Numbers 32:16-32
New Catholic Bible
16 Another Request. So they came up to him and said, “Let us build enclosures here for our herds and flocks and cities for our little ones. 17 We will still arm ourselves, going before the people of Israel, to bring them into their dwelling place. Our little ones will be sheltered from the inhabitants of the land in the fortified cities. 18 We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his inheritance. 19 We will not take an inheritance on the other side of the Jordan, for it has fallen to us to have an inheritance on this side of the Jordan, on the east.”
20 Settlement Reached. Then Moses said to them, “You are to do this: arm yourselves for the Lord’s war, 21 and have all your armed men go over the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven out his enemies before him 22 and the land is subdued before the Lord. Then after this, you can return and be blameless before the Lord and before Israel. This land will be your possession before the Lord. 23 But if you do not do this, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and be sure, your sin will catch up with you. 24 Build your cities for your little ones and your enclosures for your sheep, but then do what you have promised to do.”
25 The Gadites and the Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do as our lord commands. 26 Our children and our wives, our flocks and our herds will remain here in the cities of Gilead. 27 But your servants will cross over, every one of them armed for battle, to fight, as my lord has proposed.”
28 Moses gave orders to Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders of the ancestral tribes of the people of Israel. 29 Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and the Reubenites cross over the Jordan, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you will give them the land of Gilead as a possession. 30 However, if they do not cross over armed, then they will have a possession among you in the land of Canaan.”
31 The Gadites and the Reubenites answered, saying, “We will do what the Lord has said to your servants. 32 We will cross over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan. The possession of our inheritance will remain on this side of the Jordan.”[a]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 32:32 To retain order and responsibility among the tribes, the leaders of Gad and Reuben promise to serve in the Lord’s army while leaving their women, children, and livestock behind.
