37. The men were responsible for spreading the trouble among the Israelites. So the Lord caused a sickness to kill all those men.
38. But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were among the men who were sent out to explore the land. They are the only ones who did not get the sickness that caused the others to die.
39. When Moses told the Israelites this, they were very sad.
40. Early the next morning the people started to go up to the high hill country. They said, “We have sinned. We are sorry that we did not trust the Lord. We will go to the place that the Lord promised.”
41. But Moses said, “Why are you not obeying the Lord’S command? You will not be successful!
42. Don’t go into that land. The Lord is not with you, so your enemies will easily defeat you.
43. The Amalekites and Canaanites will fight against you there. You have turned away from the Lord, so he will not be with you when you fight them. And you will all be killed in battle.”