1And all the people of the congregation wept aloud all night. 2And the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron: and said, “It would have been better if we had died in Egypt - or died here in this wilderness! 3Why has the LORD brought us into this land, to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children taken as plunder? Would we not be better off returning to Egypt?” 4And they said to each other, “Let us choose a leader, and go back to Egypt.” 5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in front of the entire Israelite assembly. 6And Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, who were among those that explored the land, tore their clothes. 7And they addressed all the Israelites, and said “The land that we passed through to explore is a very good land. 8If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it to us - a land which flows with milk and honey. 9Do not rebel against the LORD, and do not fear the people of the land. Their defenses are helpless before us, because the LORD is with us.” 10But then the assembly spoke of stoning them. And then the glory of the LORD appeared in the Tabernacle of meeting before all the Israelites.

11And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people provoke Me? And how long will they refuse to believe Me, in spite of all the wonders I have done among them? 12I will disown and destroy them with a plague, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.” 13Then Moses said to the LORD, “But then the Egyptians shall hear about it, (for You brought up this people by Your power from among them), 14And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it: for they have already heard that You, LORD, are with this people, that You, LORD, have been seen face to face, and that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them, by day in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15If You kill Your people, leaving none alive, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will say, 16‘Because the LORD was not able to bring these people into the land He had promised them, He has slain them in the wilderness’. 17And now, I beg You, let my LORD’s power be proven great, as You have said: 18‘The LORD is slow to anger, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation’. 19Pardon the iniquity of this people, I beg You, according to the greatness of Your mercy, as You have forgiven this people, from the time they left Egypt even until now.”

20And the LORD replied, “I have forgiven them as you asked. 21But as truly as I live, and the glory of the LORD fills all the earth, 22None of these men, who have seen My glory, and the miracles I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not listened to My voice; 23Surely, none of those that have provoked Me here shall see the land which I promised to their fathers. None of them shall see it, 24Except My servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit and attitude, and has followed Me faithfully; him will I bring into the land that he explored; and his children shall possess it. 25Now since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley, turn back tomorrow, and set out through the desert along the route to the Red Sea.”

26Then the LORD said this to Moses and Aaron: 27“How long shall I endure this evil congregation, who murmur against Me? I have heard their murmurings against Me. 28So tell them, ‘As truly as I live’, says the LORD, ‘As you have spoken in My hearing, so will I do to you: 29Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were among you, of your whole number, from twenty years old and older, who have murmured against Me, 30Shall surely not enter the land which I swore to let you dwell in, except for Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun. 31But your little ones - the ones you said would be a prey - them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. 32But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. 33And your children shall wander in the wilderness for forty years, and suffer the consequences of your unfaithfulness, until the last of your carcasses lies dead in the wilderness. 34According to the number of the days you explored the land - forty days, each day for a year - you shall bear your iniquities for forty years, and you shall know and experience My displeasure. 35I, the LORD have spoken, I will surely do it to all this evil congregation that banded against Me in this wilderness; they shall be consumed and shall die in this wilderness.’”

36And those men that Moses sent to explore the land, and then returned and caused all the people to murmur against him, by bringing a slanderous report about the land - 37Those ten men that brought that evil report about the land, died from a sudden plague before the LORD. 38But Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, who were among the twelve explorers of the land, did not die.

39And when Moses told all this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. 40And early the next morning, they rose and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Let’s go, we are here, and we will go up to the land that the LORD has promised; for we realize we have sinned.” 41But Moses said, “Why are you now defying the command of the LORD? This will not succeed! 42Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you to protect you from your enemies. 43The Amalekites and Canaanites are there; and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.” 44But they presumed to go up to the hill top; even though neither Moses, nor the Ark of the covenant of the LORD, left the camp. 45Then the Amalekites, and the Canaanites who dwelt in those hills, came down, attacked, routed, and pursued them all the way to Hormah.