¹⁹So we left Mount Horeb, as the Lord our God had commanded. We traveled through all that vast and dangerous desert you saw on the way to the mountain region of the Amorites. At last we came to Kadesh Barnea. ²⁰Then I said to you, “We have come to the mountain region of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. ²¹The Lord your God is giving you this land. Go ahead! Take possession of it, as the Lord God of your ancestors told you. Don’t be afraid or terrified.”

²²All of you came to me and said, “Let’s send men ahead of us to gather information about the land for us. Have them report to us about the route we should take and the cities we’ll come to.”

²³It seemed like a good idea to me. So I chose 12 of your men, one from each tribe. ²⁴They left and went into the mountains. When they came to the Eshcol Valley, they explored it. ²⁵They took some of the region’s fruit with them and brought it back to us. They reported, “The land that the Lord our God is giving us is good.”

²⁶But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and refused to go. ²⁷You complained in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us! That’s why he brought us out of Egypt. He wanted to hand us over to the Amorites so that they could destroy us! ²⁸Where are we going anyway? Our own men have discouraged us by saying, ‘The people there are taller and stronger than we are. The cities are big with sky-high walls! We even saw the people of Anak there.’ ”

²⁹Then I said to you, “Don’t tremble. Don’t be afraid of them. ³⁰The Lord your God, who is going ahead of you, will fight for you as you saw him fight for you in Egypt ³¹and in the desert.” There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as parents carry their children. He carried you wherever you went until you came to this place.

³²In spite of this, you didn’t trust the Lord your God, ³³who went ahead of you to find places for you to camp. He appeared in a column of fire at night and in a column of smoke during the day to show you which route to take.

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