Numbers 14

1 And so, crying out, the entire crowd wept throughout that night.

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

2 And all the sons of Israel were murmuring against Moses and Aaron, saying:

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!

3 “If only we had died in Egypt,” and, “If only we would perish in this vast wilderness,” and, “May the Lord not lead us into this land, lest we fall by the sword, and our wives, as well as our children, be led away as captives. Is it not better to return to Egypt?”

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?

4 And they said to one another, “Let us appoint our leader, and so return to Egypt.”

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

5 And when Moses and Aaron heard this, they fell prone on the ground in the sight of the multitude of the sons of Israel.

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

6 Yet truly, Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who themselves had also viewed the land, tore their garments,

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,

7 and they said to the entire multitude of the sons of Israel: “The land that we circled through is very good.

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

8 If the Lord will be gracious to us, he will lead us into it, and he will give us the land flowing with milk and honey.

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.

9 Do not choose to be rebellious against the Lord. And do not fear the people of this land, for, like bread, so are we able to devour them. All protection has withdrawn from them. The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid.”

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.

10 And when the entire multitude cried out, and they wanted to crush them with stones, the glory of the Lord appeared, over the roof of the covenant, to all the sons of Israel.

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.

11 And the Lord said to Moses: “How long will this people disparage me? How long will they refuse to believe me, despite all the signs that I have wrought before them?

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?

12 Therefore, I will strike them with a pestilence, and so I will consume them. But you I will make the ruler over a great nation, and one which is mightier than this one.”

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.

13 And Moses said to the Lord: “But then the Egyptians, from whose midst you led out this people,

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;

14 and the inhabitants of this land, who have heard that you, O Lord, are among this people, and that you are seen face to face, and that your cloud protects them, and that you go before them with a column of cloud by day, and a column of fire by night,

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.

15 may hear that you have killed so great a multitude, as if they were one man, and they may say:

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

16 ‘He was not able to lead the people into the land about which he had sworn. Therefore, he slew them in the wilderness.’

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.

17 Therefore, may the strength of the Lord be magnified, just as you swore, saying:

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

18 ‘The Lord is patient and full of mercy, taking away iniquity and wickedness, and forsaking no one who is harmless. He visits the sins of the fathers upon the sons, to the third and fourth generation.’

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.

19 Forgive, I beg you, the sins of this people, according to the greatness of your mercy, just as you have been gracious to them in their journey from Egypt to this place.”

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.

20 And the Lord said: “I have forgiven them according to your word.

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

21 Also, as I live, the entire world shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.

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

22 And yet, all the men who have seen my majesty, and the signs that I have wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, and who have tested me ten times already, and yet have not obeyed my voice,

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;

23 these shall not see the land, about which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who detracted me gaze upon it.

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.

24 My servant Caleb, who, being full of another spirit, has followed me, I will lead into this land, through which he has wandered, and his offspring shall possess it.

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.

25 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys. Tomorrow, move the camp and return into the wilderness, by the way of the Red Sea.”

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.

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

27 “How long will this very wicked multitude murmur against me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel.

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.

28 Therefore, say to them: As I live, says the Lord, as you spoke in my hearing, so will I do to you.

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:

29 In the wilderness, here shall your carcasses lie. All you who were numbered from twenty years and above, and who have murmured against me,

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,

30 you shall not enter into the land, over which I lifted up my hand to cause you to live there, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

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.

31 But your little ones, about whom you said that they would be a prey to the enemies, I will lead them in, so that they may see the land that has displeased you.

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.

32 Your carcasses shall lie in the wilderness.

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

33 Your sons shall wander in the desert for forty years, and they shall bear your fornication, until the carcasses of their fathers are consumed in the desert.

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.

34 According to the number of the forty days, during which you examined the land, one year shall be charged for each day. And so, for forty years you shall take back your iniquities, and you shall know my retribution.

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.

35 For just as I have spoken, so shall I do, to this entire most wicked multitude, which has risen up together against me. In the wilderness, here shall it fade away and die.”

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.

36 Therefore, all the men, whom Moses had sent to contemplate the land, and who, having returned, had caused the entire multitude to murmur against him, disparaging the land as if it were evil,

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,

37 suffered death and were struck down in the sight of the Lord.

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

38 But only Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, out of all those who had journeyed to examine the land.

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.

39 And Moses spoke all these words to all the sons of Israel, and the people mourned exceedingly.

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

40 And behold, rising up at first light, they climbed to the top of the mountain, and they said, “We are prepared to ascend to the place, about which the Lord has spoken, for we have sinned.”

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.

41 And Moses said to them: “Why do you transgress the word of the Lord, merely because it will not result in prosperity for you?

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

42 Do not ascend, for the Lord is not with you, lest you be overthrown before your enemies.

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

43 The Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, by whose sword you shall be ruined, for you were not willing to consent to the Lord, and so the Lord is not with you.”

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.

44 But they, having been darkened, ascended to the top of the mountain. But the ark of the testament of the Lord, and Moses, did not withdraw from the camp.

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.

45 And the Amalekites descended, along with those Canaanites who were living in the mountains. And so, striking and cutting them down, they pursued them all the way to Hormah.

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.