Numbers 14
1 And all the congregation lifts up, and they give forth their voice, and the people weep during that night;
And so, crying out, the entire crowd wept throughout that night.
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!
And all the sons of Israel were murmuring against Moses and Aaron, saying:
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?”
“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 And they say to one another, “Let us appoint a head and return to Egypt.”
And they said to one another, “Let us appoint our leader, and so return to Egypt.”
5 And Moses falls—Aaron also—on their faces, before all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.
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 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, of those spying out the land, have torn their garments,
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 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 they said to the entire multitude of the sons of Israel: “The land that we circled through is very good.
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 will be gracious to us, he will lead us into it, and he will give us the land flowing with milk and honey.
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.”
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 All protection has withdrawn from them.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 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.
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 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 disparage me? How long will they refuse to believe me, despite all the signs that I have wrought before them?
12 I strike it with pestilence, and dispossess it, and make you become a nation greater and mightier than it.”
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 And Moses says to YHWH, “Then the Egyptians have heard! For with Your power You have brought up this people out of their midst,
And Moses said to the Lord: “But then the Egyptians, from whose midst you led out this people,
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 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 And You have put to death this people as one man, and the nations who have heard Your fame have spoken, saying,
may hear that you have killed so great a multitude, as if they were one man, and they may 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.
‘He was not able to lead the people into the land about which he had sworn. Therefore, he slew them in the wilderness.’
17 And now, please let the power of my Lord be great, as You have spoken, saying,
Therefore, may the strength of the Lord be magnified, just as you swore, saying:
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 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 iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Your kindness, and as You have borne with this people from Egypt, even 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 And YHWH says, “I have forgiven according to your word,
And the Lord said: “I have forgiven them according to your word.
21 but nevertheless, as I live, indeed, the whole earth is filled [with] the glory of YHWH,
Also, as I live, the entire world shall be 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—
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 they do not see the land which I have sworn to their fathers, indeed, none of those despising Me 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 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.
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 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.”
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 And YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
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 very wicked multitude murmur against me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel.
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?
Therefore, say to them: As I live, says the Lord, as you spoke in my hearing, so will I do to you.
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;
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 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.
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 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 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 as for you—your carcasses fall in this wilderness,
Your carcasses shall lie in the 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 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 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;
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, 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.”
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 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,
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 even the men bringing out an evil account of the land, they die by the plague before YHWH;
suffered death and were struck down in the sight of 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.
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 And Moses speaks these words to all the sons of Israel, and the people mourn exceedingly,
And Moses spoke all these words to all the sons of Israel, and the people mourned exceedingly.
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.”
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 And Moses says, “Why [is] this [that] you are transgressing the command of YHWH? For it does not prosper;
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 do not go up, for YHWH is not in your midst, and you are not struck before your enemies;
Do not ascend, for the Lord is not with you, lest you be overthrown before your enemies.
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.”
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 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, 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 And the Amalekite and the Canaanite who are dwelling in that mountain come down and strike them, and beat them down 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.
