¹⁵ If you turn away from God like this, he will make the people stay even longer in the wilderness, and you will be responsible for destroying his people and bringing disaster to this entire nation!”

¹⁶ “Not at all!” they explained. “We will build sheepfolds for our flocks and cities for our little ones, ¹⁷ but we ourselves will go over armed, ahead of the rest of the people of Israel, until we have brought them safely to their inheritance. But first we will need to build walled cities here for our families, to keep them safe from attack by the local inhabitants.