15. But if you kill all these people at the same time, then the nations who have heard these reports about you will say,
16. ‘The Lord wasn’t able to bring these people into the land he promised them, so he slaughtered them in the desert.’
17. “Lord, let your power be as great as when you said,
18. ‘The Lord. . . patient, forever loving. . . . He forgives wrongdoing and disobedience. . . . He never lets the guilty go unpunished, punishing children. . . for their parents’ sins to the third and fourth generation. . . .’
19. By your great love, please forgive these people’s sins, as you have been forgiving them from the time they left Egypt until now.”
20. The Lord said, “I forgive them, as you have asked.