13 “The lord was angry with Israel and made them wander in the wilderness for forty years until the entire generation that sinned in the lord’s sight had died.
14 But here you are, a brood of sinners, doing exactly the same thing! You are making the lord even angrier with Israel.
15 If you turn away from him like this and he abandons them again in the wilderness, you will be responsible for destroying this entire nation!”
16 But they approached Moses and said, “We simply want to build pens for our livestock and fortified towns for our wives and children.
17 Then we will arm ourselves and lead our fellow Israelites into battle until we have brought them safely to their land. Meanwhile, our families will stay in the fortified towns we build here, so they will be safe from any attacks by the local people.
18 We will not return to our homes until all the people of Israel have received their portions of land.
19 But we do not claim any of the land on the other side of the Jordan. We would rather live here on the east side and accept this as our grant of land.”