35. I, the Lord, have spoken. I will surely do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.”
36. The men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up an evil report against the land,
37. even those men who brought up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before the Lord.
38. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land.
39. Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.
40. They rose up early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which the Lord has promised; for we have sinned.”
41. Moses said, “Why now do you disobey the commandment of the Lord, since it shall not prosper?
42. Don’t go up, for the Lord isn’t among you; that way you won’t be struck down before your enemies.
43. For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you will fall by the sword because you turned back from following the Lord; therefore the Lord will not be with you.”
44. But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain. Nevertheless, the ark of the Lord’s covenant and Moses didn’t depart out of the camp.
45. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down, even to Hormah.