Old/New Testament
The Tribes East of the Jordan
32 The people of Reuben and Gad had many cattle. They saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were good for cattle. 2 So they came to Moses, Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the people. 3-4 They said, “We, your servants, have many cattle. The Lord has captured for the Israelites a land that is good for cattle. This is the land around Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon. 5 If it pleases you, we would like this land to be given to us. Don’t make us cross the Jordan River.”
6 Moses told the people of Gad and Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you stay behind? 7 You will discourage the Israelites. They will not want to go over to the land the Lord has given them. 8 Your ancestors did the same thing. From Kadesh Barnea I sent them to look at the land. 9 They went as far as the Valley of Eshcol. They saw the land. And they discouraged the Israelites from going into the land the Lord had given them. 10 The Lord became very angry that day. He made this promise: 11 ‘None of the people who came from Egypt and who are 20 years old or older will see this land. I promised it to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But these people have not followed me completely. 12 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun followed the Lord completely.’
13 “The Lord was very angry with Israel. So he made them wander in the desert for 40 years. Finally all the people who had sinned against him had died. 14 And now you are acting just like your fathers! You sinful people are making the Lord even more angry with Israel. 15 If you quit following the Lord, it will add to their stay in the desert. So you will destroy all these people.”
16 But the Reubenites and Gadites came up to Moses. They said, “We will build pens for our animals. And we will build cities for our wives and children here. 17 Then our families will be in strong, walled cities. They will be safe from the people who live in this land. Then we will prepare for war. We will help the other Israelites get their land. 18 We will not return home until every Israelite has received his land. 19 We won’t take any of the land west of the Jordan River. Our part of the land is east of the Jordan.”
20 So Moses told them, “You must do these things. You must go before the Lord into battle. 21 You must cross the Jordan River armed. The Lord will force out the enemy. 22 After the Lord helps us take the land, you may return home. You will have done your duty to the Lord and Israel. Then you may have this land as your own.
23 “But if you don’t do these things, you will be sinning against the Lord. And know for sure that you will be punished for your sin. 24 Build cities for your wives and children and pens for your animals. But then you must do what you promised.”
25 The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, “We are your servants. We will do what you, our master, command. 26 Our wives, children and all our cattle will stay in the cities of Gilead. 27 But we, your servants, will prepare for battle. We will go over and fight for the Lord, as you have said.”
28 So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest. And he gave them to Joshua son of Nun and the leaders of the tribes of Israel. 29 Moses said to them, “The Gadites and Reubenites will prepare for battle. They will cross the Jordan River with you. They will go before the Lord and help you take the land. If they do that, give them the land of Gilead for their own. 30 But if they do not go over armed, they will not receive it. Their land will be in Canaan with you.”
31 The Gadites and Reubenites answered, “We are your servants. We will do as the Lord said. 32 We will cross over into Canaan. We will go before the Lord ready for battle. But our land will be east of the Jordan River.”
33 So Moses gave that land to the Gadites, Reubenites and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh. (Manasseh was Joseph’s son.) That land had been the kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. And it included the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan. It also included all the cities and the land around them.
34 The Gadites rebuilt the cities of Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, 35 Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, 36 Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran. These were strong, walled cities. And they built sheep pens.
37 The Reubenites built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 Nebo, Baal Meon and Sibmah. They renamed Nebo and Baal Meon when they rebuilt them.
39 The descendants of Makir son of Manasseh went and captured Gilead. They forced out the Amorites who were there. 40 So Moses gave Gilead to the family of Makir son of Manasseh. And they settled there. 41 Jair son of Manasseh went out and captured the small towns there. He called them the Towns of Jair. 42 Nobah went and captured Kenath and the small towns around it. Then he named it Nobah after himself.
Israel’s Journey from Egypt
33 These are the places the Israelites went as Moses and Aaron led them out of Egypt in divisions. 2 At the Lord’s command Moses recorded the places they went. These are the places they went.
3 On the fifteenth day of the first month, they left Rameses. That was the day after the Passover. The Israelites marched out boldly in front of all the Egyptians. 4 The Egyptians were burying their firstborn sons. The Lord had killed them. He showed that the gods of Egypt were false.
5 The Israelites left Rameses and camped at Succoth.
6 They left Succoth and camped at Etham. It was at the edge of the desert.
7 They left Etham and went back to Pi Hahiroth. This was east of Baal Zephon. They camped near Migdol.
8 They left Pi Hahiroth. They walked through the sea into the desert. After going three days through the Desert of Etham, they camped at Marah.
9 They left Marah and went to Elim. There were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees where they camped.
10 They left Elim and camped near the Red Sea.
11 They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin.
12 They left the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
13 They left Dophkah and camped at Alush.
14 They left Alush and camped at Rephidim. The people had no water to drink there.
15 They left Rephidim and camped in the Desert of Sinai.
16 They left the Desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.
17 They left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.
18 They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.
19 They left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.
20 They left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.
21 They left Libnah and camped at Rissah.
22 They left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.
23 They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.
24 They left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.
25 They left Haradah and camped at Makheloth.
26 They left Makheloth and camped at Tahath.
27 They left Tahath and camped at Terah.
28 They left Terah and camped at Mithcah.
29 They left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah.
30 They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.
31 They left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan.
32 They left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.
33 They left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.
34 They left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.
35 They left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.
36 They left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh in the Desert of Zin.
37 They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor. This was on the border of Edom. 38 Aaron the priest obeyed the Lord and went up Mount Hor. There he died. He died on the first day of the fifth month. This was in the fortieth year after the Israelites left Egypt. 39 Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.
40 The king of Arad lived in the southern area of Canaan. He heard that the Israelites were coming.
41 The people left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.
42 They left Zalmonah and camped at Punon.
43 They left Punon and camped at Oboth.
44 They left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim. This was on the border of Moab.
45 They left Iye Abarim and camped at Dibon Gad.
46 They left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.
47 They left Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, near Nebo.
48 They left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab. This was near the Jordan River across from Jericho. 49 They camped along the Jordan on the plains of Moab. Their camp went from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Acacia.
50 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan River across from Jericho, the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 51 “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘Cross the Jordan River and go into Canaan. 52 Force out the people who live there. Destroy all of their carved statues. Destroy their metal idols. Wreck all of their places of worship. 53 Take over the land and settle there. I have given this land to you to own. 54 Throw lots to divide up the land by family groups. Give larger portions to larger family groups. Give smaller portions to smaller family groups. The land will be given as the lots decide. Each tribe will get its own land.
55 “‘But if you don’t force those people out of the land, they will bring you trouble. They will be like sharp hooks in your eyes. They will be like thorns in your sides. They will bring trouble to the land where you live. 56 I will punish you as I had planned to punish them.’”
The Borders of Canaan
34 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Give this command to the people of Israel: ‘You will soon enter Canaan. It will be yours. These shall be the borders. 3 On the south you will get part of the Desert of Zin. This is near the border of Edom. On the east side your southern border will start at the south end of the Dead Sea. 4 It will cross south of Scorpion Pass. It will go through the Desert of Zin and south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon. 5 From Azmon it will go to the brook of Egypt. It will end at the Mediterranean Sea.
6 “‘Your western border will be the Mediterranean Sea.
7 “‘Your northern border will begin at the Mediterranean Sea and go to Mount Hor. 8 From Mount Hor it will go to Lebo Hamath. Then it will go to Zedad. 9 Then the border will go to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your northern border.
10 “‘Your eastern border will begin at Hazar Enan and go to Shepham. 11 From Shepham the border will go east of Ain to Riblah. It will go along the hills east of Lake Galilee. 12 Then the border will go down along the Jordan River. It will end at the Dead Sea.
“‘These are the borders around your country.’”
13 So Moses gave this command to the Israelites: “This is the land you will receive. Throw lots to divide it among the nine and a half tribes. The Lord commanded that it should be theirs. 14 The tribes of Reuben and Gad and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their land. 15 These two and a half tribes received land east of the Jordan River. It is across from Jericho.”
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, 17 “These are the men who will divide the land: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. 18 Also take one leader from each tribe. They will divide the land. 19 These are the names of the leaders: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 20 from the tribe of Simeon, Shemuel son of Ammihud; 21 from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Kislon; 22 from the tribe of Dan, Bukki son of Jogli; 23 from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, Hanniel son of Ephod; 24 from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph, Kemuel son of Shiphtan; 25 from the tribe of Zebulun, Elizaphan son of Parnach; 26 from the tribe of Issachar, Paltiel son of Azzan; 27 from the tribe of Asher, Ahihud son of Shelomi; 28 from the tribe of Naphtali, Pedahel son of Ammihud.”
29 The Lord commanded these men to divide the land of Canaan among the Israelites.
Jesus Talks About His Death
30 Then Jesus and his followers left that place and went through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was 31 because he wanted to teach his followers alone. He said to them, “The Son of Man will be given to men who will kill him. After three days, he will rise from death.” 32 But the followers did not understand what Jesus meant. And they were afraid to ask.
Who Is the Greatest?
33 Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum and went into a house there. Then Jesus said to them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But the followers did not answer, because their argument on the road was about which one of them was the greatest.
35 Jesus sat down and called the 12 apostles to him. He said, “If anyone wants to be the most important, then he must be last of all and servant of all.”
36 Then Jesus took a small child and had him stand among them. He took the child in his arms and said, 37 “If anyone accepts children like these in my name, then he is also accepting me. And if he accepts me, then he is also accepting the One who sent me.”
Anyone Not Against Us Is for Us
38 Then John said, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to force demons out of a person. We told him to stop, because he does not belong to our group.”
39 Jesus said, “Don’t stop him. Anyone who uses my name to do powerful things will not say evil things about me. 40 He who is not against us is with us. 41 I tell you the truth. If anyone helps you by giving you a drink of water because you belong to the Christ, then he will truly get his reward.
42 “If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, then it will be very bad for him. It would be better for him to have a large stone tied around his neck and be drowned in the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to lose part of your body but have life forever. That is much better than to have two hands and go to hell. In that place the fire never goes out. 44 [In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never stopped.][a] 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to lose part of your body but have life forever. That is much better than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 46 [In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never stopped.][b] 47 If your eye causes you to sin, take it out. It is better for you to have only one eye but have life forever. That is much better than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. 48 In hell the worm does not die; the fire is never stopped. 49 Every person will be salted with fire.
50 “Salt is good. But if the salt loses its salty taste, then you cannot make it salty again. So, be full of goodness. And have peace with each other.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.