Old and New Apostates

⁵ But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that ^(A)the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Failure of the Wilderness Wanderers

^16 (A)For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? ¹⁷ Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, ^(B)whose corpses fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And ^(C)to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? ¹⁹ So we see that they could not enter in because of ^(D)unbelief.

The Promise of Rest

4 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, ^(E)let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. ² For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, ^[a]not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

^64 (A)But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they numbered the children of Israel in the ^(B)Wilderness of Sinai. ⁶⁵ For the Lord had said of them, “They ^(C)shall surely die in the wilderness.” So there was not left a man of them, ^(D)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Old Testament Examples

10 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under ^(A)the cloud, all passed through ^(B)the sea, ² all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ all ate the same ^(C)spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same ^(D)spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. ⁵ But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies ^(E)were scattered in the wilderness.

⁶ Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as ^(F)they also lusted. ^7 (G)And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ^(H)“The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” ^8 (I)Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as ^(J)some of them did, and ^(K)in one day twenty-three thousand fell; ⁹ nor let us ^[a]tempt Christ, as ^(L)some of them also tempted, and ^(M)were destroyed by serpents; ¹⁰ nor complain, as ^(N)some of them also complained, and ^(O)were destroyed by ^(P)the destroyer. ¹¹ Now ^[b]all these things happened to them as examples, and ^(Q)they were written for our ^[c]admonition, ^(R)upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

¹² Therefore ^(S)let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

^22 (A)because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now ^(B)these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, ²³ they certainly shall not ^(C)see the land of which I ^[a]swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. ²⁴ But My servant ^(D)Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and ^(E)has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. ²⁵ Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn and ^(F)move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.”

Death Sentence on the Rebels

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ^27 (G)“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? ^(H)I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. ²⁸ Say to them, ^(I)‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: ²⁹ The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, ^(J)all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. ^30 (K)Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I ^[b]swore I would make you dwell in. ^31 (L)But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall ^[c]know the land which ^(M)you have despised. ³² But as for you, ^(N)your^[d] carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. ³³ And your sons shall ^(O)be ^[e]shepherds in the wilderness ^(P)forty years, and ^(Q)bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. ^34 (R)According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, ^(S)forty days, for each day you shall bear your ^[f]guilt one year, namely forty years, ^(T)and you shall know My ^[g]rejection. ^35 (U)I the Lord have spoken this. I will surely do so to all ^(V)this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ ”

³⁶ Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, ³⁷ those very men who brought the evil report about the land, ^(W)died by the plague before the Lord.

¹⁵ For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they ^[a]were consumed.

¹⁶ “So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people,

God’s Promise Is Not Slack^(A)

3 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which ^(B)I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder),

Peter’s Approaching Death

¹² For this reason ^(A)I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, ^(B)though you know and are established in the present truth. ¹³ Yes, I think it is right, ^(C)as long as I am in this ^[a]tent, ^(D)to stir you up by reminding you,