¹⁶ ‘Because Yahweh ^(A)was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

^29 (A)your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all ^(B)your ^[a]numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. ³⁰ Surely you shall not come into the land in which I ^[b]swore to make you dwell, ^(C)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. ^31 (D)Your little ones, however, who you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, so that they will know the land which you have rejected. ^32 (E)But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. ³³ And your sons shall be shepherds for ^(F)forty years in the wilderness, and they will ^[c]suffer for your ^[d]unfaithfulness, until your corpses come to an end in the wilderness. ³⁴ According to the ^(G)number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your ^[e]guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. ^35 (H)I, Yahweh, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall come to an end, and there they will die.’”

^36 (I)As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, ³⁷ even ^(J)those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a ^(K)plague before Yahweh. ³⁸ But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

Israel Struck Down

³⁹ Then Moses spoke ^(L)these words to all the sons of Israel, and ^(M)the people mourned greatly. ⁴⁰ In the morning, however, they rose up early and went up to the ^[f]ridge of the hill country, saying, “^(N)Here we are; we will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised because we have indeed sinned.” ⁴¹ But Moses said, “^(O)Why then do you trespass against the ^[g]command of Yahweh, when it will not succeed? ^42 (P)Do not go up, for Yahweh is not among you, so that you are not ^[h]defeated before your enemies. ⁴³ For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned back from following Yahweh. And Yahweh will not be with you.” ⁴⁴ But they went up heedlessly to the ^[i]ridge of the hill country; neither ^(Q)the ark of the covenant of Yahweh nor Moses moved from the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as ^(R)Hormah.

³⁷ even ^(A)those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a ^(B)plague before Yahweh.

⁶⁵ For Yahweh had said ^[a]of them, “^(A)They shall surely die in the wilderness.” And not a man was left of them, ^(B)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

¹⁷ And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, ^(A)whose corpses fell in the wilderness?

⁵ Now I want to ^(A)remind you, though ^(B)you know all things, that ^[a]Jesus, ^(C)having once saved a people out of the land of Egypt, ^[b]subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.