18. Then once again I fell down flat in front of the Lord with my face toward the ground. I lay there for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn't eat any food or drink any water. You had committed a terrible sin. You had done an evil thing in the Lord's sight. You had made him angry.
19. I was afraid of the Lord's burning anger. He was so angry with you he wanted to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me again.
20. And he was so angry with Aaron he wanted to destroy him too. But at that time I prayed for Aaron.
21. I also got that sinful calf you had made. I burned it in the fire. I crushed it and ground it into fine powder. Then I threw the powder into a stream that was flowing down the mountain.
22. You also made the Lord angry at Taberah, Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah.
23. The Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea. He said, "Go up and take over the land I have given you." But you refused to do what the Lord your God had commanded you to do. You didn't trust him or obey him.
24. You have been refusing to obey the Lord as long as I've known you.
25. I lay down in front of the Lord with my face toward the ground for 40 days and 40 nights. I did it because the Lord had said he would destroy you.
26. I prayed to him. "Lord and King," I said, "don't destroy your people. They belong to you. You set them free by your great power. You used your mighty hand to bring them out of Egypt.