26 (A)Yet you were unwilling to go up; instead you (B)rebelled against the [a]command of the Lord your God; 27 and (C)you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, by saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we saw (D)the sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 But I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, nor fear them. 30 The Lord your God, who goes before you, will (E)Himself fight for you, [b]just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how (F)the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, on all of the road which you have walked until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet [c](G)in spite of all this, you did not trust the Lord your God, 33 (H)who goes before you on your way, (I)to seek out a place for you to make camp, in the fire by night to show you the way by which you should go, and in the cloud by day.

34 “Then the Lord heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and (J)swore an oath, saying, 35 (K)Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and (L)to him I will give the land on which he has set foot, and to his sons, because he has followed the Lord fully.’ 37 (M)The Lord was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘(N)Not even you shall enter there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, (O)shall himself enter there; encourage him, for (P)he will give it to Israel as an inheritance. 39 Moreover, (Q)your little ones who, you said, would become plunder, and your sons, who this day have (R)no knowledge of good and evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall take possession of it. 40 But as for you, (S)turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way of the [d]Red Sea.’

41 (T)Then you replied to me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord; we ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every man of you strapped on his weapons of war, and you viewed it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 (U)But the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be [e]defeated [f]by your enemies.”’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead, (V)you rebelled against the [g]command of the Lord, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 44 (W)And the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you (X)as bees do, and they scattered you from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the Lord; but the (Y)Lord did not listen to your voice, nor pay attention to you. 46 So you remained at (Z)Kadesh for many days, [h]the days that you spent there.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 1:26 Lit mouth
  2. Deuteronomy 1:30 Lit according to all that
  3. Deuteronomy 1:32 Lit in this matter
  4. Deuteronomy 1:40 Lit Sea of Reeds
  5. Deuteronomy 1:42 Lit struck
  6. Deuteronomy 1:42 Lit before
  7. Deuteronomy 1:43 Lit mouth
  8. Deuteronomy 1:46 Lit as the days

26 Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God:

27 And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the Lord hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

28 Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.

29 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.

30 The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;

31 And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.

32 Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God,

33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.

34 And the Lord heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,

35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers.

36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord.

37 Also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.

38 But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

40 But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

41 Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the Lord, we will go up and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.

42 And the Lord said unto me, Say unto them. Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.

43 So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill.

44 And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.

45 And ye returned and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.

46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.

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26 But the people refused to go in and rebelled against the Lord’s command.

27 “They murmured and complained in their tents and said, ‘The Lord must hate us, bringing us here from Egypt to be slaughtered by these Amorites. 28 What are we getting into? Our brothers who spied out the land have frightened us with their report. They say that the people of the land are tall and powerful, and that the walls of their cities rise high into the sky! They have even seen giants there—the descendants of the Anakim!’

29 “But I said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid! 30 The Lord God is your leader, and he will fight for you with his mighty miracles, just as you saw him do in Egypt. 31 And you know how he has cared for you again and again here in the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child!’ 32 But nothing I said did any good.

“They refused to believe the Lord our God 33 who had led them all the way, and had selected the best places for them to camp, and had guided them by a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud during the day.

34-35 “Well, the Lord heard their complaining and was very angry. He vowed that not one person in that entire generation would live to see the good land he had promised their fathers, 36 except Caleb (the son of Jephunneh), who, because he had wholly followed the Lord, would receive as his personal inheritance some of the land he had walked over.

37 “And the Lord was even angry with me because of them and said to me, ‘You shall not enter the Promised Land! 38 Instead, your assistant, Joshua (the son of Nun), shall lead the people. Encourage him as he prepares to take over the leadership. 39 I will give the land to the children they said would die in the wilderness. 40 But as for you of the older generation, turn around now and go on back across the desert toward the Red Sea.’

41 “Then they confessed, ‘We have sinned! We will go into the land and fight for it as the Lord our God has told us to.’ So they strapped on their weapons and thought it would be easy to conquer the whole area.

42 “But the Lord said to me, ‘Tell them not to do it, for I will not go with them; they will be struck down before their enemies.’

43 “I told them, but they wouldn’t listen. Instead, they rebelled again against the Lord’s commandment and went on up into the hill country to fight. 44 But the Amorites who lived there came out against them and chased them like bees and killed them from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then they returned and wept before the Lord, but he wouldn’t listen. 46 So they stayed there at Kadesh for a long time.

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