Numbers 14:12-20

12I will strike them with the pestilence (plague) and dispossess them, and will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

13But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up these people from among them,

14and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people [of Israel], that You, Lord, are seen face to face, while Your cloud stands over them; and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

15Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations (Gentiles) that have heard of Your fame will say,

16‘Because the Lord was not able to bring these people into the land which He promised to give them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

17But now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying,

18‘The Lord is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving wickedness and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting (avenging) the wickedness and guilt of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].’

19Please pardon the wickedness and guilt of these people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You have forgiven these people, from Egypt even until now.”

20So the Lord said, “I have pardoned them according to your word;