You returned: presumably to their camp at Kadesh Barnea. Contemporary English Version has “Then you came back to the place of worship at Kadesh-Barnea.”

And wept before the LORD: this seems to indicate a religious service in which the Israelites poured out to God their grief and anguish. Good News Translation has “cried out to the LORD for help.” A note of repentance or sorrow for their sin may be understood; but the statement that Yahweh did not respond indicates that they were asking for help, so we may say “wept asking the LORD for help” or “cried out to the LORD to help you.”

The LORD did not hearken to your voice or give ear to you: this literal translation is not current English. The two verbal expressions mean the same: “the LORD didn’t listen to your cries, he paid no attention to you,” or “but the LORD would not pay any attention to you.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .