30. The Lord your God will go ahead of you. He will fight for you. With your own eyes you saw how he fought for you in Egypt.
31. "You also saw how the Lord your God brought you through the desert. He carried you everywhere you went, just as a father carries his son. And now you have arrived here."
32. In spite of that, you didn't trust in the Lord your God.
33. He went ahead of you on your journey. He was in the fire at night and in the cloud during the day. He found places for you to camp. He showed you the way you should go.
34. The Lord heard what you said. So he became angry. He took an oath and made a promise. He said,
35. "I promised to give this good land to your people long ago. But not one of you evil men who are alive today will see it.
36. "Only Caleb will see the land. He is the son of Jephunneh. I will give him and his children after him the land he walked on. He followed me with his whole heart."
37. Because of you, the Lord became angry with me also. He said, "You will not enter the land either.
38. But Joshua, the son of Nun, is your helper. Joshua will enter the land. Help him to be brave. Give him hope. He will lead Israel to take the land as their own.
39. "You said your little ones would be taken prisoner. But they will enter the land. They do not know right from wrong yet. But I will give them the land. They will take it as their own.
40. As for you, turn around. Start out toward the desert. Go along the road that leads to the Red Sea."
41. Then you replied, "We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight. We'll do just as the Lord our God has commanded us." So all of you got your swords and put them on. You thought it would be easy to go up into the hill country.
42. But the Lord spoke to me. He said, "Tell them, 'Do not go up and fight. I will not be with you. Your enemies will win the battle over you.' "
43. So I told you what the Lord said. But you wouldn't listen. You refused to obey his command. You were so filled with pride that you marched up into the hill country.
44. The Amorites who lived in those hills came out and attacked you. Like large numbers of bees they chased you. They beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah.
45. You came back and sobbed in front of the Lord. But he didn't pay any attention to your sobs. He wouldn't listen to you.