30. Not one of you will enter and live in the land I promised to you. Only Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun will go in.
31. You said that your children would be taken away. But I will bring them into the land. They will enjoy what you refused.
32. As for you, you will die in this desert.
33. Your children will be shepherds here for 40 years. They will suffer because you were not loyal. They will suffer until you lie dead in the desert.
34. For 40 years you will suffer for your sins. That is a year for each of the 40 days you explored the land. You will know me as your enemy.’
35. I, the Lord, have spoken. I will certainly do these things to all these evil people. They have come together against me. So they will all die here in this desert.”
36. The men Moses had sent to explore the land had returned. They had spread complaints among all the Israelites. They had given a bad report about the land.
37. They were responsible for the bad report. So the Lord killed them with a terrible sickness.
38. Only two of the men did not die. They were Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh.
39. When Moses told these things to the Israelites, they were very sad.
40. Early the next morning they started to go toward the beginning of the mountains. They said, “We have sinned. We will go where the Lord told us.”
41. But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? You will not win!
42. Don’t go. The Lord is not with you. You will be beaten by your enemies.
43. You will run into the Amalekites and Canaanites. They will kill you with swords. You have turned away from the Lord. He will not be with you.”
44. But they were proud. They went toward the beginning of the mountains. But Moses and the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord did not leave the camp.
45. The Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those mountains came down. And they attacked the Israelites. They beat them back all the way to Hormah.