Numbers 14
1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said to them, O that we had died in the land of Egypt! or O that we had died in this wilderness!
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 hath the LORD brought us to 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 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 said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, [who were] of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
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 spoke to all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, [is] an exceeding good land.
and said to the whole congregation of Israel, “The land we passed through and explored is an exceedingly good land.
8 If the LORD delighteth in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which floweth 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 rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they [are] bread for us: their defense has departed from them, and the LORD [is] with us: fear them not.
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 But all the congregation required to stone them with stones: and the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children 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 the LORD said to 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 shown among them?
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 will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
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 said to the LORD, Then the Egyptians will hear [it], (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them; )
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 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 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 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 this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,
16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he hath slain 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, I beseech thee, let the power of my LORD be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared:
18 The LORD [is] long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and 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 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven 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 the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied.
21 But [as] truly [as] I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
“Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD,
22 Because all those men who 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;
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 Surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked 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 he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land into which he went; and his seed shall possess 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 (Now the Amalekites, and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To-morrow turn you, and pass into the wilderness, by 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 the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
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 this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me.
28 Say to them, [As truly as] I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in my ears, so will I do 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 shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old 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 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land [concerning] which I swore to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the 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 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.
But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it.
32 But [as for] you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness.
As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness.
33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your lewd deeds, until your carcasses shall be wasted 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 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.
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 the LORD have said, I will surely do it to all this evil congregation, that are gathered against me: in this wilderness, they shall be consumed, and there they shall 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 And the men whom Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing a slander upon 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 those men that brought the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.
those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, [who were] of the men that went to search the land, lived [still].
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 told these sayings to all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
And when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly.
40 And they rose early in the morning, and ascended to the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we [are here], and will go up to the place which the LORD hath promised: 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 said, Why now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.
But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed!
42 Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten 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 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.
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 But they presumed to go up to the hill-top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out 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 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, [even] 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.
