⁹ After they went up to the Valley of Eshkol^(A) and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them. ¹⁰ The Lord’s anger was aroused^(B) that day and he swore this oath:^{(C) 11} ‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were twenty years old or more^(D) when they came up out of Egypt^(E) will see the land I promised on oath^(F) to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob^(G)— ¹² not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.’^{(H) 13} The Lord’s anger burned against Israel^(I) and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.^(J)

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)”