23. And when he sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, 'Ascend and possess the land, which I have given to you,' even so, you spurned the command of the Lord your God, and you did not believe him, nor were you willing to listen to his voice.
24. Instead, you were ever rebellious, from the day when I first began to know you.
25. And so, I lay prostrate before the Lord for forty days and nights, as I humbly begged him, lest he destroy you, just as he had threatened to do.
26. And praying, I said: 'O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your inheritance, whom you have redeemed in your greatness, whom you have led away from Egypt with a strong hand.
27. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not look upon the stubbornness of this people, nor upon their wickedness and sinfulness.
28. Otherwise, perhaps the inhabitants of the land, out of which you have led us, may say: "The Lord was not able to lead them into the land, which he promised to them. And he hated them; therefore, he led them out, so that he might put them to death in the wilderness."
29. These are your people and your inheritance, whom you have led out by your great strength, and with your outstretched arm.' "