4. So they said to one another, “Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt!”
5. Then Moses and Aaron bowed to the ground in front of all the people.
6. And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of the spies, tore their clothes in sorrow
7. and said to the people, “The land we explored is an excellent land.
8. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will take us there and give us that rich and fertile land.
9. Do not rebel against the Lord and don't be afraid of the people who live there. We will conquer them easily. The Lord is with us and has defeated the gods who protected them; so don't be afraid.”
36-37. The men Moses had sent to explore the land brought back a false report which caused the people to complain against the Lord. And so the Lord struck them with a disease, and they died.
38. Of the twelve spies only Joshua and Caleb survived.
39. When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said, they mourned bitterly.
40. Early the next morning they started out to invade the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go to the place which the Lord told us about. We admit that we have sinned.”
41. But Moses said, “Then why are you disobeying the Lord now? You will not succeed!
42. Don't go. The Lord is not with you, and your enemies will defeat you.
43. When you face the Amalekites and the Canaanites, you will die in battle; the Lord will not be with you, because you have refused to follow him.”
44. Yet they still dared to go up into the hill country, even though neither the Lord's Covenant Box nor Moses left the camp.
45. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived there attacked and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hormah.