17. Show us your great power, Lord. You promised
18. that you love to show mercy and kindness. And you said that you are very patient, but that you will punish everyone guilty of doing wrong—not only them but their children and grandchildren as well.
19. You are merciful, and you treat people better than they deserve. So please forgive these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.
20. Then the Lord said to Moses:In answer to your prayer, I do forgive them.
21. But as surely as I live and my power has no limit,
22-23. I swear that not one of these Israelites will enter the land I promised to give their ancestors. These people have seen my power in Egypt and in the desert, but they will never see Canaan. They have disobeyed and tested me too many times.
24. But my servant Caleb isn't like the others. So because he has faith in me, I will allow him to cross into Canaan, and his descendants will settle there.
25. Now listen, Moses! The Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys of Canaan. And tomorrow morning, you'll need to turn round and head back into the desert towards the Red Sea.
26. The Lord told Moses and Aaron
27-28. to give this message to the people of Israel:You sinful people have complained against me too many times! Now I swear by my own life that I will give you exactly what you wanted.
29. You will die here in the desert, and your dead bodies will cover the ground. You have insulted me, and none of you men who are over twenty years old
30. will enter the land that I solemnly promised to give you as your own—only Caleb and Joshua will go in.
31. You were worried that your own children would be captured. But I, the Lord, will let them enter the land you have rejected.
32. You will die here in the desert!