16. ‘The Lord wasn’t able to bring these people into the land he promised them, so he slaughtered them in the desert.’
17. “Lord, let your power be as great as when you said,
18. ‘The Lord. . . patient, forever loving. . . . He forgives wrongdoing and disobedience. . . . He never lets the guilty go unpunished, punishing children. . . for their parents’ sins to the third and fourth generation. . . .’
19. By your great love, please forgive these people’s sins, as you have been forgiving them from the time they left Egypt until now.”
20. The Lord said, “I forgive them, as you have asked.
21. But as I live and as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, I solemnly swear that
22. none of the people who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I did in Egypt and in the desert will see the land which I promised their ancestors. They have tested me now ten times and refused to obey me.
23. None of those who treat me with contempt will see it!
24. But because my servant Caleb has a different attitude and has wholeheartedly followed me, I’ll bring him to the land he already explored. His descendants will possess it.
25. (The Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys.) Tomorrow you must turn around, go back into the desert, and follow the road that goes to the Red Sea.”
26. Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
27. “How long must I put up with this wicked community that keeps complaining about me? I’ve heard the complaints the Israelites are making about me.
28. So tell them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, I solemnly swear I will do everything to you that you said I would do.
29. Your bodies will drop dead in this desert. All of you who are at least 20 years old, who were registered and listed, and who complained about me will die.
30. I raised my hand and swore an oath to give you this land to live in. But none of you will enter it except Caleb (son of Jephunneh) and Joshua (son of Nun).
31. You said your children would be taken as prisoners of war. Instead, I will bring them into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it.
32. However, your bodies will drop dead in this desert.