Gadites

Next will be the tribe of Gad. The leader of the Gadites is Eliasaph son of Deuel,

On the sixth day Eliasaph son of Deuel, the leader of the Gadites, drew near.

Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.

So the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, and said,

But Moses asked the Gadites and Reubenites, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?

Then the Gadites and Reubenites approached Moses and said, “We want to build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our little ones.

The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as our lord commands.

And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, with every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession.

The Gadites and Reubenites replied, “As the LORD has spoken to your servants, so we will do.

So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land including its cities and the territory surrounding them.

And the Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,

For the tribes of the Reubenites and Gadites, along with the half-tribe of Manasseh, have already received their inheritance.

So at that time we took possession of this land. To the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the land beyond Aroer along the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead, along with its cities.

…and to the Reubenites and Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead to the Arnon Valley (the middle of the valley was the border) and up to the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites.

Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.

We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

But to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said,

The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over before the Israelites, armed for battle as Moses had instructed them.

Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the Israelites had struck them down and given their land as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

The other half of Manasseh, along with the Reubenites and Gadites, had received the inheritance Moses had given them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had assigned to them:

This was the inheritance of the clans of the Gadites, including the cities and villages.

Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh

So the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to return to their own land of Gilead, which they had acquired according to the command of the LORD through Moses.

And when they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan.

Then the Israelites received the report: “Behold, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the border of the land of Canaan, at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side.”

The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the land of Gilead, to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

They went to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead and said to them,

Then the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders of the clans of Israel:

For the LORD has made the Jordan a border between us and you Reubenites and Gadites. You have no share in the LORD!’ So your descendants could cause ours to stop fearing the LORD.

Then Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, together with the other leaders, returned to the Israelites in the land of Canaan and brought back a report regarding the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead.

The Israelites were satisfied with the report, and they blessed God and spoke no more about going to war against them to destroy the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived.

So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar Witness, for they said, “It is a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 warriors—valiant men who carried the shield and sword, drew the bow, and were trained for battle.

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this day.

Some Gadites defected to David at his stronghold in the wilderness. They were mighty men of valor, trained for battle, experts with the shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were as swift as gazelles on the mountains:

These Gadites were army commanders, the least of whom was a match for a hundred, and the greatest for a thousand.

Among Jerijah’s relatives there were 2,700 capable men who were heads of families. King David appointed them over the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh for every matter pertaining to God and for the affairs of the king.