Remember when Moses said to his people, "O my people! Remember God's favour to you, He has raised up prophets among you, made you kings, and granted you [favours] such as He has not granted to anyone else in the world. 20 O my people, enter the Holy Land which Allah has assigned to you and do not turn back [from fighting in Allah's cause] and [thus] become losers. 21 They said: "O Musa (Moses)! In it (this holy land) are a people of great strength, and we shall never enter it, till they leave it; when they leave, then we will enter." 22 Two God-fearing men on whom God had bestowed favors told them, "Proceed through the gates and when you enter the city you will be victorious. Have trust in God if you are true believers". 23 They said, "We will never enter it, Moses, as long as they are there. Go, you and your Lord, and fight, and we will stay here." 24 Said (Moses): "O Lord, I have control over none but myself and my brother; so distinguish between us and these, the wicked people." 25 Said He, 'Then it shall be forbidden them for forty years, while they are wandering in the earth; so grieve not for the people of the ungodly.' 26