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Rh dreadful wilderness which ye saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as the our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea. And I said unto you: 'Ye are come unto the hill-country of the Amorites, which the our God giveth unto us. Behold, the thy God hath set the land before thee; go up, take possession, as the, the God of thy fathers, hath spoken unto thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.' And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said: 'Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us back word of the way by which we must go up, and the cities unto which we shall come.' And the thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe; and they turned and went up into the mountains, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us back word, and said: 'Good is the land which the our God giveth unto us.' Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the  your God; and ye murmured in your tents, and said: 'Because the  hated us, He hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying: The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.' Then I said unto you: 'Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The your God who goeth before you, He shall fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes; and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the  thy God bore thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came unto this place. Yet in this thing ye do not believe the your God, Who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in: in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.'

And the heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and swore, saying: 'Surely there shall not one of these men, even this evil generation, see the good land, which I swore to give unto your fathers, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children; because he hath wholly followed the .' Also the  was angry with me for your sakes, saying: Thou also shalt not go in thither; Joshua the son of Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither; encourage thou him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. Moreover your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, and your children, that this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.' Then ye answered and said unto me: 'We have sinned against the, we will go up and fight, according to all that the our God commanded us.' And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and deemed it a light thing to go up into the hill-country. And the said unto me: 'Say unto them: Go not up,