Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel.


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; 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, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land which the Lord gave into the hands of the children of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, With your approval, let this land be given to your servants as their heritage: do not take us over Jordan. 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? Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them? So did your fathers, 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 took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them. And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying, 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; But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord. 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. And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel. 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. Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones; 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. We will not come back to our houses till every one of the children of Israel has come into his heritage. 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. Then Moses said to them, If you will do this, arming yourselves to go before the Lord to the war, Every armed man of you going across Jordan before the Lord till he has overcome and sent in flight all who are against him, 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. 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. So get to work building your towns for your little ones, and safe places for your sheep; and do as you have said. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord says. Our little ones, our wives, and our flocks, and all our cattle, will be there in the towns of Gilead; But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the fight, as my lord says. 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. 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: But if they do not go over with you armed, they will have to take their heritage with you in the land of Canaan. Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. 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. 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.


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; 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, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land which the Lord gave into the hands of the children of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, With your approval, let this land be given to your servants as their heritage: do not take us over Jordan. 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? Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them? So did your fathers, 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 took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them. And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying, 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; But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord. 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. And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel. 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. Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones; 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. We will not come back to our houses till every one of the children of Israel has come into his heritage. 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.

Now when they came to the country by Jordan in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh put up there, by Jordan, a great altar, seen from far. And news came to the children of Israel, See, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have put up an altar opposite the land of Canaan, in the country by Jordan on the side which is Israel's. Then all the meeting of the children of Israel, hearing this, came together at Shiloh to go up against them to war. read more.
And the children of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, And with him they sent ten chiefs, one for every tribe of the children of Israel, every one of them the head of his house among the families of Israel. And they came to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and said to them, This is what all the meeting of the people of the Lord has said, What is this wrong which you have done against the God of Israel, turning back this day from the Lord and building an altar for yourselves, and being false to the Lord? Was not the sin of Baal-peor great enough, from which we are not clear even to this day, though punishment came on the people of the Lord, That now you are turned back from the Lord? and, because you are false to him today, tomorrow his wrath will be let loose on all the people of Israel. But if the land you now have is unclean, come over into the Lord's land where his House is, and take up your heritage among us: but do not be false to the Lord and to us by building yourselves an altar in addition to the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, do wrong about the cursed thing, causing wrath to come on all the people of Israel? And not on him only came the punishment of death. Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, God, even God the Lord, God, even God the Lord, he sees, and Israel will see--if it is in pride or in sin against the Lord, That we have made ourselves an altar, being false to the Lord, keep us not safe from death this day; and if for the purpose of offering burned offerings on it and meal offerings, or peace-offerings, let the Lord himself send punishment for it; And if we have not, in fact, done this designedly and with purpose, having in our minds the 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 Jordan a line of division between us and you, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad; you have no part in the Lord: so your children will make our children give up fearing the Lord. So we said, Let us now make an altar for ourselves, not for burned offerings or for the offerings of beasts: But to be a witness between us and you, and between the future generations, that we have the right of worshipping the Lord with our burned offerings and our offerings of beasts and our peace-offerings; so that your children will not be able to say to our children in time to come, You have no part in the Lord. For we said to ourselves, If they say this to us or to future generations, then we will say, See this copy of the Lord's altar which our fathers made, not for burned offerings or offerings of beasts, but for a witness between us and you. Never let it be said that we were false to the Lord, turning back this day from him and building an altar for burned offerings and meal offerings and offerings of beasts, in addition to the altar of the Lord our God which is before his House. Then Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the meeting and the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, hearing what the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh said, were pleased. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, said to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh, Now we are certain that the Lord is among us, because you have not done this wrong against the Lord: and you have kept us from falling into the hands of the Lord. Then Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs went back from the land of Gilead, from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, and came to the children of Israel in Canaan and gave them the news. And the children of Israel were pleased about this; and they gave praise to God, and had no more thought of going to war against the children of Reuben and the children of Gad for the destruction of their land. And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad gave to that altar the name of Ed. For, they said, It is a witness between us that the Lord is God.


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; 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, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land which the Lord gave into the hands of the children of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, With your approval, let this land be given to your servants as their heritage: do not take us over Jordan. 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? Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them? So did your fathers, 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 took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them. And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying, 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; But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord. 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. And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel. 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. Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones; 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. We will not come back to our houses till every one of the children of Israel has come into his heritage. 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. Then Moses said to them, If you will do this, arming yourselves to go before the Lord to the war, Every armed man of you going across Jordan before the Lord till he has overcome and sent in flight all who are against him, 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. 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. So get to work building your towns for your little ones, and safe places for your sheep; and do as you have said. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord says. Our little ones, our wives, and our flocks, and all our cattle, will be there in the towns of Gilead; But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the fight, as my lord says. 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. 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: But if they do not go over with you armed, they will have to take their heritage with you in the land of Canaan. Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. 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. 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.

And news came to the children of Israel, See, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have put up an altar opposite the land of Canaan, in the country by Jordan on the side which is Israel's. Then all the meeting of the children of Israel, hearing this, came together at Shiloh to go up against them to war. And the children of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, read more.
And with him they sent ten chiefs, one for every tribe of the children of Israel, every one of them the head of his house among the families of Israel. And they came to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and said to them, This is what all the meeting of the people of the Lord has said, What is this wrong which you have done against the God of Israel, turning back this day from the Lord and building an altar for yourselves, and being false to the Lord? Was not the sin of Baal-peor great enough, from which we are not clear even to this day, though punishment came on the people of the Lord, That now you are turned back from the Lord? and, because you are false to him today, tomorrow his wrath will be let loose on all the people of Israel. But if the land you now have is unclean, come over into the Lord's land where his House is, and take up your heritage among us: but do not be false to the Lord and to us by building yourselves an altar in addition to the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, do wrong about the cursed thing, causing wrath to come on all the people of Israel? And not on him only came the punishment of death. Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, God, even God the Lord, God, even God the Lord, he sees, and Israel will see--if it is in pride or in sin against the Lord, That we have made ourselves an altar, being false to the Lord, keep us not safe from death this day; and if for the purpose of offering burned offerings on it and meal offerings, or peace-offerings, let the Lord himself send punishment for it; And if we have not, in fact, done this designedly and with purpose, having in our minds the 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 Jordan a line of division between us and you, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad; you have no part in the Lord: so your children will make our children give up fearing the Lord. So we said, Let us now make an altar for ourselves, not for burned offerings or for the offerings of beasts: But to be a witness between us and you, and between the future generations, that we have the right of worshipping the Lord with our burned offerings and our offerings of beasts and our peace-offerings; so that your children will not be able to say to our children in time to come, You have no part in the Lord. For we said to ourselves, If they say this to us or to future generations, then we will say, See this copy of the Lord's altar which our fathers made, not for burned offerings or offerings of beasts, but for a witness between us and you. Never let it be said that we were false to the Lord, turning back this day from him and building an altar for burned offerings and meal offerings and offerings of beasts, in addition to the altar of the Lord our God which is before his House. Then Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the meeting and the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, hearing what the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh said, were pleased. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, said to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh, Now we are certain that the Lord is among us, because you have not done this wrong against the Lord: and you have kept us from falling into the hands of the Lord.


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; 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, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land which the Lord gave into the hands of the children of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, With your approval, let this land be given to your servants as their heritage: do not take us over Jordan. 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? Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them? So did your fathers, 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 took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them. And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying, 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; But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord. 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. And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel. 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. Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones; 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. We will not come back to our houses till every one of the children of Israel has come into his heritage. 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. Then Moses said to them, If you will do this, arming yourselves to go before the Lord to the war, Every armed man of you going across Jordan before the Lord till he has overcome and sent in flight all who are against him, 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. 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. So get to work building your towns for your little ones, and safe places for your sheep; and do as you have said. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord says. Our little ones, our wives, and our flocks, and all our cattle, will be there in the towns of Gilead; But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the fight, as my lord says. 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. 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: But if they do not go over with you armed, they will have to take their heritage with you in the land of Canaan. Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. 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. 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.


And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel.

Then Moses and Aaron made the people come together in front of the rock, and he said to them, Give ear now, you people whose hearts are turned from the Lord; are we to get water for you out of the rock?

How is it possible for me by myself to be responsible for you, and undertake the weight of all your troubles and your arguments?

And Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, This evening it will be clear to you that it is the Lord who has taken you out of the land of Egypt: And in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord; for your angry words against the Lord have come to his ears: and what are we that you are crying out against us?

And when he came near the tents he saw the image of the ox, and the people dancing; and in his wrath Moses let the stones go from his hands, and they were broken at the foot of the mountain. And he took the ox which they had made, burning it in the fire and crushing it to powder, and he put it in the water and made the children of Israel take a drink of it. And Moses said to Aaron, What did the people do to you that you let this great sin come on them? read more.
And Aaron said, Let not my lord be angry; you have seen how the purposes of this people are evil. For they said to me, Make us a god to go before us: as for this Moses, who took us up out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has come to him. Then I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let him take it off; so they gave it to me, and I put it in the fire, and this image of an ox came out. And Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them loose to their shame before their haters: Then Moses took his place at the way into the tents, and said, Whoever is on the Lord's side, let him come to me. And all the sons of Levi came together to him. And he said to them, This is the word of the Lord, the God of Israel: Let every man take his sword at his side, and go from one end of the tents to the other, putting to death his brother and his friend and his neighbour. And the sons of Levi did as Moses said; and about three thousand of the people were put to death that day. And Moses said, You have made yourselves priests to the Lord this day; for every one of you has made the offering of his son and his brother; the blessing of the Lord is on you this day. And on the day after, Moses said to the people, Great has been your sin: but I will go up to the Lord, and see if I may get forgiveness for your sin.

And Moses said, Why are you now acting against the Lord's order, seeing that no good will come of it?

But going against the order of the Lord your God, you would not go up: And you made an angry outcry in your tents, and said, In his hate for us the Lord has taken us out of the land of Egypt, to give us up into the hands of the Amorites for our destruction. Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts feeble with fear by saying, The people are greater and taller than we are, and the towns are great and walled up to heaven; and more than this, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there. read more.
Then I said to you, Have no fear of them. The Lord your God who goes before you will be fighting for you, and will do such wonders as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; And in the waste land, where you have seen how the Lord was supporting you, as a man does his son, in all your journeying till you came to this place. But for all this, you had no faith in the Lord your God, Who goes before you on your way, looking for a place where you may put up your tents, in fire by night, lighting up the way you are to go, and in a cloud by day. And the Lord, hearing your words, was angry, and said with an oath, Truly, not one of this evil generation will see that good land which I said I would give to your fathers, But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, he will see it; and to him and to his children I will give the land over which his feet have gone, because he has been true to the Lord with all his heart. And, in addition, the Lord was angry with me because of you, saying, You yourself will not go into it: Joshua, the son of Nun, your servant, he will go into the land: say to him that he is to be strong, for he will be Israel's guide into their heritage. And your little ones, who, you said, would come into strange hands, your children, who now have no knowledge of good or evil, they will go into that land, and to them I will give it and it will be theirs. But as for you, go back, journeying into the waste land by the way of the Red Sea. Then you said to me, We have done evil against the Lord, we will go up to the attack, as the Lord our God has given us orders. And arming yourselves every one, you made ready to go up without care into the hill-country. And the Lord said to me, Say to them, Do not go up to the attack; for I am not among you, and you will be overcome by those who are against you. This I said to you, but you gave no attention and went against the orders of the Lord, and in your pride went up into the hill-country.

And I saw that you had done evil against the Lord, and had made for yourselves a metal image of a young ox: you had quickly been turned from the way in which the Lord had given you orders to go. And I let the stones go from my hands, and they were broken before your eyes. And I went down on my face before the Lord, as at the first, for forty days and forty nights, without taking food or drinking water, because of all your sin, in doing evil in the eyes of the Lord and moving him to wrath. read more.
For I was full of fear because of the wrath of the Lord which was burning against you, with your destruction in view. But again the Lord's ear was open to my prayer. And the Lord, in his wrath, would have put Aaron to death: and I made prayer for Aaron at the same time. And I took your sin, the image which you had made, and put it in the fire and had it hammered and crushed very small till it was only dust: and the dust I put in the stream flowing down from the mountain. Again at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you made the Lord angry. And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and take the land which I have given you; you went against the orders of the Lord your God, and had no faith in him, and would not give ear to his voice. From the day when I first had knowledge of you, you have gone against the word of the Lord.

And Moses said in the hearing of all Israel, You have seen all the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and all his land; The great tests which your eyes saw, and the signs and wonders: But even to this day the Lord has not given you a mind open to knowledge, or seeing eyes or hearing ears.

For I have knowledge of your hard and uncontrolled hearts: even now, while I am still living, you will not be ruled by the Lord; how much less after my death? Get together before me all those who are in authority in your tribes, and your overseers, so that I may say these things in their hearing, and make heaven and earth my witnesses against them. For I am certain that after my death you will give yourselves up to sin, wandering from the way which I have given you; and evil will overtake you in the end, because you will do evil in the eyes of the Lord, moving him to wrath by the work of your hands.

But Jeshurun became fat and would not be controlled: you have become fat, you are thick and full of food: then he was untrue to the God who made him, giving no honour to the Rock of his salvation. The honour which was his they gave to strange gods; by their disgusting ways he was moved to wrath. They made offerings to evil spirits which were not God, to gods who were strange to them, which had newly come up, not feared by your fathers. read more.
You have no thought for the Rock, your father, you have no memory of the God who gave you birth.


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; 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, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land which the Lord gave into the hands of the children of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, With your approval, let this land be given to your servants as their heritage: do not take us over Jordan. 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? Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them? So did your fathers, 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 took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them. And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying, 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; But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord. 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. And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel. 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. Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones; 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. We will not come back to our houses till every one of the children of Israel has come into his heritage. 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. Then Moses said to them, If you will do this, arming yourselves to go before the Lord to the war, Every armed man of you going across Jordan before the Lord till he has overcome and sent in flight all who are against him, 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. 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. So get to work building your towns for your little ones, and safe places for your sheep; and do as you have said. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord says. Our little ones, our wives, and our flocks, and all our cattle, will be there in the towns of Gilead; But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the fight, as my lord says. 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. 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: But if they do not go over with you armed, they will have to take their heritage with you in the land of Canaan. Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. 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. 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.

At that time I gave you orders, saying, The Lord has given you this land for your heritage: all the men of war are to go over armed before your brothers the children of Israel. But your wives and your little ones and your cattle (for it is clear that you have much cattle) may go on living in the towns I have given you; Till the Lord has given rest to your brothers as to you, and till they have taken for themselves the land which the Lord your God is giving them on the other side of Jordan: then you may go back, every man of you, to the heritage which I have given you.


At that time I gave you orders, saying, The Lord has given you this land for your heritage: all the men of war are to go over armed before your brothers the children of Israel. But your wives and your little ones and your cattle (for it is clear that you have much cattle) may go on living in the towns I have given you; Till the Lord has given rest to your brothers as to you, and till they have taken for themselves the land which the Lord your God is giving them on the other side of Jordan: then you may go back, every man of you, to the heritage which I have given you.

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? Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them? So did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. read more.
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. And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying, 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; But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord. 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. And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel. 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. Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones; 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. We will not come back to our houses till every one of the children of Israel has come into his heritage. 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. Then Moses said to them, If you will do this, arming yourselves to go before the Lord to the war, Every armed man of you going across Jordan before the Lord till he has overcome and sent in flight all who are against him, 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. 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. So get to work building your towns for your little ones, and safe places for your sheep; and do as you have said. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord says. Our little ones, our wives, and our flocks, and all our cattle, will be there in the towns of Gilead; But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the fight, as my lord says. 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. 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: But if they do not go over with you armed, they will have to take their heritage with you in the land of Canaan. Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. 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.


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; 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, Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, read more.
The land which the Lord gave into the hands of the children of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. And they said, With your approval, let this land be given to your servants as their heritage: do not take us over Jordan. 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? Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them? So did your fathers, 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 took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them. And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying, 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; But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord. 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. And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel. 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. Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones; 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. We will not come back to our houses till every one of the children of Israel has come into his heritage. 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. Then Moses said to them, If you will do this, arming yourselves to go before the Lord to the war, Every armed man of you going across Jordan before the Lord till he has overcome and sent in flight all who are against him, 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. 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. So get to work building your towns for your little ones, and safe places for your sheep; and do as you have said. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said to Moses, Your servants will do as my lord says. Our little ones, our wives, and our flocks, and all our cattle, will be there in the towns of Gilead; But your servants will go over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to the fight, as my lord says. 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. 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: But if they do not go over with you armed, they will have to take their heritage with you in the land of Canaan. Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said, As the Lord has said to your servants, so will we do. 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. 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.

And news came to the children of Israel, See, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have put up an altar opposite the land of Canaan, in the country by Jordan on the side which is Israel's. Then all the meeting of the children of Israel, hearing this, came together at Shiloh to go up against them to war. And the children of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, read more.
And with him they sent ten chiefs, one for every tribe of the children of Israel, every one of them the head of his house among the families of Israel. And they came to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and said to them, This is what all the meeting of the people of the Lord has said, What is this wrong which you have done against the God of Israel, turning back this day from the Lord and building an altar for yourselves, and being false to the Lord? Was not the sin of Baal-peor great enough, from which we are not clear even to this day, though punishment came on the people of the Lord, That now you are turned back from the Lord? and, because you are false to him today, tomorrow his wrath will be let loose on all the people of Israel. But if the land you now have is unclean, come over into the Lord's land where his House is, and take up your heritage among us: but do not be false to the Lord and to us by building yourselves an altar in addition to the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan, the son of Zerah, do wrong about the cursed thing, causing wrath to come on all the people of Israel? And not on him only came the punishment of death. Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel, God, even God the Lord, God, even God the Lord, he sees, and Israel will see--if it is in pride or in sin against the Lord, That we have made ourselves an altar, being false to the Lord, keep us not safe from death this day; and if for the purpose of offering burned offerings on it and meal offerings, or peace-offerings, let the Lord himself send punishment for it; And if we have not, in fact, done this designedly and with purpose, having in our minds the 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 Jordan a line of division between us and you, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad; you have no part in the Lord: so your children will make our children give up fearing the Lord. So we said, Let us now make an altar for ourselves, not for burned offerings or for the offerings of beasts: But to be a witness between us and you, and between the future generations, that we have the right of worshipping the Lord with our burned offerings and our offerings of beasts and our peace-offerings; so that your children will not be able to say to our children in time to come, You have no part in the Lord. For we said to ourselves, If they say this to us or to future generations, then we will say, See this copy of the Lord's altar which our fathers made, not for burned offerings or offerings of beasts, but for a witness between us and you. Never let it be said that we were false to the Lord, turning back this day from him and building an altar for burned offerings and meal offerings and offerings of beasts, in addition to the altar of the Lord our God which is before his House. Then Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the meeting and the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, hearing what the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh said, were pleased. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, said to the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh, Now we are certain that the Lord is among us, because you have not done this wrong against the Lord: and you have kept us from falling into the hands of the Lord.