Numbers 32:15-17

English Standard Version

¹⁵ For if you ^(A)turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”

¹⁶ Then they came near to him and said, ^(B)“We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, ¹⁷ but ^(C)we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.