Family Groups East of the Jordan River

32 The family groups of Reuben and Gad had many, many cows. Those people looked at the land near Jazer and Gilead. They saw that this land was good for their cows. ²So the people from the family groups of Reuben and Gad came to Moses. They spoke to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the people. ^3–4They said, “We, your servants, have many, many cows. And the land that we have fought against is a good land for cows. This land includes the area around Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sibmah,* Nebo, and Beon. ⁵If it pleases you, we would like this land to be given to us. Don’t take us to the other side of the Jordan River.” ⁶Moses told the people from the family groups of Reuben and Gad, “Will you let your brothers go and fight while you settle here? ⁷Why are you trying to discourage the people of Israel? You will make them not want to cross the river and take the land that the Lord has given to them! ⁸Your fathers did the same thing to me. In Kadesh Barnea I sent spies to look at the land. ⁹Those men went as far as Eshcol Valley. They saw the land. And those men discouraged the people of Israel. Those men made the people of Israel not want to go into the land that the Lord had given to them. ¹⁰The Lord became very angry at the people. The Lord made this promise: ¹¹‘None of the people who came from Egypt and are 20 years old or older will be allowed to see this land. I made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I promised to give this land to these people. But they have not truly followed me. {So they will not get this land}. ¹²Only Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun truly followed the Lord!’ ¹³“The Lord was very angry against the people of Israel. So the Lord made the people stay in the desert for 40 years. The Lord made them stay there until all the people who had sinned against the Lord were dead. ¹⁴And now you are doing the same thing that your fathers did. You sinful people, do you want the Lord to be even more angry against his people? ¹⁵If you quit following the Lord, then the Lord will make Israel stay even longer in the desert. Then you will destroy all of these people!” ¹⁶But the people {from Reuben’s and Gad’s family groups} went to Moses. They said, “We will build cities for our children and barns for our animals here. ¹⁷Then our children can be safe from the other people that live in this land. But we will gladly come and help the other people of Israel. We will bring them to their land. ¹⁸We will not come back home until everyone in Israel has taken his part of the land. ¹⁹We won’t take any of the land west of the Jordan River. No! Our part of the land is east of the Jordan River.” ²⁰So Moses told them, “If you do all of these things, then this land will belong to you. But your soldiers must go before the Lord into battle. ²¹Your soldiers must cross the Jordan River and force the enemy to leave the country. ²²After the Lord helps us all take the land, then you can go back home. Then the Lord and Israel will not think that you are guilty. Then the Lord will let you have this land. ²³But if you don’t do these things, then you will be sinning against the Lord. And know for sure that you will be punished for your sin. ²⁴Build cities for your children and barns for your animals. But then, you must do what you promised.” ²⁵Then the people from the family groups of Gad and Reuben said to Moses, “We are your servants. You are our master. So we will do what you say. ²⁶Our wives, children, and all our animals will stay in the Gilead cities. ²⁷But we, your servants, will cross {the Jordan River}. We will march before the Lord into battle, like our master says.” ²⁸So Moses, Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and all the leaders of the family groups of Israel heard them make that promise. ²⁹Moses said to them, “The people of Gad and Reuben will cross {the Jordan River}. They will march before the Lord into battle. They will help you take the land. And you will give the land of Gilead as their part of the country. ³⁰They promise to help you take the land of Canaan.” ³¹The people of Gad and Reuben answered, “We promise to do what the Lord commanded. ³²We will cross {the Jordan River} and march before the Lord into the land of Canaan. And our part of the country is the land east of the Jordan River.” ³³So Moses gave that land to the people of Gad, to the people of Reuben, and to half of Manasseh’s family group. (Manasseh was Joseph’s son.) That land included the kingdom of Sihon the Amorite and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan. That land included all the cities around that area. ³⁴The people of Gad built the cities of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, ³⁵Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, ³⁶Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran. They built cities with strong walls, and they built barns for their animals. ³⁷The people of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ³⁸Nebo, Baal Meon, and Sibmah. They used the names of the cities that they built again. But they changed the names of Nebo and Baal Meon. ³⁹People from Makir’s family group, went to Gilead. (Makir was Manasseh’s son.) They defeated the city. They defeated the Amorites that lived there. ⁴⁰So Moses gave Gilead to Makir from Manasseh’s family group. So his family settled there. ⁴¹Jair, from the family of Manasseh, defeated the small towns there. Then he called them Towns of Jair. ⁴²Nobah defeated Kenath and the small towns near it. Then he called that place by his own name.

Sibmah Or, “Sebam.”

Israel’s Journey from Egypt

33 Moses and Aaron led the people of Israel out of Egypt in groups.* Here are the places they traveled. ²Moses wrote about the places they traveled. Moses wrote the things that the Lord wanted. Here are the places they traveled and when they left: ³On the 15th day of the first month, they left Rameses. That morning after Passover, the people of Israel marched out of Egypt with their arms raised {in victory}. All the people of Egypt saw them. ⁴The Egyptians were burying all of the people that the Lord killed. They were burying all of their firstborn* {sons}. The Lord had shown his judgment against the gods* of Egypt. ⁵The people of Israel left Rameses and traveled to Succoth. ⁶From Succoth they traveled to Etham. The people camped there at the edge of the desert. ⁷They left Etham and went to Pi Hahiroth. This was near Baal Zephon. The people camped near Migdol. ⁸The people left Pi Hahiroth and walked through the middle of the sea. They went toward the desert. Then they traveled for three days through the Etham desert. The people camped at Marah. ⁹The people left Marah and went to Elim and camped there. There were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees there. ¹⁰The people left Elim and camped near the Red Sea.* ¹¹The people left the Red Sea* and camped in the Zin desert. ¹²The people left the Zin desert and camped at Dophkah. ¹³The people left Dophkah and camped at Alush. ¹⁴The people left Alush and camped at Rephidim. At that place, there was no water for the people to drink. ¹⁵The people left Rephidim and camped in the Sinai desert. ¹⁶The people left the Sinai desert and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah. ¹⁷The people left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. ¹⁸The people left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. ¹⁹The people left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez. ²⁰The people left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah. ²¹The people left Libnah and camped at Rissah. ²²The people left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. ²³The people left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. ²⁴The people left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. ²⁵The people left Haradah and camped at Makheloth. ²⁶The people left Makheloth and camped at Tahath. ²⁷The people left Tahath and camped at Terah. ²⁸The people left Terah and camped at Mithcah. ²⁹The people left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah. ³⁰The people left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. ³¹The people left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan. ³²The people left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad. ³³The people left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah. ³⁴The people left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. ³⁵The people left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber. ³⁶The people left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh, in the Zin desert. ³⁷The people left Kadesh and camped at Hor. This was the mountain at the border of the country Edom. ³⁸Aaron the priest obeyed the Lord and went up Mount Hor. Aaron died at that place. Aaron died on the first day of the fifth month. That was the 40th year after the people of Israel had left Egypt. ³⁹Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. ⁴⁰Arad was a town in the Negev,* in the land of Canaan. The Canaanite king in that place heard that the people of Israel were coming. ⁴¹The people left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. ⁴²The people left Zalmonah and camped at Punon. ⁴³The people left Punon and camped at Oboth. ⁴⁴The people left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim. This was at the border of the country Moab. ⁴⁵The people left Iyim (Iye Abarim) and camped at Dibon Gad. ⁴⁶The people left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim. ⁴⁷The people left Almon Diblathaim and camped on the mountains of Abarim near Nebo. ⁴⁸The people left the mountains of Abarim and camped in the Jordan Valley in Moab. This was near the Jordan River across from Jericho. ⁴⁹They camped by the Jordan River in the Jordan Valley in Moab. Their camp went from Beth Jeshimoth to Acacia Field. ⁵⁰At that place, the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ⁵¹“Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them these things: You will cross the Jordan River. You will go into the land of Canaan. ⁵²You will take the land from the people you find there. You must destroy all of their carved statues and idols. You must destroy all of their high places.* ⁵³You will take the land and you will settle there. Why? Because I am giving this land to you. It will belong to your families. ⁵⁴Each of your families will get part of the land. You will throw lots* to decide which family gets each part of the country. Large families will get large parts of the land. Small families will get small parts of the land. The lots will show which family gets which part of the land. Each family group will get its part of the land. ⁵⁵“You must force those other people to leave the country. If you let those people stay in your country, then they will bring many troubles to you. They will be like stickers in your eyes and they will be like thorns in your side. They will bring many troubles to the country where you will be living. ⁵⁶I showed you what I would do—and I will do that to you {if you let those people stay in your country}.”

group(s) Or, “division(s).” This is a military term that shows Israel was organized like an army. firstborn The first child born into a family. The firstborn son was very important in ancient times. gods This might be the false gods of Egypt or here it might mean the king and other powerful leaders in Egypt. Red Sea Or, “Reed Sea.” See 1 Kings 9:26. Negev The desert area south of Judah. high places Places for worshiping God or false gods. These places were usually on the hills and mountains. lots Sticks, stones, or pieces of bone used like dice for making decisions. See Proverbs 16:33.