¹⁴ Thirty-eight years^(A) passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea^(B) until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation^(C) of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.^{(D) 15} The Lord’s hand was against them until he had completely eliminated^(E) them from the camp.

¹⁶ Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died,