22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.

23 And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:

24 And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.

25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the Lord our God doth give us.

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.

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22 Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead to spy(A) out the land(B) for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.”

23 The idea seemed good to me; so I selected(C) twelve of you, one man from each tribe. 24 They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshkol(D) and explored it. 25 Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported,(E) “It is a good land(F) that the Lord our God is giving us.”(G)

Rebellion Against the Lord

26 But you were unwilling to go up;(H) you rebelled(I) against the command of the Lord your God. 27 You grumbled(J) 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(K) than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites(L) there.’”

29 Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid(M) of them.(N) 30 The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight(O) 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(P) you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”(Q)

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

34 When the Lord heard(V) what you said, he was angry(W) and solemnly swore:(X) 35 “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land(Y) I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb(Z) 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.(AA)

37 Because of you the Lord became angry(AB) with me also and said, “You shall not enter(AC) it, either. 38 But your assistant, Joshua(AD) son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage(AE) him, because he will lead(AF) Israel to inherit(AG) it. 39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive,(AH) your children who do not yet know(AI) 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](AJ)

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 1:40 Or the Sea of Reeds