Rebellion Against the Lord

²⁶ But you were unwilling to go up;^(A) you rebelled^(B) against the command of the Lord your God. ²⁷ You grumbled^(C) in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. ²⁸ Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller^(D) than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites^(E) there.’”

²⁹ Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid^(F) of them.^{(G) 30} The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight^(H) for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, ³¹ and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried^(I) you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”^(J)

³² In spite of this,^(K) you did not trust^(L) in the Lord your God, ³³ who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day,^(M) to search^(N) out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

³⁴ When the Lord heard^(O) what you said, he was angry^(P) and solemnly swore:^{(Q) 35} “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land^(R) I swore to give your ancestors, ³⁶ except Caleb^(S) son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.^(T)”

³⁷ Because of you the Lord became angry^(U) with me also and said, “You shall not enter^(V) it, either. ³⁸ But your assistant, Joshua^(W) son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage^(X) him, because he will lead^(Y) Israel to inherit^(Z) it. ³⁹ And the little ones that you said would be taken captive,^(AA) your children who do not yet know^(AB) good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. ⁴⁰ But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.^[a](AC)”