The Descendants of Reuben

¹ The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but when he defiled the couch of his father, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that he was not enrolled in the genealogy as the firstborn,

² though Judah became strong among his brothers and a chief came from him, but the birthright belonged to Joseph).

³ The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Enoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

⁴ The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,

⁵ Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son,

⁶ Beerah his son, a leader of the Reubenites, whom Tiglath-Pilneser king of Assyria deported into exile.

⁷ And his kinsmen by their families, when their generations were recorded in the genealogy: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,

⁸ and Bela son of Azaz, son of Shema, son of Joel, who lived in Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-Meon.

⁹ He also lived to the east up to the entrance of the desert ⌞this side of⌟¹ the River Euphrates, for their livestock had multiplied in the land of Gilead.

1. Or “from”

¹⁰ And in the days of Saul they made war against the Hagrites, and they¹ fell into their hand. And they lived in their tents in all the region east of Gilead.

1. That is, the Hagrites

The Descendants of Gad

¹¹ And the sons of Gad lived near to them in the land of Bashan as far as Salecah:

¹² Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan.

¹³ And their kinsmen according to their fathers’ households: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber, seven.

¹⁴ These were the sons of Abihail the son of Huri, son of Jaroah, son of Gilead, son of Michael, son of Jeshishai, son of Jahdo, son of Buz.

¹⁵ Ahi son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was chief in their fathers’ households.

¹⁶ And they lived in Gilead, in Bashan, and in ⌞its towns⌟,¹ and in all the pasturelands of Sharon to their limits.

1. Literally “her daughters”

¹⁷ All of them were enrolled in the genealogy in the days of Jotham, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, king of Israel.

¹⁸ The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had ⌞valiant⌟¹ men who carried a shield and a sword, and archers, and who were expert in war, forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty for going out as an army.

1. Literally “sons of strength”

¹⁹ And they made war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab.

²⁰ And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hand, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he responded to their prayer because they trusted in him.

²¹ And they captured their livestock: fifty thousand of their camels; two hundred and fifty thousand sheep; two thousand donkeys; and one hundred thousand men alive.

²² For many were slain because the war was of God. And they lived under them until the exile.

The Half-Tribe of Manasseh

²³ And the sons of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land from Bashan to Baal-Hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. They were numerous.

²⁴ Now these were the heads of their fathers’ households: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of strength, ⌞famous men⌟,¹ heads of their fathers’ households.

1. Literally “men of the name”

²⁵ But they transgressed against the God of their ancestors¹ and prostituted themselves after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.

1. Or “fathers”

²⁶ So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tiglath-Pilneser, king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, until this day.