Now why are you discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the LORD has given them?
This is what your fathers did 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 discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them.
So the LORD’S anger burned in that day, and He swore, saying,
‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully,
except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the LORD fully.’
So the LORD’S anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the LORD was destroyed.
Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the burning anger of the LORD against Israel.
For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”
but we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
We will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has possessed his inheritance.
For we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan toward the east.”
So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for the war,
and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven His enemies out from before Him,
and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligation toward the LORD and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours for a possession before the LORD.
But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.
The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands.
Our little ones, our wives, our livestock and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead;
while your servants, everyone who is armed for war, will cross over in the presence of the LORD to battle, just as my lord says.”
So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel.
Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, everyone who is armed for battle, will cross with you over the Jordan in the presence of the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession;
but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”
The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “As the LORD has said to your servants, so we will do.
We ourselves will cross over armed in the presence of the LORD into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us across the Jordan.”
So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities with their territories, the cities of the surrounding land.
The sons of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer,
The sons of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim,
and Nebo and Baal-meon--their names being changed--and Sibmah, and they gave other names to the cities which they built.
The sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.
So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it.
Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns, and called them Havvoth-jair.
These are the journeys of the sons of Israel, by which they came out from the land of Egypt by their armies, under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.
Moses recorded their starting places according to their journeys by the command of the LORD, and these are their journeys according to their starting places.
They journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover the sons of Israel started out boldly in the sight of all the Egyptians,
while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the LORD had struck down among them. The LORD had also executed judgments on their gods.
Then the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses and camped in Succoth.
They journeyed from Succoth and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.
They journeyed from before Hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness; and they went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.
They journeyed from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.
They journeyed from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of Sin.
They journeyed from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
They journeyed from Alush and camped at Rephidim; now it was there that the people had no water to drink.
They journeyed from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai.
They journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.
They journeyed from Ezion-geber and camped in the wilderness of Zin, that is, Kadesh.
They journeyed from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, at the edge of the land of Edom.
Then Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the command of the LORD, and died there in the fortieth year after the sons of Israel had come from the land of Egypt, on the first day in the fifth month.
Now the Canaanite, the king of Arad who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the sons of Israel.
They journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, at the border of Moab.
They journeyed from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
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