26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 And (A)you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord (B)hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, (C)to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? (D)Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, (E)“The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen (F)the sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you (G)will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God (H)carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word (I)you did not believe the Lord your God, 33 (J)who went before you in the way (K)to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

The Penalty for Israel's Rebellion

34 “And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 (L)‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 (M)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!’ 37 Even with me (N)the Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 (O)Joshua the son of Nun, (P)who stands before you, he shall enter. (Q)Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for (R)your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today (S)have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, (T)turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’

41 “Then you answered me, (U)‘We have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the Lord said to me, (V)‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, (W)for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the Lord and (X)presumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 (Y)Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you (Z)as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as (AA)Hormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So (AB)you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

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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)

41 Then you replied, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

42 But the Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’”(AD)

43 So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the Lord’s command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees(AE) and beat you down from Seir(AF) all the way to Hormah.(AG) 45 You came back and wept before the Lord,(AH) but he paid no attention(AI) to your weeping and turned a deaf ear(AJ) to you. 46 And so you stayed in Kadesh(AK) many days—all the time you spent there.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 1:40 Or the Sea of Reeds