Deuteronomy 1:19–45

The Spies Are Sent Out from Kadesh Barnea

¹⁹“We did what the Lord our God commanded us. We left Mount Sinai and went through that vast and fearful desert on the way to the hill country of the Amorites. When we reached Kadesh Barnea, ^20–21I said, ‘You have now come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God, the God of our ancestors, is giving us. Look, there it is. Go and occupy it as he commanded. Do not hesitate or be afraid.’

²²“But you came to me and said, ‘Let’s send men ahead of us to spy out the land, so that they can tell us the best route to take and what kind of cities are there.’

²³“That seemed a good thing to do, so I selected twelve men, one from each tribe. ²⁴They went into the hill country as far as the Valley of Eshcol and explored it. ²⁵They brought us back some fruit they found there, and reported that the land which the Lord our God was giving us was very fertile.

^26*“But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God, and you would not enter the land. ²⁷You grumbled to one another: ‘The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to hand us over to these Amorites, so that they could kill us. ²⁸Why should we go there? We are afraid. The men we sent tell us that the people there are stronger and taller than we are, and that they live in cities with walls that reach the sky. They saw giants there!’

²⁹“But I said, ‘Don’t be afraid of those people. ³⁰The Lord your God will lead you, and he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt ^31*and in the desert. You saw how he brought you safely all the way to this place, just as a father would carry his son.’ ^32*But in spite of what I said, you still would not trust the Lord, ³³even though he always went ahead of you to find a place for you to camp. To show you the way, he went in front of you in a pillar of fire by night and in a pillar of cloud by day.

The Punishes Israel

^34*“The Lord heard your complaints and became angry, and so he solemnly declared, ^35*‘Not one of you from this evil generation will enter the fertile land that I promised to give your ancestors. ³⁶Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will enter it. He has remained faithful to me, and I will give him and his descendants the land that he has explored.’ ³⁷Because of you the Lord also became angry with me and said, ‘Not even you, Moses, will enter the land. ³⁸But strengthen the determination of your helper, Joshua son of Nun. He will lead Israel to occupy the land.’

³⁹“Then the Lord said to all of us, ‘Your children, who are still too young to know right from wrong, will enter the land—the children you said would be seized by your enemies. I will give the land to them, and they will occupy it. ⁴⁰But as for you people, turn round and go back into the desert along the road to the Gulf of Aqaba.’

⁴¹“You replied, ‘Moses, we have sinned against the Lord. But now we will attack, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ Then each one of you got ready to fight, thinking it would be easy to invade the hill country.

⁴²“But the Lord said to me, ‘Warn them not to attack, for I will not be with them, and their enemies will defeat them.’ ⁴³I told you what the Lord had said, but you paid no attention. You rebelled against him, and in your pride you marched into the hill country. ⁴⁴Then the Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased you as far as Hormah and defeated you there in the hill country of Edom. ⁴⁵So you cried out to the Lord for help, but he would not listen to you or pay any attention to you.