Liber Numeri 14
1 Igitur vociferans omnis turba flevit nocte illa,
Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
2 et murmurati sunt contra Moysen et Aaron cuncti filii Israël, dicentes:
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 Utinam mortui essemus in Ægypto: et in hac vasta solitudine utinam pereamus, et non inducat nos Dominus in terram istam, ne cadamus gladio, et uxores ac liberi nostri ducantur captivi. Nonne melius est reverti in Ægyptum?
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 Dixeruntque alter ad alterum: Constituamus nobis ducem, et revertamur in Ægyptum.
So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
5 Quo audito, Moyses et Aaron ceciderunt proni in terram coram omni multitudine filiorum Israël.
Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel.
6 At vero Josue filius Nun et Caleb filius Jephone, qui et ipsi lustraverant terram, sciderunt vestimenta sua,
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
7 et ad omnem multitudinem filiorum Israël locuti sunt: Terra, quam circuivimus, valde bona est.
and said to the whole congregation of Israel, “The land we passed through and explored is an exceedingly good land.
8 Si propitius fuerit Dominus, inducet nos in eam, et tradet humum lacte et melle manantem.
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 Nolite rebelles esse contra Dominum: neque timeatis populum terræ hujus, quia sicut panem ita eos possumus devorare. Recessit ab eis omne præsidium: Dominus nobiscum est, nolite metuere.
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 Cumque clamaret omnis multitudo, et lapidibus eos vellet opprimere, apparuit gloria Domini super tectum fœderis cunctis filiis Israël.
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 Et dixit Dominus ad Moysen: Usquequo detrahet mihi populus iste? quousque non credent mihi, in omnibus signis quæ feci coram eis?
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 Feriam igitur eos pestilentia, atque consumam: te autem faciam principem super gentem magnam, et fortiorem quam hæc est.
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 Et ait Moyses ad Dominum: Ut audiant Ægyptii, de quorum medio eduxisti populum istum,
But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.
14 et habitatores terræ hujus, qui audierunt quod tu, Domine, in populo isto sis, et facie videaris ad faciem, et nubes tua protegat illos, et in columna nubis præcedas eos per diem, et in columna ignis per noctem:
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 quod occideris tantam multitudinem quasi unum hominem, et dicant:
If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,
16 Non poterat introducere populum in terram pro qua juraverat: idcirco occidit eos in solitudine?
‘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 Magnificetur ergo fortitudo Domini sicut jurasti, dicens:
So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared:
18 Dominus patiens et multæ misericordiæ, auferens iniquitatem et scelera, nullumque innoxium derelinquens, qui visitas peccata patrum in filios in tertiam et quartam generationem.
‘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 Dimitte, obsecro, peccatum populi hujus secundum magnitudinem misericordiæ tuæ, sicut propitius fuisti egredientibus de Ægypto usque ad locum istum.
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 Dixitque Dominus: Dimisi juxta verbum tuum.
“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied.
21 Vivo ego: et implebitur gloria Domini universa terra.
“Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD,
22 Attamen omnes homines qui viderunt majestatem meam, et signa quæ feci in Ægypto et in solitudine, et tentaverunt me jam per decem vices, nec obedierunt voci meæ,
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 non videbunt terram pro qua juravi patribus eorum, nec quisquam ex illis qui detraxit mihi, intuebitur eam.
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 Servum meum Caleb, qui plenus alio spiritu secutus est me, inducam in terram hanc, quam circuivit; et semen ejus possidebit eam.
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 Quoniam Amalecites et Chananæus habitant in vallibus. Cras movete castra, et revertimini in solitudinem per viam maris Rubri.
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 Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen et Aaron, dicens:
Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
27 Usquequo multitudo hæc pessima murmurat contra me? querelas filiorum Israël audivi.
“How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me.
28 Dic ergo eis: Vivo ego, ait Dominus: sicut locuti estis audiente me, sic faciam vobis.
So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.
29 In solitudine hac jacebunt cadavera vestra. Omnes qui numerati estis a viginti annis et supra, et murmurastis contra 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 non intrabitis terram, super quam levavi manum meam ut habitare vos facerem, præter Caleb filium Jephone, et Josue filium 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 Parvulos autem vestros, de quibus dixistis quod prædæ hostibus forent, introducam, ut videant terram, quæ vobis displicuit.
But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it.
32 Vestra cadavera jacebunt in solitudine.
As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness.
33 Filii vestri erunt vagi in deserto annis quadraginta, et portabunt fornicationem vestram, donec consumantur cadavera patrum in deserto,
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 juxta numerum quadraginta dierum, quibus considerastis terram: annus pro die imputabitur. Et quadraginta annis recipietis iniquitates vestras, et scietis ultionem meam:
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 quoniam sicut locutus sum, ita faciam omni multitudini huic pessimæ, quæ consurrexit adversum me: in solitudine hac deficiet, et morietur.
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 Igitur omnes viri, quos miserat Moyses ad contemplandam terram, et qui reversi murmurare fecerant contra eum omnem multitudinem, detrahentes terræ quod esset mala,
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 mortui sunt atque percussi in conspectu Domini.
those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.
38 Josue autem filius Nun, et Caleb filius Jephone, vixerunt ex omnibus qui perrexerant ad considerandam terram.
Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
39 Locutusque est Moyses universa verba hæc ad omnes filios Israël, et luxit populus nimis.
And when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly.
40 Et ecce mane primo surgentes ascenderunt verticem montis, atque dixerunt: Parati sumus ascendere ad locum, de quo Dominus locutus est: quia peccavimus.
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 Quibus Moyses: Cur, inquit, transgredimini verbum Domini, quod vobis non cedet in prosperum?
But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed!
42 nolite ascendere: non enim est Dominus vobiscum: ne corruatis coram inimicis vestris.
Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you.
43 Amalecites et Chananæus ante vos sunt, quorum gladio corruetis, eo quod nolueritis acquiescere Domino: nec erit Dominus vobiscum.
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 At illi contenebrati ascenderunt in verticem montis. Arca autem testamenti Domini et Moyses non recesserunt de castris.
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 Descenditque Amalecites et Chananæus, qui habitabat in monte: et percutiens eos atque concidens, persecutus est eos usque Horma.
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.
