24The people refused to enter the pleasant land,

for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.

25Instead, they grumbled in their tents

and refused to obey the Lord.

26Therefore, he solemnly swore

that he would kill them in the wilderness,

27that he would scatter their descendants* among the nations,

exiling them to distant lands.

28Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor;

they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!

29They angered the Lord with all these things,

so a plague broke out among them.

30But Phinehas had the courage to intervene,

and the plague was stopped.

31So he has been regarded as a righteous man

ever since that time.

32At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord,

causing Moses serious trouble.

33They made Moses angry,*

and he spoke foolishly.