Numbers 31:25-32:42

English Standard Version Anglicised

²⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, ²⁷ and ^(A)divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. ²⁸ And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, ^(B)one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. ²⁹ Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord. ³⁰ And from the people of Israel's half you shall take ^(C)one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites ^(D)who keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.” ³¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³² Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, ³³ 72,000 cattle, ³⁴ 61,000 donkeys, ³⁵ and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. ³⁶ And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, ³⁷ and ^(E)the Lord's tribute of sheep was 675. ³⁸ The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 72. ³⁹ The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord's tribute was 61. ⁴⁰ The persons were 16,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 32 persons. ⁴¹ And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, ^(F)as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴² From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army— ⁴³ now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴ 36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵ and 30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶ and 16,000 persons— ^47 (G)from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴⁸ Then ^(H)the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses ⁴⁹ and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. ⁵⁰ And we have brought the Lord's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, ^(I)to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” ⁵¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. ⁵² And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels.^{[a] 53 (J)}(The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) ⁵⁴ And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, ^(K)as a memorial for the people of Israel before the Lord.

Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead

32 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of ^(L)Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. ² So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, ^3 (M)“Ataroth, ^(N)Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, ^(O)Nebo, and Beon, ⁴ the land ^(P)that the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” ⁵ And they said, “If we have found favour in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.”

⁶ But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? ⁷ Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the Lord has given them? ⁸ Your fathers did this, ^(Q)when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹ For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the Lord had given them. ^10 (R)And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, ¹¹ ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, ^(S)from twenty years old and upwards, shall see the land that I swore to give ^(T)to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, ¹² none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the ^(U)Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for ^(V)they have wholly followed the Lord.’ ¹³ And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them ^(W)wander in the wilderness forty years, until ^(X)all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. ¹⁴ And behold, you have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel! ¹⁵ For if you ^(Y)turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”

¹⁶ Then they came near to him and said, ^(Z)“We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, ¹⁷ but ^(AA)we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ^18 (AB)We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. ¹⁹ For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, ^(AC)because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.” ²⁰ So ^(AD)Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the Lord for the war, ²¹ and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until he has ^(AE)driven out his enemies from before him ²² and the land is subdued before the Lord; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and ^(AF)this land shall be your possession before the Lord. ²³ But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and ^(AG)be sure your sin will find you out. ^24 (AH)Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.” ²⁵ And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. ^26 (AI)Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, ^27 (AJ)but your servants will pass over, every man who is ^(AK)armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord orders.”

²⁸ So ^(AL)Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to ^(AM)Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. ²⁹ And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the Lord, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. ³⁰ However, if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” ³¹ And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben answered, “What the Lord has said to your servants, we will do. ³² We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.”

³³ And ^(AN)Moses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country. ³⁴ And the people of Gad built ^(AO)Dibon, ^(AP)Ataroth, ^(AQ)Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth-shophan, ^(AR)Jazer, Jogbehah, ^36 (AS)Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran, ^(AT)fortified cities, and folds for sheep. ³⁷ And the people of Reuben built ^(AU)Heshbon, ^(AV)Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ^38 (AW)Nebo, and ^(AX)Baal-meon (^(AY)their names were changed), and ^(AZ)Sibmah. And they gave other names to the cities that they built. ³⁹ And the sons of ^(BA)Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰ And Moses ^(BB)gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. ⁴¹ And ^(BC)Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.^{[b] 42} And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.