Numbers 14
1 And all the company lifteth up and give forth their voice, and the people weep during that night;
Then everybody there cried out loud all night.
2 and all the sons of Israel murmur against Moses, and against Aaron, and all the company say unto them, 'O that we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness, O that we had died!
All the Israelites went and complained to Moses and Aaron, telling them, “If only we'd died in Egypt, or here in this desert!
3 and why is Jehovah bringing us in unto this land to fall by the sword? our wives and our infants are become a prey; is it not good for us to turn back to Egypt?'
Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to get us killed? Our wives and children will be captured and taken away as slaves! Wouldn't we be better off going back to Egypt?”
4 And they say one unto another, 'Let us appoint a head, and turn back to Egypt.'
They said to one another, “Let's choose a new leader us and go back to Egypt.”
5 And Moses falleth — Aaron also — on their faces, before all the assembly of the company of the sons of Israel.
Moses and Aaron fellfacedown on the ground in front of all the assembled Israelites.
6 And Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, of those spying the land, have rent their garments,
Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, were there. They had been part of the group who had gone to spy out the land. They ripped their clothes,
7 and they speak unto all the company of the sons of Israel, saying, 'The land into which we have passed over to spy it, [is] a very very good land;
and told the Israelites, “The country we traveled through and explored has very good land.
8 if Jehovah hath delighted in us, then He hath brought us in unto this land, and hath given it to us, a land which is flowing with milk and honey;
If the Lord is happy with us, he will take us there and give it to us, a land that's so productive it's like flowing with milk and honey.
9 only, against Jehovah rebel not ye: and ye, fear not ye the people of the land, for our bread they [are]; their defence hath turned aside from off them, and Jehovah [is] with us; fear them not.'
Don't rebel and fight against the Lord. You don't need to be afraid of the people living there in the country—we can take them easily! They're defenseless and the Lord is with us. Don't be frightened of them!”
10 And all the company say to stone them with stones, and the honour of Jehovah hath appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the sons of Israel.
In reply all the people shouted out, “Stone them!” But the glory of the Lord suddenly appeared in the Tent of Meeting, right in the middle of the Israelites.
11 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Until when doth this people despise Me? and until when do they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have done in its midst?
The Lord told Moses, “How long are these people going to reject me? How long are these people going to refuse to trust in me despite all the miracles I have done right in front of them?
12 I smite it with pestilence, and dispossess it, and make thee become a nation greater and mightier than it.'
I'm going to make them sick with a disease and kill them. Then I will make you into a nation that's greater and strong than them.”
13 And Moses saith unto Jehovah, 'Then have the Egyptians heard! for Thou hast brought up with Thy power this people out of their midst,
But Moses told the Lord, “The Egyptians will find out about it! It was by your power that you led the Israelites out from among them.
14 and they have said [it] unto the inhabitant of this land, they have heard that Thou, Jehovah, [art] in the midst of this people, that eye to eye Thou art seen — O Jehovah, and Thy cloud is standing over them, — and in a pillar of cloud Thou art going before them by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.
They will tell the people living in this country all about it. They've already heard that you, Lord, are with us Israelites, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands guard over them, and that you lead them by a pillar of cloud during day and a pillar of fire at night.
15 'And Thou hast put to death this people as one man, and the nations who have heard Thy fame have spoken, saying,
If you kill all these people in one go, the nations who have heard about you will say,
16 From Jehovah's want of ability to bring in this people unto the land which He hath sworn to them — He doth slaughter them in the wilderness.
‘The Lord killed these people in the desert because he wasn't able to take them to the country he promised to give them. He's killed them all in desert!’
17 'And now, let, I pray Thee, the power of my Lord be great, as Thou hast spoken, saying:
Now, Lord, please demonstrate the extent of your power just as you have said:
18 Jehovah [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 [generation], and on a fourth; —
The Lord is slow to become angry and is full of trustworthy love, forgiving sin and rebellion. However, he will not allow the guilty to go unpunished, bringing the consequences of the parents' sin on their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
19 forgive, I pray Thee, the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Thy kindness, and as Thou hast borne with this people from Egypt, even until now.'
Please forgive the sin of these people since your trustworthy love is so great, in the same way that you have forgiven them from the time they left Egypt until now.”
20 And Jehovah saith, 'I have forgiven, according to thy word;
“I have forgiven them as you asked,” the Lord replied.
21 and yet, I live — and it is filled — the whole earth — [with] the honour of Jehovah;
“But even so, as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord's glory,
22 for all the men who are seeing My honour, and My signs, which I have done in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and try Me these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice —
not a single one of the those who saw my glory and the miracles I did in Egypt and in the desert—but provoked me and refused to obey me time and time again—
23 they see not the land which I have sworn to their fathers, yea, none of those despising Me see it;
not a single one of them is ever going to see the country I promised to give their forefathers. None of those who rejected me will see it.
24 and My servant Caleb, because there hath been another spirit with him, and he is fully after Me — I have brought him in unto the land whither he hath entered, and his seed doth possess it.
But because my servant Caleb has a totally different spirit and is fully committed to me, I will lead him to the country he visited, and his descendants will own it.
25 'And the Amalekite and the Canaanite are dwelling in the valley; to-morrow turn ye and journey for yourselves into the wilderness — the way of the Red Sea.'
Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, tomorrow you are to turn around and head back into the desert, taking the route towards the Red Sea.”
26 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying,
The Lord told Moses and Aaron,
27 'Until when hath this evil company that which they are murmuring against Me? the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against Me, I have heard;
“How much longer are these wicked people going to criticize me? I've heard what they're saying, making complaints against me.
28 say unto them, I live — an affirmation of Jehovah — if, as ye have spoken in Mine ears — so I do not to you;
Go and tell them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, I'll do just what I heard you say you wanted, believe me!
29 in this wilderness do your carcases fall, even all your numbered ones, to all your number, from a son of twenty years and upward, who have murmured against Me;
All of you will die in this desert, everyone who was registered in the census that counted those aged twenty or over, because you made complaints against me.
30 ye — ye come not in unto the land which I have lifted up My hand to cause you to tabernacle in it, except Caleb son of Jephunneh, and Joshua son of Nun.
Absolutely none of you will enter the country I promised to give you to live in, except for Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun.
31 'As to your infants — of whom ye have said, A spoil they are become — I have even brought them in, and they have known the land which ye have kicked against;
However, I will take your children—those you said would be taken away as plunder—into the country you rejected, and they will appreciate it.
32 as to you — your carcases do fall in this wilderness,
But you—you are all going to die in this desert.
33 and your sons are evil in the wilderness forty years, and have borne your whoredoms till your carcases are consumed in the wilderness;
Your children will wander in the desert for forty years, suffering because of your lack of trust until all your bodies lie buried in the desert.
34 by the number of the days [in] which ye spied the land, forty days, — a day for a year, a day for a year — ye do bear your iniquities, forty years, and ye have known my breaking off;
Just as you explored the country for forty days, so shall your punishment for your sins be forty years, a year for every day, and you will see what happens when I oppose you.
35 I [am] Jehovah, I have spoken; if I do not this to all this evil company who are meeting against me; — in this wilderness they are consumed, and there they die.'
I, the Lord, have spoken! Just see if I won't do this to all these wicked Israelites who have got together to oppose me! They will end their lives in the desert—they will die there.’”
36 And the men whom Moses hath sent to spy the land, and they turn back and cause all the company to murmur against him, by bringing out an evil account concerning the land,
The men that Moses had sent to explore the country—those who came back and because they gave a bad report they made all the Israelites complain against the Lord—
37 even the men bringing out an evil account of the land die by the plague before Jehovah;
those men who gave the bad report died before the Lord from plague.
38 and Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, have lived of those men who go to spy out the land.
The only ones who lived were Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh of those who went to explore the country.
39 And Moses speaketh these words unto all the sons of Israel, and the people mourn exceedingly,
When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said they were very, very sad.
40 and they rise early in the morning, and go up unto the top of the mountain, saying, 'Here we [are], and we have come up unto the place which Jehovah hath spoken of, for we have sinned.'
They got up early the next morning planning to go into the hill country. “Yes we really did sin,” they said, “but now we're here and we'll go where the Lord told us.”
41 And Moses saith, 'Why [is] this? — ye are transgressing the command of Jehovah, and it doth not prosper;
But Moses objected. “Why are you disobeying the Lord's command? You won't succeed in your plan!
42 go not up, for Jehovah is not in your midst, and ye are not smitten before your enemies;
Don't try and go, otherwise you will be killed by your enemies, because the Lord isn't with you.
43 for the Amalekite and the Canaanite [are] there before you, and ye have fallen by the sword, because that ye have turned back from after Jehovah, and Jehovah is not with you.'
The Amalekites and Canaanites living there will attack you, and you will die by the sword. Because you rejected the Lord, he won't help you.”
44 And they presume to go up unto the top of the mountain, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and Moses have not departed out of the midst of the camp.
But they were arrogant and went up into the hill country, even though Moses and the Ark of the Lord's Agreement didn't move from the camp.
45 And the Amalekite and the Canaanite who are dwelling in that mountain come down and smite them, and beat them down — unto Hormah.
The Amalekites and Canaanites who lived there in the hill country came down and attacked the Israelites and defeated them, and chased them all the way to Hormah.
