⁶Moses asked the tribes of Gad and Reuben, “Are you going to stay here while the rest of the Israelites go to war? ⁷That might discourage them from entering the land the Lord has given them. ⁸That’s what your ancestors did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to take a look at the land. ⁹They went as far as the Eshcol Valley and saw the land. But then they discouraged the rest of the Israelites from entering the land that the Lord had given them. ¹⁰That day the Lord became angry and swore this oath, ¹¹‘None of the people 20 years old or older, who came from Egypt, will see the land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with an oath. This is because they didn’t wholeheartedly follow me.’ ¹²Only Caleb (son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite) and Joshua (son of Nun) will get to see the land. This is because they wholeheartedly followed the Lord. ¹³Since the Lord was angry with the Israelites, he made them wander in the desert for 40 years until the whole generation of those who had done evil in the Lord’s presence was gone.

¹⁴“You’re just like your parents! You’re a bunch of sinners trying to make the Lord angry with Israel again. ¹⁵If you turn away from him, he will abandon all these people in the desert. You would be responsible for their destruction.”

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