Numbers 14
1 And all the congregation lifts up, and they give forth their voice, and the people weep during that night;
Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
2 and all the sons of Israel murmur against Moses and against Aaron, and all the congregation says to them, “O that we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness, O that we had died!
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 And why is YHWH bringing us to this land to fall by the sword, [that] our wives and our infants become a prey? Is it not good for us to return 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 And they say to one another, “Let us appoint a head and return to Egypt.”
So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
5 And Moses falls—Aaron also—on their faces, before all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.
Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel.
6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, of those spying out the land, have torn their garments,
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
7 and they speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land into which we have passed over to spy it out [is] a very, 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 YHWH has delighted in us, then He has brought us into this land, and has given it to us, a land which is 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 only, do not rebel against YHWH: and you, do not fear the people of the land, for they [are] our bread; their defense has turned aside from off them, and YHWH [is] with us; do not fear 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 And all the congregation says to stone them with stones, and the glory of YHWH has appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the sons of Israel.
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 And YHWH says to Moses, “Until when does this people despise Me? And until when do they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have done in its midst?
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 strike it with pestilence, and dispossess it, and make you become a nation greater and mightier than it.”
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 And Moses says to YHWH, “Then the Egyptians have heard! For with Your power You have brought up this people out of their midst,
But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.
14 and they have said [it] to the inhabitant of this land, they have heard that You, YHWH, [are] in the midst of this people, that You are seen eye to eye—O YHWH, and Your cloud is standing over them—and in a pillar of cloud You are going before them by day, and in a pillar of fire by 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 And You have put to death this people as one man, and the nations who have heard Your fame have spoken, saying,
If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,
16 From YHWH’s want of ability to bring in this people to the land which He has sworn to them, He slaughters them in the wilderness.
‘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 And now, please let the power of my Lord be great, as You have spoken, saying,
So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared:
18 YHWH [is] slow to anger and of great kindness, bearing away iniquity and transgression, and not entirely acquitting, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on a third and on a fourth [generation]—
‘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 iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Your kindness, and as You have borne with this people from Egypt, even 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 And YHWH says, “I have forgiven according to your word,
“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied.
21 but nevertheless, as I live, indeed, the whole earth is filled [with] the glory of YHWH,
“Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD,
22 for all the men who are seeing My glory and My signs which I have done in Egypt and in the wilderness, and try Me these ten times, and have not listened to My voice—
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 they do not see the land which I have sworn to their fathers, indeed, none of those despising Me 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 My servant Caleb, because there has been another spirit with him, and he is fully after Me—I have brought him into the land to where he has entered, and his seed possesses 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 And the Amalekite and the Canaanite are dwelling in the valley; tomorrow turn and journey for yourselves into the wilderness—the way of 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 And YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
27 “Until when [do I bear] with this evil congregation—they who are murmuring against Me? The murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against Me, I have heard;
“How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me.
28 say to them: As I live—a declaration of YHWH—if, as you have spoken in My ears, do I not do so to you?
So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.
29 Your carcasses fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered ones, to all your number, from a son of twenty years and upward, who have murmured 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 you do not come into the land [for] which I have lifted up My hand to cause you to dwell in it, except 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 As for your infants—of whom you have said, They become a spoil—I have even brought them in, and they have known the land which you have kicked against;
But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it.
32 as for you—your carcasses fall in this wilderness,
As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness.
33 and your sons are shepherding in the wilderness [for] forty years, and have borne your whoredoms until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness;
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 by the number of the days [in] which you spied out the land, forty days—a day for a year, a day for a year—you bear your iniquities [for] forty years, and you have known My opposition;
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, YHWH, have spoken; if, nonetheless, I do this to all this evil congregation who are meeting against Me—they are consumed in this wilderness, and there they die.”
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 Then the men whom Moses has sent to spy out the land, [who] then return and cause all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing out an evil account concerning the land,
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 even the men bringing out an evil account of the land, they die by the plague before YHWH;
those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.
38 and Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh have lived, of those men who go to spy out the land.
Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
39 And Moses speaks these words to all the sons of Israel, and the people mourn exceedingly,
And when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly.
40 and they rise early in the morning, and go up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Here we [are], and we have come up to the place which YHWH has spoken of, for we have sinned.”
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 And Moses says, “Why [is] this [that] you are transgressing the command of YHWH? For it does not prosper;
But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed!
42 do not go up, for YHWH is not in your midst, and you are not struck before your enemies;
Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you.
43 for the Amalekite and the Canaanite [are] there before you, and you have fallen by the sword, because that you have turned back from after YHWH, and YHWH is not with 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 And they presume to go up to the top of the mountain, but the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH, and Moses, have not departed out of the midst of 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 And the Amalekite and the Canaanite who are dwelling in that mountain come down and strike them, and beat them down 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.
