Numbers 32-33
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Conquest and Division of Transjordan
32 Now the Reubenites and the Gadites owned a very great number of cattle. When they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle,(A) 2 the Gadites and the Reubenites came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon— 4 the land that the Lord subdued before the congregation of Israel—is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle.” 5 They continued, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not make us cross the Jordan.”
6 But Moses said to the Gadites and to the Reubenites, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? 7 Why will you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land that the Lord has given them?(B) 8 Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.(C) 9 When they went up to the Wadi Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the hearts of the Israelites from going into the land that the Lord had given them. 10 The Lord’s anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying,(D) 11 ‘Surely none of the people who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and up, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not unreservedly followed me(E)— 12 none except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have unreservedly followed the Lord.’(F) 13 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 had disappeared.(G) 14 And now you, a brood of sinners, have risen in place of your fathers, to increase the Lord’s fierce anger against Israel! 15 If you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”(H)
16 Then they came up to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our flocks and towns for our little ones, 17 but we will take up arms as a vanguard[a] before the Israelites, until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our little ones will stay in the fortified towns because of the inhabitants of the land.(I) 18 We will not return to our homes until all the Israelites have obtained their inheritance.(J) 19 We will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.”(K)
20 So Moses said to them, “If you do this—if you take up arms to go before the Lord for the war(L) 21 and all those of you who bear arms cross the Jordan before the Lord, until he has driven out his enemies from before him 22 and the land is subdued before the Lord—then after that you may return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.(M) 23 But if you do not do this, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 Build towns for your little ones and folds for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”(N)
25 Then the Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock shall remain there in the towns of Gilead,(O) 27 but your servants will cross over, everyone armed for war, to do battle for the Lord, just as my lord orders.”(P)
28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelite tribes.(Q) 29 And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and the Reubenites, everyone armed for battle before the Lord, will cross over the Jordan with you and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession,(R) 30 but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” 31 The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, saying, “As the Lord has spoken to your servants, so we will do. 32 We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of[b] the Jordan.”
33 Moses gave to them—to the Gadites and to the Reubenites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites and the kingdom of King Og of Bashan, the land and its towns, with the territories of the surrounding towns.(S) 34 And the Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37 And the Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo, and Baal-meon (some names being changed), and Sibmah, and they gave names to the towns that they rebuilt. 39 The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were there, 40 so Moses gave Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he settled there. 41 Jair son of Manasseh went and captured their villages and renamed them Havvoth-jair.[c](T) 42 And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages and renamed it Nobah after himself.
The Stages of Israel’s Journey from Egypt
33 These are the stages by which the Israelites went out of the land of Egypt in military formation under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.(U) 2 Moses wrote down their starting points, stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places. 3 They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the Israelites went out boldly in the sight of all the Egyptians,(V) 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them. The Lord executed judgments even against their gods.(W)
5 So the Israelites set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth. 6 They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.(X) 7 They set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol.(Y) 8 They set out from Pi-hahiroth,[d] passed through the sea into the wilderness, went a three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and camped at Marah.(Z) 9 They set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.(AA) 10 They set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.[e] 11 They set out from the Red Sea[f] and camped in the wilderness of Sin.(AB) 12 They set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13 They set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14 They set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.(AC) 15 They set out from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai.(AD) 16 They set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.(AE) 17 They set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.(AF) 18 They set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. 19 They set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. 20 They set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah.(AG) 21 They set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22 They set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23 They set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 They set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25 They set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26 They set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27 They set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28 They set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29 They set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30 They set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.(AH) 31 They set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. 32 They set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad. 33 They set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.(AI) 34 They set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35 They set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber.(AJ) 36 They set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh).(AK) 37 They set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.(AL)
38 Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the Lord and died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month.(AM) 39 Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.
40 The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the Israelites.(AN)
41 They set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42 They set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43 They set out from Punon and camped at Oboth.(AO) 44 They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab.(AP) 45 They set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad. 46 They set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. 47 They set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.(AQ) 48 They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho;(AR) 49 they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.(AS)
Directions for the Conquest of Canaan
50 In the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 51 “Speak to the Israelites, and say to them: When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their figured stones, destroy all their cast images, and demolish all their high places.(AT) 53 You shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 54 You shall apportion the land by lot according to your clans; to a large one you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small one you shall give a small inheritance; the inheritance shall belong to the person on whom the lot falls; according to your ancestral tribes you shall apportion it.(AU) 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they shall trouble you in the land where you are settling.(AV) 56 And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.