Deuteronomy 1:19-46

19“Then we set out from 1Horeb, and went through all that 2great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the 3hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God had commanded us; and we came to 4Kadesh-barnea. 20I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites which the Lord our God is about to give us. 21See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. 5Do not fear or be dismayed.’

22“6Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter.’ 23The thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe. 247They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought us back a report and said, ‘It is a good land which the Lord our God is about to give us.’

26“8Yet you were not willing to go up, but 9rebelled against the 10command of the Lord your God; 27and 11you grumbled 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. 28Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw 12the sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29Then I said to you, ‘Do not be shocked, nor fear them. 30The Lord your God who goes before you will 13Himself fight on your behalf, 14just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31and in the wilderness where you saw how 15the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.’ 32But 1617for all this, you did not trust the Lord your God, 3318who goes before you on your way, 19to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.

34“Then the Lord heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and 20took an oath, saying, 35‘21Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers, 36except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and 22to him and to his sons I will give the land on which he has set foot, because he has followed the Lord fully.’ 3723The Lord was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘24Not even you shall enter there. 38Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, 25he shall enter there; encourage him, for 26he will cause Israel to inherit it. 39Moreover, 27your little ones who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have 28no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it. 40But as for you, 29turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way to the 30Red Sea.’

41“31Then you said to me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord; we will indeed go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every man of you girded on his weapons of war, and regarded it as easy to go up into the hill country. 4232And the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be 33defeated before your enemies.”’ 43So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead 34you rebelled against the 35command of the Lord, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 4436The Amorites who 37lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you 38as bees do, and crushed you from Seir to Hormah. 45Then you returned and wept before the Lord; but the 39Lord did not listen to your voice nor give ear to you. 46So you remained in 40Kadesh many days, 41the days that you spent there.