves an altar to rebel this day against the Lord? Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed even now, although there came a plague [in which 24,000 died] in the congregation of the Lord, That you must turn away this day from following the Lord? The result will be, since you rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. But now, if your land is unclean, pass over into the Lord's land, where the Lord's tabernacle resides, and take for yourselves a possession among us. But do not rebel against the Lord or rebel against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan son of Zerah commit a trespass in the matter of taking accursed things [devoted to destruction] and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone in his perversity and iniquity. Then the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said to the heads of the clans of Israel, The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows, and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in transgression against the Lord, spare us not today. If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if we did so to offer on it burnt offerings or cereal offerings or peace offerings, may the Lord Himself take vengeance. No! But we did it for fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you Reubenites and Gadites; you have no part in the Lord. So your children might make our children cease from fearing the Lord. So we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, But to be a witness between us and you and between the generations after us, that we will perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings; lest your children say to our children in time to come, You have no portion in the Lord. So we thought, if that should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we can reply, Behold the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but to be a witness between us and you. Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord to build an altar for burnt offerings, for cereal offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God that is before His tabernacle. And when Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation and heads of the clans of Israel who were with him heard the words that the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites spoke, it pleased them. Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites, Today we know the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this trespass and treachery against the Lord; now you have saved the Israelites from the Lord's hand. Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the chiefs returned from the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the [other] Israelites, and brought back word to them. The report pleased the Israelites and they blessed God; and they spoke no more of going to war against them to destroy the land in which the Reubenites and Gadites dwelt. The Reubenites and Gadites called the altar Ed [witness], saying, It shall be: A Witness Between Us that the Lord is God.


Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the sons of Ammon, as far as Aroer east of Rabbah;

Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very large herds of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan River], and indeed, the place was suitable for raising livestock.

“[The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,

Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

Now Moses sent men to spy out Jazer, and they overthrew its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

Heshbon with its pasture lands and Jazer with its pasture lands; four cities in all.


Their territory was Jazer, and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the sons of Ammon, as far as Aroer east of Rabbah;

Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had very large herds of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan River], and indeed, the place was suitable for raising livestock.

“[The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,

Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

Now Moses sent men to spy out Jazer, and they overthrew its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.


Now the sons of Reuben and of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan], and behold, the place was suitable for cattle. So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and said to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, [The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan. And Moses said to the sons of Gad and of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? Thus your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land! For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land the Lord had given them. And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day and He swore, saying, Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me -- " Except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord. 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 was consumed. And behold, you are risen up in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn from following Him, He will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people. But they came near to him and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and walled settlements for our little ones. But we will be armed and ready to go before the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified settlements because of the people of the land. We will not return to our homes until the Israelites have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the [west] side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward. Moses replied, If you will do as you say, going armed before the Lord to war, And every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies before Him And the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be guiltless [in this matter] before the Lord and before Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build settlements for your little ones, and folds for your sheep, and do that of which you have spoken. And the sons of Gad and of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead. But your servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord says. So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of Israel. And Moses said to them, If the sons of Gad and Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man armed to battle before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. The sons of Gad and Reuben answered, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan may be ours. Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and of Reuben and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan -- "the land with its cities and their territories, even the cities round about the country.

And the [other] Israelites heard it said, Behold, the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the edge of the land of Canaan in the region [west] of the Jordan in the passage [belonging to us], the Israelites. When the Israelites heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war on them. And the [other] Israelites sent to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, read more.
And with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel; and each one was a head of a father's house among the clans of Israel. And they came to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, The whole congregation of the Lord says, What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built yourselves an altar to rebel this day against the Lord? Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed even now, although there came a plague [in which 24,000 died] in the congregation of the Lord, That you must turn away this day from following the Lord? The result will be, since you rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. But now, if your land is unclean, pass over into the Lord's land, where the Lord's tabernacle resides, and take for yourselves a possession among us. But do not rebel against the Lord or rebel against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan son of Zerah commit a trespass in the matter of taking accursed things [devoted to destruction] and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone in his perversity and iniquity. Then the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said to the heads of the clans of Israel, The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows, and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in transgression against the Lord, spare us not today. If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if we did so to offer on it burnt offerings or cereal offerings or peace offerings, may the Lord Himself take vengeance. No! But we did it for fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you Reubenites and Gadites; you have no part in the Lord. So your children might make our children cease from fearing the Lord. So we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, But to be a witness between us and you and between the generations after us, that we will perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings; lest your children say to our children in time to come, You have no portion in the Lord. So we thought, if that should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we can reply, Behold the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but to be a witness between us and you. Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord to build an altar for burnt offerings, for cereal offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God that is before His tabernacle. And when Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation and heads of the clans of Israel who were with him heard the words that the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites spoke, it pleased them. Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites, Today we know the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this trespass and treachery against the Lord; now you have saved the Israelites from the Lord's hand.


Now the sons of Reuben and of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan], and behold, the place was suitable for cattle. So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and said to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, [The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan. And Moses said to the sons of Gad and of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? Thus your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land! For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land the Lord had given them. And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day and He swore, saying, Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me -- " Except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord. 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 was consumed. And behold, you are risen up in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn from following Him, He will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people. But they came near to him and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and walled settlements for our little ones. But we will be armed and ready to go before the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified settlements because of the people of the land. We will not return to our homes until the Israelites have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the [west] side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward. Moses replied, If you will do as you say, going armed before the Lord to war, And every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies before Him And the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be guiltless [in this matter] before the Lord and before Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build settlements for your little ones, and folds for your sheep, and do that of which you have spoken. And the sons of Gad and of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead. But your servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord says. So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of Israel. And Moses said to them, If the sons of Gad and Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man armed to battle before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. The sons of Gad and Reuben answered, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan may be ours. Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and of Reuben and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan -- "the land with its cities and their territories, even the cities round about the country.


The sons of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the valley have iron chariots, both those who are in Beth-shean and its towns and those in the Valley of Jezreel.”

The sons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given us only one lot and one portion as an inheritance, when we are a numerous people whom the Lord has so far blessed?”

Then came the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the families of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders, and all the congregation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, saying, Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among those who assembled together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin [as did all those who rebelled at Kadesh], and he had no sons. read more.
Why should the name of our father be removed from his family because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father's brethren. Moses brought their case before the Lord.

Now the sons of Reuben and of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan], and behold, the place was suitable for cattle. So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and said to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, [The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.

They came before Eleazar the priest and before Joshua the son of Nun and before the leaders and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” So according to the command of the Lord Joshua gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers.

The heads of the fathers' houses of the families of the sons of Gilead son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the fathers' houses of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and the leaders, the heads of the fathers' houses of the Israelites. They said, The Lord commanded [you] my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the Israelites; and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the Israelites, then their inheritance will be taken from that of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they are received and belong; so it will be taken out of the lot of our inheritance. read more.
And when the Jubilee of the Israelites comes, then their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe to which they are received and belong; so will their inheritance be taken away from that of the tribe of our fathers. And Moses commanded the Israelites according to the word of the Lord, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph is right.

Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the Israelite tribes. They said to them at Shiloh in Canaan, The Lord commanded through Moses that we should be given cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands (suburbs) for our cattle.


Now the sons of Reuben and of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan], and behold, the place was suitable for cattle. So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and said to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, [The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan. And Moses said to the sons of Gad and of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? Thus your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land! For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land the Lord had given them. And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day and He swore, saying, Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me -- " Except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord. 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 was consumed. And behold, you are risen up in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn from following Him, He will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people. But they came near to him and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and walled settlements for our little ones. But we will be armed and ready to go before the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified settlements because of the people of the land. We will not return to our homes until the Israelites have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the [west] side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward. Moses replied, If you will do as you say, going armed before the Lord to war, And every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies before Him And the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be guiltless [in this matter] before the Lord and before Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build settlements for your little ones, and folds for your sheep, and do that of which you have spoken. And the sons of Gad and of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead. But your servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord says. So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of Israel. And Moses said to them, If the sons of Gad and Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man armed to battle before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. The sons of Gad and Reuben answered, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan may be ours. Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and of Reuben and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan -- "the land with its cities and their territories, even the cities round about the country.

And I commanded you at that time, saying, The Lord your God has given you this land to possess it; you [Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh] shall go over [the Jordan] armed before your brethren the other Israelites, all that are able for war. But your wives and your little ones and your cattle -- "I know that you have many cattle -- "shall remain in your cities which I have given you, Until the Lord has given rest to your brethren as to you, and until they also possess the land which the Lord your God has given them beyond the Jordan. Then shall you return every man to the possession which I have given you.


Now the sons of Reuben and of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle, and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead [on the east side of the Jordan], and behold, the place was suitable for cattle. So the sons of Gad and of Reuben came and said to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, [The country around] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan. And Moses said to the sons of Gad and of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? Thus your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land! For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land the Lord had given them. And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day and He swore, saying, Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me -- " Except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord. 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 was consumed. And behold, you are risen up in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn from following Him, He will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people. But they came near to him and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and walled settlements for our little ones. But we will be armed and ready to go before the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified settlements because of the people of the land. We will not return to our homes until the Israelites have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the [west] side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward. Moses replied, If you will do as you say, going armed before the Lord to war, And every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies before Him And the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be guiltless [in this matter] before the Lord and before Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build settlements for your little ones, and folds for your sheep, and do that of which you have spoken. And the sons of Gad and of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle shall be there in the cities of Gilead. But your servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord says. So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of Israel. And Moses said to them, If the sons of Gad and Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man armed to battle before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. The sons of Gad and Reuben answered, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side of the Jordan may be ours. Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and of Reuben and to half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan -- "the land with its cities and their territories, even the cities round about the country.

And the [other] Israelites heard it said, Behold, the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the edge of the land of Canaan in the region [west] of the Jordan in the passage [belonging to us], the Israelites. When the Israelites heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war on them. And the [other] Israelites sent to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, read more.
And with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel; and each one was a head of a father's house among the clans of Israel. And they came to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, The whole congregation of the Lord says, What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built yourselves an altar to rebel this day against the Lord? Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed even now, although there came a plague [in which 24,000 died] in the congregation of the Lord, That you must turn away this day from following the Lord? The result will be, since you rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. But now, if your land is unclean, pass over into the Lord's land, where the Lord's tabernacle resides, and take for yourselves a possession among us. But do not rebel against the Lord or rebel against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan son of Zerah commit a trespass in the matter of taking accursed things [devoted to destruction] and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone in his perversity and iniquity. Then the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said to the heads of the clans of Israel, The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows, and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in transgression against the Lord, spare us not today. If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if we did so to offer on it burnt offerings or cereal offerings or peace offerings, may the Lord Himself take vengeance. No! But we did it for fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you Reubenites and Gadites; you have no part in the Lord. So your children might make our children cease from fearing the Lord. So we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, But to be a witness between us and you and between the generations after us, that we will perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings; lest your children say to our children in time to come, You have no portion in the Lord. So we thought, if that should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we can reply, Behold the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but to be a witness between us and you. Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord to build an altar for burnt offerings, for cereal offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God that is before His tabernacle. And when Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation and heads of the clans of Israel who were with him heard the words that the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites spoke, it pleased them. Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites, Today we know the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this trespass and treachery against the Lord; now you have saved the Israelites from the Lord's hand.