The Transjordan Tribes. ^12 (A)Joshua addressed the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh: ¹³ “Remember what Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you when he said, ‘The Lord, your God, is about to give you rest; he will give you this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives, your children, and your livestock may remain in the land Moses gave you here beyond the Jordan. But all the warriors among you must cross over armed, ahead of your kindred, and you must help them ¹⁵ until the Lord has settled your kindred, and they like you possess the land the Lord, your God, is giving them. Afterward you may return and possess your own land, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, has given you east of the Jordan.”^{(B) 16} They answered Joshua, “We will do all you have commanded us, and we will go wherever you send us. ¹⁷ As completely as we obeyed Moses, we will obey you. Only, may the Lord, your God, be with you as God was with Moses.

Agreement Reached. ^20 [a]Moses said to them in reply: “If you do this—if you march as troops before the Lord into battle ²¹ and cross the Jordan in full force before the Lord until he has driven his enemies out of his way ²² and the land is subdued before the Lord, then you may return here, free from every obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and this land will be your possession before the Lord.^{(A) 23} But if you do not do this, you will have sinned against the Lord, and you can be sure that the consequences of your sin will overtake you. ²⁴ Build the towns, then, for your families, and the folds for your flocks, but fulfill what you have promised.”

²⁵ The Gadites and Reubenites answered Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. ^26 (B)While our wives and children, our livestock and other animals remain there in the towns of Gilead, ²⁷ all your servants will go across as armed troops before the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.”

²⁸ So Moses gave this command in their regard to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua, son of Nun, and to the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelite tribes: ²⁹ He said to them, “If all the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you in full force before the Lord into battle, the land will be subdued before you, and you will give them Gilead as a possession. ³⁰ But if they will not go across in force with you before the Lord, you will bring their wives and children and livestock across before you into Canaan, and they will possess a holding among you in the land of Canaan.”

³¹ To this the Gadites and Reubenites replied, “We will do what the Lord has ordered your servants. ³² We ourselves will go across in force before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but we will retain our hereditary property on this side of the Jordan.”^[b]

^18 (A)At that time I charged you: The Lord, your God, has given you this land as your possession. But all your troops equipped for battle must cross over in the vanguard of your fellow Israelites. ¹⁹ But your wives and children, as well as your livestock, of which I know you have a large number, shall remain behind in the towns I have given you, ²⁰ until the Lord has settled your relatives as well, and they too possess the land which the Lord, your God, will give them on the other side of the Jordan. Then you may all return to the possessions I have given you.