Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them,

“The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain.

See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’

The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude.

May the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you as He has promised you!

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land

“So we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the Lord our God had commanded us. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea.

And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us.

Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.’

They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God is giving us.’

“Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God;

and you complained in your tents, and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’

Yet, for all that, you did not believe the Lord your God,

The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion

“And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying,

except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the Lord.’

The Lord was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there.

“Then you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord; we will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain.

“And the Lord said to me, ‘Tell them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.” ’

So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the Lord, and presumptuously went up into the mountain.

Then you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.

The Desert Years

“Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.

“And the Lord spoke to me, saying:

“For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” ’

Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”