< Numbers 14 >
1 And all the congregation lifts up, and they give forth their voice, and the people weep during that night;
That night all the community wept loudly.
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 people of Israel criticized Moses and Aaron. The whole community said to them, “We wish we had died in the land of Egypt, or here 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 did Yahweh bring us to this land to die by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become victims. Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?”
4 And they say to one another, “Let us appoint a head and return to Egypt.”
They said to each another, “Let us choose another leader, and let us 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 lay facedown before all the assembly of the community of the people 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 some of those sent to examine 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;
They spoke to all the community of the people of Israel. They said, “The land that we passed through and examined is a very 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 Yahweh is pleased with us, then he will take us into this land and give it to us. The land flows 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.”
But do not rebel against Yahweh, and do not fear the people in the land, for they are bread to us. Their protection will be removed from them, because Yahweh is with us. Do not fear 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.
Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of Yahweh appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people 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?
Yahweh said to Moses, “How long must this people despise me? How long must they fail to trust me, despite all the signs of my power that I have done among them?
12 I strike it with pestilence, and dispossess it, and make you become a nation greater and mightier than it.”
I will attack them with plague, disinherit them, and make from your own clan a nation that will be 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,
Moses said to Yahweh, “If you do this, then the Egyptians will hear about it, because you rescued this people from them by your power.
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.
They will tell it to this land's inhabitants. They have heard that you, Yahweh, are present with this people, because you are seen face to face. Your cloud stands over our people. You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in 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,
Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations that have heard of your fame will speak and 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 Yahweh could not take this people into the land that he swore to give them, he has killed them in the wilderness.'
17 And now, please let the power of my Lord be great, as You have spoken, saying,
Now, I beg you, use your great power. For you have said,
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]—
'Yahweh is slow to anger and abundant in covenant faithfulness. He forgives iniquity and transgression. He will by no means clear the guilty when he brings the punishment of the ancestors' sin on their descendants, 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 plead with you, this people's sin because of the greatness of your covenant faithfulness, just as you have always forgiven this people from the time they were in Egypt until now.”
20 And YHWH says, “I have forgiven according to your word,
Yahweh said, “I have pardoned them in keeping with your request,
21 but nevertheless, as I live, indeed, the whole earth is filled [with] the glory of YHWH,
but truly, as I live, and as all the earth will be filled with my glory,
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—
all those people who saw my glory and the signs of power that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness—they have still tempted me these ten times and have not listened to my voice.
23 they do not see the land which I have sworn to their fathers, indeed, none of those despising Me see it;
So I say that they will certainly not see the land about which I made an oath to their ancestors. Not one of them who despised me 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.
except for my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit. He has followed me fully; I will bring him into the land which he went to examine. His descendants will 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.”
(Now the Amalekites and Canaanites lived in the valley.) Tomorrow turn and go to the wilderness by the way of the Sea of Reeds.”
26 And YHWH speaks to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron. He said,
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 must I tolerate this evil community that criticizes me? I have heard the complaining of the people of Israel 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?
Say to them, 'As I live,' says Yahweh, 'as you have spoken in my hearing, I will do this 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;
Your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, all you who complained against me, you who were counted in the census, the whole number of the people from twenty years old and upward.
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 will certainly not go into the land that I promised to make your home, 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 your little ones who you said would be victims, I will take them into the land. They will experience the land that you have rejected!
32 as for you—your carcasses fall in this wilderness,
As for you, your dead 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. They must bear the consequences of your acts of rebellion until the end of your corpses 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;
Just as the number of the days during which you examined the land—forty days, you must likewise bear the consequences of your sins for forty years—one year for every day, and you must know what it is like for me to oppose you.
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, Yahweh, have spoken. I will certainly do this to all this evil community that is gathered together against me. They will be completely cut off, and here 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 sent to spy out the land, who returned and made the entire community grumble against Moses by spreading 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;
these men who had brought out a bad report about the land were struck down, and they died of a plague before Yahweh.
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,
When Moses reported these words to all the people of Israel, they mourned very deeply.
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.”
They rose up early in the morning and went to the top of the mountain and said, “Look, we are here, and we will go to the place that Yahweh has promised, for we have sinned.”
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 now violating Yahweh's command? You 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, because Yahweh is not with you to prevent you from being defeated by 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 Amalekites and Canaanites are there, and you will die by the sword because you turned back from following Yahweh. So 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 presumed to go up into the hill country; however, neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of Yahweh left 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 came down, and also the Canaanites who lived on those hills. They attacked the Israelites and defeated them all the way to Hormah.