Deuteronomy 1:26-46

Israel's Refusal to Enter the Land

26 "Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 And d you murmured in your tents and said, 'Because the Lord e hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, f to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? g Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, h "The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen i the sons of the Anakim there."' 29 Then I said to you, 'Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you j will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God k carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.' 32 Yet in spite of this word l you did not believe the Lord your God, 33 m who went before you in the way n to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

The Penalty for Israel's Rebellion

34 "And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 o 'Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 p except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!' 37 Even with me q the Lord was angry on your account and said, 'You also shall not go in there. 38 r Joshua the son of Nun, r who stands before you, he shall enter. s Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for t your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today u have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, v turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.'

41 "Then you answered me, w 'We have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.' And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the Lord said to me, x 'Say to them, Do not go up or fight, y for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.' 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the Lord and z presumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 a Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you b as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as c Hormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So d you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

  1. Cross References
    Psalms 106:25
    They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
    Numbers 14:1 - 4
    Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night.
  2. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:28
    Lest the land from which you brought us say, "Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.
  3. Cross References
    Joshua 7:7
    And Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan!
  4. Cross References
    Joshua 14:8
    But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God.
  5. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:1 - 2
    Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves, cities great and fortified up to heaven.
    Numbers 13:28 - 33
    However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.
  6. Cross References
    Numbers 13:22
    They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. ( Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
  7. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 3:22
    You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord you...
    Exodus 14:14
    The Lord will fight for you, and you have only ...
    Exodus 14:25
    Clogging their chariot wheels so that they drov...
    Joshua 10:14
    There has been no day like it before or since, ...
    Joshua 10:42
    And Joshua captured all these kings and their l...
    Joshua 23:3
    And you have seen all that the Lord your God ha...
    Joshua 23:10
    One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since...
    Nehemiah 4:20
    In the place where you hear the sound of the tr...
  8. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:11 - 12
    Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions.
    Exodus 19:4
    You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.
    Isaiah 46:3 - 4
    Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb.
    Isaiah 63:9
    In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
    Hosea 11:3
    Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 106:24
    Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise.
    Jude 1:5
    Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
  10. Cross References
    Exodus 13:21
    And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
  11. Cross References
    Numbers 10:33
    So they set out from the mount of the Lord three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting place for them.
  12. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 2:15
    For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.
    Numbers 14:20 - 30
    Then the Lord said, "I have pardoned, according to your word.
  13. Cross References
    Numbers 14:30
    Not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
    Joshua 14:9
    And Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.
  14. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:21
    Furthermore, the Lord was angry with me because...
    Deuteronomy 32:51
    Because you broke faith with me in the midst of...
    Deuteronomy 34:4
    And the Lord said to him, "This is the land of ...
    Numbers 20:12
    And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because ...
    Numbers 27:13 - 14
    When you have seen it, you also shall be gather...
    Psalms 106:32
    They angered him at the waters of Meribah, and ...
  15. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:3
    The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the Lord has spoken.
    Deuteronomy 31:7
    Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it.
    Exodus 24:13
    So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.
    1 Samuel 16:22
    And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.
  16. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:3
    The Lord your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the Lord has spoken.
    Deuteronomy 31:7
    Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it.
    Exodus 24:13
    So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God.
    1 Samuel 16:22
    And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.
  17. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:7
    Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it.
    Deuteronomy 31:23
    And the Lord commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.
    Numbers 27:18 - 20
    So the Lord said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.
  18. Cross References
    Numbers 14:3
    Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?
    Numbers 14:31
    But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected.
  19. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:15 - 16
    He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
  20. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 2:1
    Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir.
    Numbers 14:25
    Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.
  21. Cross References
    Numbers 14:40
    And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, "Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.
  22. Cross References
    Numbers 14:42
    Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies.
  23. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:17
    Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, 'Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?
  24. Cross References
    Numbers 14:44
    But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp.
  25. Cross References
    Numbers 14:45
    Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.
  26. Cross References
    Psalms 118:12
    They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
    Isaiah 7:18
    In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
  27. Cross References
    Numbers 21:3
    And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction. So the name of the place was called Hormah.
  28. Cross References
    Numbers 20:1
    And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.
    Numbers 20:22
    And they journeyed from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.
    Judges 11:17
    Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let us pass through your land,' but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.