17. There shall be no favoritism to any persons. So you shall listen to the little as well as to the great. And you shall not accept anyone's reputation, for this is the judgment of God. But if anything seems difficult to you, then refer it to me, and I will hear it.'
18. And I instructed you in all that you were obliged to do.
19. Then, setting out from Horeb, we crossed through a terrible and great wasteland, which you saw along the way of the mountain of the Amorite, just as the Lord our God had instructed us. And when we had arrived at Kadesh-barnea,
20. I said to you: 'You have arrived at the mountain of the Amorite, which the Lord our God will give to us.
21. Gaze upon the land that the Lord your God gives to you. Ascend and possess it, just as the Lord our God has spoken to your fathers. Do not be afraid, and do not become terrified by anything.'
22. And you all approached me and said: 'Let us send men who may consider the land, and who may report as to the way by which we ought to ascend, and as to which cities we ought to travel.'
23. And since the word was pleasing to me, I sent from among you twelve men, one from each tribe.
24. These, when they had set out and had ascended the mountains, arrived as far as the valley of the cluster of grapes. And having considered the land,
25. having taken from its fruits in order to show its fertility, they brought these to us, and they said: 'The land that the Lord our God will give to us is good.'
26. Yet you were not willing to go there. Instead, being incredulous to the word of the Lord our God,
27. you murmured in your tents, and you said: 'The Lord hates us, and therefore he has led us away from the land of Egypt, so that he might deliver us into the hand of the Amorite and destroy us.
28. To where should we ascend? The messengers have terrified our heart by saying: "The multitude is very great, and taller than us. And the cities are great, and the walls extend even to the sky. We have seen the sons of the Anakim there." '
29. And I said to you: 'Do not be apprehensive, nor should you fear them.
30. The Lord God himself, who is your leader, will fight on your behalf, just as he did in Egypt in the sight of all.
31. And in the wilderness (as you yourselves saw), the Lord your God carried you, like a man who is accustomed to carrying his little son, along all the way that you walked, until you arrived at this place.'