37 Even with me ^qthe Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 ^rJoshua the son of Nun, ^rwho stands before you, he shall enter. ^sEncourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for ^tyour little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today ^uhave 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, ^vturn, 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, ^yfor 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 ^zpresumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 ^aThen the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you ^bas bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as ^cHormah. 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 ^dyou remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

The Wilderness Years

1 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, ^eas the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country ^flong enough. Turn northward 4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of ^gyour brothers, the people of Esau, ^hwho live in Seir; and ⁱthey will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because ^hI have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 ^jYou shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. ^kHe knows your going through this great wilderness. ^lThese forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ 8 So ^mwe went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from ⁿthe Arabah road from ^oElath and ^pEzion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the Lord said to me, ^q‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given ^rAr to ^sthe people of Lot for a possession.’ 10 (^tThe Emim formerly lived there, ^ua people great and many, and tall ^vas the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim they are also counted as ^wRephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 ^xThe Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, ^yas Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) 13 ‘Now rise up and go over ^zthe brook Zered.’ So we went over ^zthe brook Zered. 14 And the time from our leaving ^aKadesh-barnea until we crossed ^bthe brook Zered was thirty-eight years, ^cuntil the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

Giving to the Needy

1 “Beware of ^rpracticing your righteousness before other people in order ^sto be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 ^t“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may ^ube praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have ^vreceived their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. ^wAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The Lord’s Prayer

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love ^xto stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. ^yTruly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, ^zgo into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. ^aAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as ^bthe Gentiles do, for ^cthey think that they will be heard ^dfor their many words. 8 Do not be like them, ^efor your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 ^fPray then like this:

14 ^rFor if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 ^sbut if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.