Numbers 14

1 Then all the people gave load cries of grief, and all that night they gave themselves up to weeping.

Then everybody there cried out loud all night.

2 And all the children of Israel, crying out against Moses and Aaron, said, If only we had come to our death in the land of Egypt, or even in this waste land!

All the Israelites went and complained to Moses and Aaron, telling them, “If only we'd died in Egypt, or here in this desert!

3 Why is the Lord taking us into this land to come to our death by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will get into strange hands: would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?

Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to get us killed? Our wives and children will be captured and taken away as slaves! Wouldn't we be better off going back to Egypt?”

4 And they said to one another, Let us make a captain over us, and go back to Egypt.

They said to one another, “Let's choose a new leader us and go back to Egypt.”

5 Then Moses and Aaron went down on their faces before the meeting of the people.

Moses and Aaron fellfacedown on the ground in front of all the assembled Israelites.

6 And Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, two of those who had been to see the land, giving signs of grief,

Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, were there. They had been part of the group who had gone to spy out the land. They ripped their clothes,

7 Said to all the children of Israel, This land which we went through to see is a very good land.

and told the Israelites, “The country we traveled through and explored has very good land.

8 And if the Lord has delight in us, he will take us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

If the Lord is happy with us, he will take us there and give it to us, a land that's so productive it's like flowing with milk and honey.

9 Only, do not go against the Lord or go in fear of the people of the land, for they will be our food; their strength has been taken from them and the Lord is with us: have no fear of them.

Don't rebel and fight against the Lord. You don't need to be afraid of the people living there in the country—we can take them easily! They're defenseless and the Lord is with us. Don't be frightened of them!”

10 But all the people said they were to be stoned. Then the glory of the Lord was seen in the Tent of meeting, before the eyes of all the children of Israel.

In reply all the people shouted out, “Stone them!” But the glory of the Lord suddenly appeared in the Tent of Meeting, right in the middle of the Israelites.

11 And the Lord said to Moses, How long will this people have no respect for me? how long will they be without faith, in the face of all the signs I have done among them?

The Lord told Moses, “How long are these people going to reject me? How long are these people going to refuse to trust in me despite all the miracles I have done right in front of them?

12 I will send disease on them for their destruction, and take away their heritage, and I will make of you a nation greater and stronger than they.

I'm going to make them sick with a disease and kill them. Then I will make you into a nation that's greater and strong than them.”

13 And Moses said to the Lord, Then it will come to the ears of the Egyptians; for by your power you took this people out from among them;

But Moses told the Lord, “The Egyptians will find out about it! It was by your power that you led the Israelites out from among them.

14 And they will give the news to the people of this land: they have had word that you, Lord, are present with this people, letting yourself be seen face to face, and that your cloud is resting over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

They will tell the people living in this country all about it. They've already heard that you, Lord, are with us Israelites, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands guard over them, and that you lead them by a pillar of cloud during day and a pillar of fire at night.

15 Now if you put to death all this people as one man, then the nations who have had word of your glory will say,

If you kill all these people in one go, the nations who have heard about you will say,

16 Because the Lord was not able to take this people into the land which he made an oath to give them, he sent destruction on them in the waste land.

‘The Lord killed these people in the desert because he wasn't able to take them to the country he promised to give them. He's killed them all in desert!’

17 So now, may my prayer come before you, and let the power of the Lord be great, as you said:

Now, Lord, please demonstrate the extent of your power just as you have said:

18 The Lord is slow to wrath and great in mercy, overlooking wrongdoing and evil, and will not let wrongdoers go free; sending punishment on children for the sins of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation.

The Lord is slow to become angry and is full of trustworthy love, forgiving sin and rebellion. However, he will not allow the guilty to go unpunished, bringing the consequences of the parents' sin on their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

19 May the sin of this people have forgiveness, in the measure of your great mercy, as you have had mercy on them from Egypt up till now.

Please forgive the sin of these people since your trustworthy love is so great, in the same way that you have forgiven them from the time they left Egypt until now.”

20 And the Lord said, I have had mercy, as you say:

“I have forgiven them as you asked,” the Lord replied.

21 But truly, as I am living, and as all the earth will be full of the glory of the Lord;

“But even so, as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord's glory,

22 Because all these men, having seen my glory and the signs which I have done in Egypt and in the waste land, still have put me to the test ten times, and have not given ear to my voice;

not a single one of the those who saw my glory and the miracles I did in Egypt and in the desert—but provoked me and refused to obey me time and time again—

23 They will not see the land about which I made an oath to their fathers; not one of these by whom I have not been honoured will see it.

not a single one of them is ever going to see the country I promised to give their forefathers. None of those who rejected me will see it.

24 But my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit in him, and has been true to me with all his heart, him I will take into that land into which he went, and his seed will have it for their heritage.

But because my servant Caleb has a totally different spirit and is fully committed to me, I will lead him to the country he visited, and his descendants will own it.

25 Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites are in the valley; tomorrow, turning round, go into the waste land by the way to the Red Sea.

Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, tomorrow you are to turn around and head back into the desert, taking the route towards the Red Sea.”

26 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

The Lord told Moses and Aaron,

27 How long am I to put up with this evil people and their outcries against me? The words which they say against me have come to my ears.

“How much longer are these wicked people going to criticize me? I've heard what they're saying, making complaints against me.

28 Say to them, By my life, says the Lord, as certainly as your words have come to my ears, so certainly will I do this to you:

Go and tell them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, I'll do just what I heard you say you wanted, believe me!

29 Your dead bodies will be stretched out in this waste land; and of all your number, all those of twenty years old and over who have been crying out against me,

All of you will die in this desert, everyone who was registered in the census that counted those aged twenty or over, because you made complaints against me.

30 Not one will come into the land which I gave my word you would have for your resting-place, but only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.

Absolutely none of you will enter the country I promised to give you to live in, except for Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun.

31 And your little ones, whom you said would come into strange hands, I will take in, and they will see the land which you would not have.

However, I will take your children—those you said would be taken away as plunder—into the country you rejected, and they will appreciate it.

32 But as for you, your dead bodies will be stretched in this waste land.

But you—you are all going to die in this desert.

33 And your children will be wanderers in the waste land for forty years, undergoing punishment for your false ways, till your bodies become dust in the waste land.

Your children will wander in the desert for forty years, suffering because of your lack of trust until all your bodies lie buried in the desert.

34 And as you went through the land viewing it for forty days, so for forty years, a year for every day, you will undergo punishment for your wrongdoing, and you will see that I am against you.

Just as you explored the country for forty days, so shall your punishment for your sins be forty years, a year for every day, and you will see what happens when I oppose you.

35 I the Lord have said it, and this I will certainly do to all this evil people who have come together against me: in this waste land destruction will come on them, and death will be their fate.

I, the Lord, have spoken! Just see if I won't do this to all these wicked Israelites who have got together to oppose me! They will end their lives in the desert—they will die there.’”

36 And the men whom Moses sent to see the land, and who, by the bad account they gave of the land, were the cause of the outcry the people made against Moses,

The men that Moses had sent to explore the country—those who came back and because they gave a bad report they made all the Israelites complain against the Lord—

37 Those same men who said evil of the land, came to their death by disease before the Lord.

those men who gave the bad report died before the Lord from plague.

38 But Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, of those who went to see the land, were not touched by disease.

The only ones who lived were Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh of those who went to explore the country.

39 And when Moses put these words before the children of Israel, the people were full of grief.

When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said they were very, very sad.

40 And early in the morning they got up and went to the top of the mountain, saying, We are here and we will go up to the place which the Lord said he would give us: for we have done wrong.

They got up early the next morning planning to go into the hill country. “Yes we really did sin,” they said, “but now we're here and we'll go where the Lord told us.”

41 And Moses said, Why are you now acting against the Lord's order, seeing that no good will come of it?

But Moses objected. “Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? You won't succeed in your plan!

42 Go not up, for the Lord is not with you, and you will be overcome by those who are fighting against you.

Don't try and go, otherwise you will be killed by your enemies, because the Lord isn't with you.

43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will be put to death by their swords: because you have gone back from the way of the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.

The Amalekites and Canaanites living there will attack you, and you will die by the sword. Because you rejected the Lord, he won't help you.”

44 But they gave no attention to his words and went to the top of the mountain, though Moses and the ark of the Lord's agreement did not go out of the tent-circle.

But they were arrogant and went up into the hill country, even though Moses and the Ark of the Lord's Agreement didn't move from the camp.

45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who were living in the hill-country, and overcame them completely, driving them back as far as Hormah.

The Amalekites and Canaanites who lived there in the hill country came down and attacked the Israelites and defeated them, and chased them all the way to Hormah.