³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “^(A)We are not able to go up against the people, because they are too strong for us.” ³² So they brought ^(B)a bad report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is ^(C)a land that devours its inhabitants; and ^(D)all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature. ³³ We also saw the ^[a](E)Nephilim there (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and ^(F)we were like ^[b]grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

² And all the sons of Israel ^(A)grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the entire congregation said to them, “^(B)If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness! ³ So why is the Lord bringing us into this land ^(C)to fall by the sword? ^(D)Our wives and our little ones will become plunder! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron again, saying, ²⁷ “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who are ^(A)grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel which they are ^[a]voicing against Me. ²⁸ Say to them, ‘^(B)As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘just as ^(C)you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you; ^29 (D)your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, all ^(E)your ^[b]numbered men according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. ³⁰ By no means will you come into the land where I ^[c]swore to settle you, ^(F)except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. ^31 (G)Your children, however, whom you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. ^32 (H)But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. ³³ Also, your sons will be shepherds in the wilderness for ^(I)forty years, and they will ^[d]suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your bodies perish in the wilderness. ³⁴ In accordance with the ^(J)number of days that you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall suffer the punishment for your ^[e]guilt a year, that is, forty years, and you will know My opposition. ^35 (K)I, the Lord, have spoken, I certainly will do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. They shall be worn out in this wilderness, and there they shall die.’”

^36 (L)As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and led all the congregation to grumble against him by bringing a bad report about the land, ^37 (M)those men who brought the bad report of the land also died by a ^(N)plague in the presence of the Lord. ³⁸ But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.