19. We left Horeb and journeyed through that vast and terrifying desert you saw, on the way to the hills of the Amorites, exactly as the Lord our God commanded us. Then we arrived at Kadesh-barnea.
20. I said to you: You have come to the hills of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving to us.
21. Look! The Lord your God has laid out the land before you. Go up and take it, just as the Lord, your ancestors’ God, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be frightened!
22. Then all of you approached me, saying, "Let’s send spies ahead of us—they can check out the land for us. Then they can return with word about the route we should use and bring a report about the cities that we’ll be entering."
23. This idea seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men, one from each tribe.
24. These set out and went up into the hills, going as far as the Cluster ravine. They walked all around that area.
25. They took some of the land’s fruit and then came back down to us. They reported to us: "The land that the Lord our God is giving to us is wonderful!"
26. But you weren’t willing to go up. You rejected the Lord your God’s instruction.