Numbers 14
1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
That night, all the Israeli people cried loudly.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
The next day they all complained to Aaron and Moses/me. All the men said, “We wish that we had died in Egypt, or in this desert!
3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
Why is Yahweh bringing us to this land, where we men will be killed with swords? And our wives and children will be taken away [to be slaves]. [Instead of going to Canaan]. It would be better for us to return to Egypt!”
4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
Then [some of] them said to each other, “We should choose a leader who will take us back to Egypt!”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
Then Aaron and Moses/I bowed down [to pray] in front of all the Israeli people who had gathered there.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, [which were] of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
Joshua and Caleb, two of the men who had explored the land, tore their clothes [because they were very dismayed].
7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, [is] an exceeding good land.
They said to the Israeli people, “The land that we explored is very good.
8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
If Yahweh is pleased with us, he will lead us into that very fertile [IDM] land, and he will give it to us.
9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they [are] bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD [is] with us: fear them not.
So do not rebel against Yahweh! And do not be afraid of the people in that land! We will (gobble them up/completely destroy them) [MET]! They do not have anyone who will protect them, but Yahweh will be with us [and help us]. So do not be afraid of them!”
10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
Then all the Israeli people talked about [killing Caleb and Joshua by] throwing stones at them. But [suddenly] Yahweh’s glory appeared to them at the Sacred Tent.
11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “How long will these people reject me [RHQ]? I am tired of them not believing in what I [can do], in spite of all the miracles I have performed among them [RHQ]!
12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
So I will cause a (plague/widespread sickness) to strike them and get rid of them. But I will cause your [descendants] to become a great nation. They will be a nation that is much greater and stronger than these people are.”
13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear [it], (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them; )
But Moses/I replied to Yahweh, “[Please do not do that, because] the people of Egypt will hear about it! You brought these Israeli people from Egypt by your great power,
14 And they will tell [it] to the inhabitants of this land: [for] they have heard that thou LORD [art] among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and [that] thy cloud standeth over them, and [that] thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
and the people of Egypt will tell that to the [descendants of Canaan] who live in this land. Yahweh, they have already heard about you. They know that you have (been with/helped) these people and that they have seen you face-to-face. They have heard that your cloud is like a huge pillar that stays over them, and by using that cloud you lead them during the day, and the cloud becomes like a fire at night [to give them light].
15 Now [if] thou shalt kill [all] this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
If you kill these people all at one time, the people-groups who have heard about your [power] will say,
16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
‘Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land that he promised to give to them, so he killed them in the desert.’
17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
“So Yahweh, now show that you are very powerful. You said,
18 The LORD [is] longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation].
‘I do not quickly become angry; instead, I love people very much, and I forgive people for having sinned and having disobeyed my laws. But I will always punish [LIT] people who are guilty of doing what is wrong. When parents sin, I will punish them, but I will also punish their children and their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren and their great-great-grandchildren.’
19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
So, because you love people like that, forgive these people for the sins that they have committed, just like you have continued to forgive them ever since they left Egypt.”
20 And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
Then Yahweh replied, “I have forgiven them, as you requested me to.
21 But [as] truly [as] I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
But, just as certainly as I live and that people all over the world [can see] my (glory/glorious power), [I solemnly declare this: ]
22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
All these people saw my glory and all the miracles that I performed in Egypt and in the desert, but they disobeyed me, and many times they tested [whether they could continue to do evil things without my punishing them].
23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
Because of that, not one of them will see the land that I promised their ancestors [that I would give to them]. No one who rejected me will see that land.
24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
But Caleb, who serves me [well], is different from the others. He obeys me completely. So I will bring him into that land that he has already seen, and his descendants will inherit/possess some of it.
25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
So, since the descendants of Amalek and Canaan who are living in the valleys [in Canaan are very strong], when you leave here tomorrow, [instead of traveling toward Canaan], go back along the road through the desert towards the Red Sea.”
26 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
Then Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,
27 How long [shall I bear with] this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
“How long will the wicked people of this nation keep complaining about me [RHQ]? I have heard everything that they have grumbled/complained against me.
28 Say unto them, [ As truly as] I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
So now tell them this: ‘Just as certainly as I, Yahweh, live, I will do exactly what you said would happen.
29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,
[I will cause] all of you to die here in this desert! Because you grumbled about me, none of you who are more than 20 years old and who were counted when Moses counted everyone
30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, [concerning] which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
will enter the land that I solemnly promised to give to you. Only Caleb and Joshua will enter that land.
31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
You said that your children would be taken from you [to become slaves], but I will take them into the land, and they will enjoy living in the land that you (rejected/said that you could not conquer).
32 But [as for] you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.
But as for you [adults], you will die here 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.
And like shepherds [wander around in the desert as they take care of their sheep], your children will wander around in this desert for 40 years. Because you adults were not loyal/faithful to me, your children will suffer until you all die in the desert.
34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, [even] forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, [even] forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
You will suffer for your sins for 40 years. That will be one year for each of the 40 days that the twelve men explored Canaan land. And I will be like an enemy to you.’
35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
[This will certainly happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it! I will do these things to every one in this group who conspired against me. They (conspired against/decided together to reject) me here in the desert, and they will all die right here in this desert!”
36 And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,
Then the ten men [who had explored Canaan and] who had urged the people to rebel against Yahweh by giving reports that discouraged the people
37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
were immediately struck with a plague/disease that Yahweh sent, and they died.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, [which were] of the men that went to search the land, lived [still].
Of the twelve men who had explored Canaan, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.
39 And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
When Moses/I reported to the Israeli people what Yahweh had said, many of them were very sad.
40 And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we [be here], and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.
So the people got up early the next morning and started to go toward the hilly area in Canaan. They said, “[We know that] we have sinned, but now we [are ready to] enter the land that Yahweh promised to give to us.”
41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.
But Moses/I said, “Yahweh commanded you [to return to the desert, so] why are you now disobeying him [RHQ]? It will not (succeed/be possible).
42 Go not up, for the LORD [is] not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.
Do not try to enter the land now! [If you try], your enemies will defeat you, because Yahweh will not (be with/help) you.
43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites [are] there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.
When you begin to fight the descendants of Amalek and Canaan, they will slaughter you! Yahweh will abandon you, because you have abandoned him.”
44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
But even though Moses/I did not leave the camp, and the sacred chest that contained the Ten Commandments was not taken from the camp, the people began to go towards the hilly area in Canaan.
45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, [even] unto Hormah.
Then the descendants of Amalek and Canaan who lived in that hilly area came down and attacked them and chased them as far [south] as [the town of] Hormah.
