bring us not over the Jordan.' 6And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: 'Shall your brethren go to the war, and shall ye sit here? 7And wherefore will ye turn away the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them? 8Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they turned away the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10And the Lord's anger was kindled in that day, and He swore, saying: 11Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed Me; 12save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed the Lord. 13And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them wander to and fro in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord, was consumed. 14And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers' stead, a brood of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel. 15For if ye turn away from after Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and so ye will destroy all this people.'
16And they came near unto him, and said: 'We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones; 17but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place; and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. 19For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, and forward, because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.'
20And Moses said unto them: 'If ye will do this thing: if ye will arm yourselves to go before the Lord to the war, 21and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until He hath driven out His enemies from before Him, 22and the land be subdued before the Lord, and ye return afterward; then ye shall be clear before the Lord, and before Israel, and this land shall be unto you for a possession before the Lord. 23But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord; and know ye your sin which will find you. 24Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.'
25And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke unto Moses, saying: 'Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. 26Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead; 27but thy servants will pass over, every man that is armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith.'
28So Moses gave charge concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel. 29And Moses said unto them: 'If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every
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