If a shepherd is with his sheep when they begin to wander away, then he will go searching for them. In the same way I will search for my sheep. I will save my sheep. I will bring them back from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.
My flock wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My flock was scattered over all the face of the earth. There was no one to search or to look for them.’”
“Your children will be shepherds here in the desert for 40 years. They will suffer because you were not faithful to me. They must suffer until all of you lie dead in the desert.
“The Lord was very angry against the people of Israel. So the Lord made the people stay in the desert for 40 years. The Lord made them stay there until all the people who had sinned against the Lord were dead.
“The Lord found Jacob (Israel) in
a desert land,
an empty, windy land.
The Lord surrounded Jacob
to watch over him.
He protected him,
like the pupil of his eye.
The Lord led you through that great and terrible desert. Poisonous snakes and scorpions [52] were in that desert! The ground was dry, and there was no water anywhere. But the Lord gave you water out of the rock.