34 “Yahweh heard those complaints and got angry and made this promise,[ref] 35 ‘None of the men of this evil generation will get to enter the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors 36 apart from Yefunneh’s son Kalev (Caleb)—he can enter it and I’ll give him and his sons the land that he scouted out because he followed Yahweh whole-heartedly.’ 37 Yahweh was also angry at me because of you all, and told me that I also wouldn’t be able to enter, 38 but that Nun’s son Yehoshua who was standing there in front of me, would be the one to lead Yisrael to possess the land.

39 “Your children that you thought would be taken captive, and your young sons who don’t yet know right from wrong, they’ll be the ones to enter the land, and I’ll give it to them, and it’ll become theirs. 40 But you yourselves need to turn around and go back into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.

41 “but they all answered and admitted, ‘Yes, we’ve sinned against Yahweh, but now we’ll fix that by going in to fight and do everything that our god Yahweh has commanded us.’ So every man strapped on his weapons—now thinking it would be easy to take over the hill country.

42 “But Yahweh told me to warn them not to go ahead and fight because he wouldn’t help them, and so they’d end up being defeated by their enemies if they proceeded. 43 So I told your parents that, but they wouldn’t listen—they rebelled against Yahweh and arrogantly marched up into the hill country 44 where the Amorites who lived there came out against them, and chased them like bees and made the warriors scatter in Seir as far as Haremah. 45 So your parents returned and wept in front of Yahweh, but he didn’t pay any attention to them. 46 So that’s why we stayed at Kadesh-Barnea for as long as we all did.

26 Then Yahweh said to Mosheh and Aharon, 27 “How much longer do I have to put up with this evil gathering that grumble against me? I’ve heard the complaints that the Israelis are making against me. 28 Tell them this, ‘Yahweh declares that as I live, your own words that I heard are exactly what I’ll do to you all. 29 Indeed you’ll die there in the wilderness—all those men who were listed as being twenty years old and older that complained against me. 30 You all won’t enter that land that I would have used my power to settle you into. The only exceptions are Yefunneh’s son Kalev (Caleb) and Nun’s son Yehoshua (Joshua). 31 The children of you all that you said would be taken as plunder, I take them in and they’ll experience the land that you all have rejected, 32 but your bodies will remain in this wilderness. 33 Your sons will become shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until you yourselves all become corpses in the wilderness. 34 For each day that you explored the land, you’ll all bear your disobedience for one year, so forty days will be forty years of experiencing my displeasure. 35 I, Yahweh, have spoken that I’ll certainly do that to this evil community that joined together against me. They’ll meet their end and die there in the wilderness.’ ”

36 Now those ten men who Mosheh had sent in to explore the land, and who’d returned and the made the whole assembly grumble against him because of their evil report about the land, 37 they died of a plague in front of Yahweh after producing that evil report. 38 However, Yehoshua (Joshua—Nun’s son) and Kalev (Caleb—Yefunneh’s son) who had also explored that land, continue to live on.

39 So Mosheh passed on to the Israelis what Yahweh had said, and the people were extremely sad. 40 Early the next morning, they went up towards the hilltops, saying, “Look at us all here! Yes, we sinned yesterday, but today we’ll go up to the place that Yahweh said.”

41 “What’s that?” Mosheh responded. “Don’t go against Yahweh’s instructions because your plan won’t succeed. 42 Don’t continue onwards because Yahweh isn’t with you and for sure you’ll all be defeated by your enemies 43 because you’ll all be facing the Amalekites and the Kanaanites and you’ll die by the sword. Yes, you’ve turned away from following Yahweh so he won’t be with you all.”

44 Nevertheless, they dared to continue up to the tops of the hills, but neither Mosheh nor the box containing the agreement with Yahweh, left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and Kanaanites that lived in that part of the hill country attacked them and killed them as far down as Hormah.