Numbers 14

1 Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.

2 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 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 So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel.

6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes

7 and said to the whole congregation of Israel, “The land we passed through and explored is an exceedingly good land.

8 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 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 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 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 strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”

13 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. 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 If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,

16 ‘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 So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared:

18 ‘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 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 “I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied.

21 “Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD,

22 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 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 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 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 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,

27 “How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me.

28 So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say.

29 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 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 I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it.

32 As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness.

33 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 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 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 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 those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.

38 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 when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly.

40 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 But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed!

42 Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you.

43 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 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 and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.

1 ¶ And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto 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?

4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

5 ¶ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, [which were] of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:

7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, [is] an exceeding good land.

8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they [are] bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD [is] with us: fear them not.

10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

11 ¶ And the LORD said unto 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 shewed 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.

13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear [it], (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might 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.

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,

16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.

17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,

18 The LORD [is] longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation].

19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

20 ¶ And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:

21 But [as] truly [as] I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.

22 Because all those men which 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;

23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me 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 whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

26 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

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.

28 Say unto them, [As truly as] I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,

30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, [concerning] which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the 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.

32 But [as for] you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.

33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted 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.

35 I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

36 ¶ And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,

37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.

38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, [which were] of the men that went to search the land, lived [still].

39 And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.

40 And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we [be here], and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.

41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.

42 Go not up, for the LORD [is] not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.

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.

44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.

45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, [even] unto Hormah.

1 And all the congregation rose up, and cried, and the people wept all night.

2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron: and all the congregation said unto them: Oh that we had died in the land of Egypt, or had died in this wilderness!

3 Doth the LORD bring us into this land, that our wives should fall by the sword, and our children be a prey? Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?

4 And one said unto another: Let us raise up a captain, and go again into Egypt.

5 And Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the congregation of the children of Israel.

6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which had also searched the land, rent their clothes.

7 And they said unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, To search the land which we have passed through is very good.

8 If the LORD be gracious unto us, he will bring us into the same land, and give us a land flowing with milk and honey.

9 Fall not away from the LORD, neither be afraid of the people of this land: for we will eat them as bread. Their protection is gone from them: but the LORD is with us. Fear them not.

10 And all the people said that they should be stoned. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation unto all the children of Israel.

11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will the people blaspheme me, and how long will they not believe on me by all the signs which I have done among them?

12 Then will I smite them with pestilence, and destroy them, and make thee a greater and mightier nation than this.

13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Thus shall the Egyptians hear: for thou hast brought this people out of the midst of them by thy strength.

14 And it shall be said unto the inhabitants of this land, which have heard that thou, O LORD, art among this people, that thou art seen face to face, and thy cloud is upon them, and thou, O LORD, goest before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night;

15 And if thou shouldest slay this people as a man, the heathen that hear such a cry from thee shall say, saying:

16 The LORD could not bring the people into the land which he sware unto them: therefore he slew them in the wilderness.

17 Now therefore let the power of the LORD be great, as thou hast said, saying:

18 The LORD is patient, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and leaving none unpunished, but visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

19 Now therefore, according to thy great mercy, be gracious unto the iniquity of this people, as thou hast graciously forgiven this people out of Egypt unto this day.

20 And the LORD said: I have forgiven, as thou hast said.

21 But as truly as I live, so shall all the earth be filled with the glory of the LORD.

22 For all the men that have seen my glory, and my signs, which I did in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and have tempted me ten times, and have not obeyed my voice,

23 Whose eyes shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any see it; he that blasphemed me.

24 But my servant Caleb, because another spirit is with him, and he hath followed me faithfully, him will I bring into the land whither he came, and his seed shall possess it,

25 And the Amalekites and the Canaanites, which dwell in the valley. Tomorrow turn ye, and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

26 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:

27 How long will this wicked company murmur against me? For I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they have murmured against me.

28 Say therefore unto them, As I live, saith the LORD, I will do unto you as ye have said in mine ears.

29 Your bodies shall perish in this wilderness, and all ye that are numbered twenty years and upward, which have murmured against me,

30 Ye shall not come into the land, whereon I have lifted up mine hand to let you dwell therein, without Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

31 Your children, of whom ye said, They shall be a spoil; them will I bring in, that they may know the land which ye have rejected.

32 But ye and your bodies shall perish in this wilderness.

33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your bodies be all in the wilderness.

34 According to the number of the forty days wherein ye have searched the land, every day shall be a year, to bear your iniquity forty years, that ye may know what it is, when I take away my hand.

35 I the LORD have said, and I will do it unto all this wicked company, which have rebelled against me. In this wilderness shall they all be, and there shall they die.

36 So all the men which Moses sent to search the land died in the plague before the LORD, and returned, and made all the congregation murmur against it,

37 That they might make a noise unto the land, that it was evil.

38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive out of the men that went to search the land.

39 And Moses spake these words unto all the children of Israel. Then the people mourned greatly,

40 And they rose up early in the morning, and went up into the height of the mountains, and said: Here are we, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath spoken of: for we have sinned.

41 And Moses said, Wherefore then do ye transgress the word of the LORD? Ye shall not prosper.

42 Go not up, for the LORD is not among you: lest ye be smitten before your enemies.

43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword, because ye have turned from the LORD: and the LORD shall not be with you.

44 But they were unwilling to go up to the top of the mountain. But the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, came not out of the camp.

45 And the Amalekites and the Canaanites that dwelt in the mount came down, and smote them, and brake them in pieces, even unto Horma.