Numbers 14
1 Then everybody there cried out loud all night.
And so, crying out, the entire crowd wept throughout that night.
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!
And all the sons of Israel were murmuring against Moses and Aaron, saying:
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?”
“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?”
4 They said to one another, “Let's choose a new leader us and go back to Egypt.”
And they said to one another, “Let us appoint our leader, and so return to Egypt.”
5 Moses and Aaron fellfacedown on the ground in front of all the assembled Israelites.
And when Moses and Aaron heard this, they fell prone on the ground in the sight of the multitude of the sons 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,
Yet truly, Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who themselves had also viewed the land, tore their garments,
7 and told the Israelites, “The country we traveled through and explored has very good land.
and they said to the entire multitude of the sons of Israel: “The land that we circled through is very good.
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 will be gracious to us, he will lead us into it, and he will give us the land flowing with milk and honey.
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!”
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 All protection has withdrawn from them.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.”
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.
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.
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 disparage me? How long will they refuse to believe me, despite all the signs that I have wrought before 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.”
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.”
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.
And Moses said to the Lord: “But then the Egyptians, from whose midst you led out this people,
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 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,
15 If you kill all these people in one go, the nations who have heard about you will say,
may hear that you have killed so great a multitude, as if they were one man, and they may 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!’
‘He was not able to lead the people into the land about which he had sworn. Therefore, he slew them in the wilderness.’
17 Now, Lord, please demonstrate the extent of your power just as you have said:
Therefore, may the strength of the Lord be magnified, just as you swore, saying:
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 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.’
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.”
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.”
20 “I have forgiven them as you asked,” the Lord replied.
And the Lord said: “I have forgiven them according to your word.
21 “But even so, as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord's glory,
Also, as I live, the entire world shall be 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—
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,
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.
these shall not see the land, about which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who detracted me gaze upon 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.
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.
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.”
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.”
26 The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
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 very wicked multitude murmur against me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel.
28 Go and tell them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, I'll do just what I heard you say you wanted, believe me!
Therefore, say to them: As I live, says the Lord, as you spoke in my hearing, so will I do to you.
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.
In the wilderness, here shall your carcasses lie. All you who were numbered from twenty years and above, and who have murmured 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.
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.
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 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.
32 But you—you are all going to die in this desert.
Your carcasses shall lie in the 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 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.
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.
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.
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.’”
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.”
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—
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,
37 those men who gave the bad report died before the Lord from plague.
suffered death and were struck down in the sight of 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.
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.
39 When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said they were very, very sad.
And Moses spoke all these words to all the sons of Israel, and the people mourned exceedingly.
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.”
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.”
41 But Moses objected. “Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? You won't succeed in your plan!
And Moses said to them: “Why do you transgress the word of the Lord, merely because it will not result in prosperity for you?
42 Don't try and go, otherwise you will be killed by your enemies, because the Lord isn't with you.
Do not ascend, for the Lord is not with you, lest you be overthrown before your enemies.
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.”
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.”
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, 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.
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.
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.
