Rebellion Against the Lord

²⁶ But you were unwilling to go up;^(A) you rebelled^(B) against the command of the Lord your God. ²⁷ You grumbled^(C) in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. ²⁸ Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller^(D) than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites^(E) there.’”

²⁹ Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid^(F) of them.^{(G) 30} The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight^(H) for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, ³¹ and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried^(I) you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”^(J)

³² In spite of this,^(K) you did not trust^(L) in the Lord your God, ³³ who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day,^(M) to search^(N) out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

²⁹ For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt^(A) and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster^(B) will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”