12. I will kill them all with a terrible sickness. I will destroy them, and I will use you to make another nation. Your nation will be greater and stronger than these people.”
13. Then Moses said to the Lord, “If you do that, the Egyptians will hear about it! They know that you used your great power to bring your people out of Egypt.
14. The Egyptians have already told the people in Canaan about it. They already know you are the Lord. They know that you are with your people. They know that the people saw you. Those people know about the special cloud. They know you use the cloud to lead your people during the day. And they know the cloud becomes a fire to lead your people at night.
15. So you must not kill these people now. If you kill them, all the nations who have heard about your power will say,
16. ‘The Lord was not able to bring them into the land he promised them. So he killed them in the desert.’
17. “So now, Lord, show your strength! Show it the way you said you would.
18. You said, ‘The Lord is slow to become angry. He is full of great love. He forgives those who are guilty and break the law. But he always punishes those who are guilty. He punishes them, and he also punishes their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren for those bad things.’
19. Now, show your great love to these people. Forgive their sin. Forgive them the same way you have been forgiving them since the time they left Egypt until now.”
20. The Lord answered, “Yes, I will forgive the people as you asked.
21. But I tell you the truth. As surely as I live and as surely as the Glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, I make you this promise:
22. None of the people I led out of Egypt will ever see the land of Canaan. They saw my glory and the great signs that I did in Egypt and in the desert. But they disobeyed me and tested me ten times.
23. I promised their ancestors that I would give them that land. But none of those people who turned against me will ever enter that land!
24. But my servant Caleb was different. He follows me completely. So I will bring him into the land that he has already seen, and his people will get that land.
25. The Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valley. So tomorrow you must leave this place. Go back to the desert on the road to the Red Sea.”
26. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,