⁴⁰ So they got up early the next morning and traveled to the top of the mountain, telling themselves, “Look, we’re here and we’re going to go up to the place that the Lord had spoken about, even though we’ve sinned.”

⁴¹ But Moses asked them, “Why do you continue to sin against what the Lord said? Don’t you know that you can never succeed? ⁴² Don’t go up, since you know that the Lord is no longer with you.^[a] You’ll be attacked right in front of your own enemies. ⁴³ The Amalekites and Canaanites are there waiting for you. You’ll die^[b] violently,^[c] since you’ve turned your back and have stopped following the Lord. The Lord won’t be with you.”

⁴⁴ But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain, even though the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and Moses didn’t leave the camp. ⁴⁵ The Amalekites came down, accompanied by some Canaanites who lived in the mountains. They attacked and defeated them even while the Israelis were retreating^[d] to Hormah.