Numbers 14
1 Then everybody there cried out loud all night.
Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
2 All the Israelites went and complained to Moses and Aaron, telling them, “If only we'd died in Egypt, or here in this desert!
All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!
3 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?”
Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
4 They said to one another, “Let's choose a new leader us and go back to Egypt.”
So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
5 Moses and Aaron fellfacedown on the ground in front of all the assembled Israelites.
Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel.
6 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,
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
7 and told the Israelites, “The country we traveled through and explored has very good land.
and said to the whole congregation of Israel, “The land we passed through and explored is an exceedingly good land.
8 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.
If the LORD delights in us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and He will give it to us.
9 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!”
Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!”
10 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.
But the whole congregation threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting.
11 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?
And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?
12 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.”
I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”
13 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.
But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.
14 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.
And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have already heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, that You, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
15 If you kill all these people in one go, the nations who have heard about you will say,
If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,
16 ‘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!’
‘Because the LORD was unable to bring this people into the land He swore to give them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’
17 Now, Lord, please demonstrate the extent of your power just as you have said:
So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared:
18 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.
‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
19 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.”
Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”
20 “I have forgiven them as you asked,” the Lord replied.
“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied.
21 “But even so, as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord's glory,
“Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD,
22 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—
not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times—
23 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.
not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will see it.
24 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.
But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it.
25 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.”
Now since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”
26 The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
27 “How much longer are these wicked people going to criticize me? I've heard what they're saying, making complaints against me.
“How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me.
28 Go and tell them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, I'll do just what I heard you say you wanted, believe me!
So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.
29 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.
Your bodies will fall in this wilderness—all who were numbered in the census, everyone twenty years of age or older—because you have grumbled against Me.
30 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.
Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
31 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.
But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it.
32 But you—you are all going to die in this desert.
As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness.
33 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.
Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness.
34 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.
In keeping with the forty days you spied out the land, you shall bear your guilt forty years—a year for each day—and you will experience My alienation.
35 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.’”
I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this entire wicked congregation, which has conspired against Me. They will meet their end in the wilderness, and there they will die.”
36 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—
So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land—
37 those men who gave the bad report died before the Lord from plague.
those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.
38 The only ones who lived were Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh of those who went to explore the country.
Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
39 When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said they were very, very sad.
And when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly.
40 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.”
Early the next morning they got up and went up toward the ridge of the hill country. “We have indeed sinned,” they said, “but we will go to the place the LORD has promised.”
41 But Moses objected. “Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? You won't succeed in your plan!
But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed!
42 Don't try and go, otherwise you will be killed by your enemies, because the Lord isn't with you.
Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you.
43 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.”
For there the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, He will not be with you.”
44 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.
But they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of the LORD moved from the camp.
45 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.
Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.
