Numbers 14
1 And the whole assembly lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Then everybody there cried out loud all night.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole assembly said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or in this wilderness would that we had died!
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 And why is Jehovah bringing us to this land that we may fall by the sword, that our wives and our little ones may become a prey? Is it not better for us to return 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 one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt.
They said to one another, “Let's choose a new leader us and go back to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the whole congregation of the assembly of the children of Israel.
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, of them that searched out the land, rent their garments.
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 And they spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it out, is a very, very good land.
and told the Israelites, “The country we traveled through and explored has very good land.
8 If Jehovah delight in us, he will bring us into this land, and give it us, a land that flows 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 rebel not against Jehovah; and fear not the people of the land; for they shall be our food. Their defence is departed from them, and Jehovah is with us: fear them not.
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 And the whole assembly said that they should be stoned with stones. And the glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting to 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 Jehovah said to Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe me, for all the signs which 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 smite them with the pestilence, and destroy them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier 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 Jehovah, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for in thy might thou broughtest up this people from the midst of 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 tell it to the inhabitants of this land, [who] have heard that thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of this people, that thou, Jehovah, lettest thyself be seen eye to eye, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest 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 if thou now slayest this people as one man, then the nations that have heard thy fame will speak, saying,
If you kill all these people in one go, the nations who have heard about you will say,
16 Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land that he had sworn unto them, he has therefore slain them in the wilderness.
‘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 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
Now, Lord, please demonstrate the extent of your power just as you have said:
18 Jehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in goodness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon 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 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy loving-kindness, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until 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 Jehovah said, I have pardoned according to thy word.
“I have forgiven them as you asked,” the Lord replied.
21 But as surely as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah!
“But even so, as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord's glory,
22 for all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened 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 shall in no wise see the land which I did swear unto their fathers: none of them that despised me shall 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 hath another spirit in him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he came; and his seed shall possess it.
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 dwell in the valley.) To-morrow turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness, on 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 And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
27 How long [shall I bear] with this evil assembly, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
“How much longer are these wicked people going to criticize me? I've heard what they're saying, making complaints against me.
28 Say unto them, As surely as I live, saith Jehovah, if I do not do unto you as ye have spoken in mine ears!
Go and tell them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, I'll do just what I heard you say you wanted, believe me!
29 In this wilderness shall your carcases fall; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number from twenty years old and upwards, who have murmured 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 shall in no wise come into the land, concerning which I have lifted up my hand to make you dwell in it; save 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 But your little ones, of whom ye said they should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land that ye have despised.
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 And as to you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness.
But you—you are all going to die in this desert.
33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
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 After the number of the days in which ye have searched out the land, forty days, each day for a year shall ye bear your iniquities forty years, and ye shall know mine estrangement [from 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 Jehovah have spoken; I will surely do it unto all this evil assembly which have gathered together against me! in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
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 had sent to search out the land, who returned, and made the whole assembly to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report upon the land,
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 even those men who had brought up an evil report upon the land, died by a plague before Jehovah.
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, lived still of the men that had gone to search out the land.
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 Moses told all these sayings to all the children of Israel; then the people mourned greatly.
When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said they were very, very sad.
40 And they rose up early in the morning, and went up to the hill-top, saying, Here are we, and we will go up to the place of which Jehovah has spoken; for we have sinned.
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 now do ye transgress the commandment of Jehovah? but it shall not prosper!
But Moses objected. “Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? You won't succeed in your plan!
42 Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies;
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 ye shall fall by the sword; for as ye have turned away from Jehovah, Jehovah 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 Yet they presumed to go up to the hill-top; but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and Moses, did not depart from the midst of the camp.
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 And the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt on that hill, came down and smote them, and cut them to pieces, 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.
