Numbers 14

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

That night, all the Israeli people cried loudly.

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

The next day they all complained to Aaron and Moses/me. All the men said, “We wish that we had died in Egypt, or in this desert!

3 And wherefore doth Jehovah bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey: were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

Why is Yahweh bringing us to this land, where we men will be killed with swords? And our wives and children will be taken away [to be slaves]. [Instead of going to Canaan]. It would be better for us to return to Egypt!”

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

Then [some of] them said to each other, “We should choose a leader who will take us back to Egypt!”

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

Then Aaron and Moses/I bowed down [to pray] in front of all the Israeli people who had gathered there.

6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of them that spied out the land, rent their clothes:

Joshua and Caleb, two of the men who had explored the land, tore their clothes [because they were very dismayed].

7 and they spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.

They said to the Israeli people, “The land that we explored is very good.

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

If Yahweh is pleased with us, he will lead us into that very fertile [IDM] land, and he will give it to us.

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

So do not rebel against Yahweh! And do not be afraid of the people in that land! We will (gobble them up/completely destroy them) [MET]! They do not have anyone who will protect them, but Yahweh will be with us [and help us]. So do not be afraid of them!”

10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the children of Israel.

Then all the Israeli people talked about [killing Caleb and Joshua by] throwing stones at them. But [suddenly] Yahweh’s glory appeared to them at the Sacred Tent.

11 And Jehovah said unto Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them?

Then Yahweh said to Moses/me, “How long will these people reject me [RHQ]? I am tired of them not believing in what I [can do], in spite of all the miracles I have performed among them [RHQ]!

12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.

So I will cause a (plague/widespread sickness) to strike them and get rid of them. But I will cause your [descendants] to become a great nation. They will be a nation that is much greater and stronger than these people are.”

13 And Moses said unto Jehovah, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;

But Moses/I replied to Yahweh, “[Please do not do that, because] the people of Egypt will hear about it! You brought these Israeli people from Egypt by your great power,

14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that thou Jehovah art in the midst of this people; for thou Jehovah art seen face to face, and thy cloud standeth over them, and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.

and the people of Egypt will tell that to the [descendants of Canaan] who live in this land. Yahweh, they have already heard about you. They know that you have (been with/helped) these people and that they have seen you face-to-face. They have heard that your cloud is like a huge pillar that stays over them, and by using that cloud you lead them during the day, and the cloud becomes like a fire at night [to give them light].

15 Now if thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,

If you kill these people all at one time, the people-groups who have heard about your [power] will say,

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

‘Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land that he promised to give to them, so he killed them in the desert.’

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

“So Yahweh, now show that you are very powerful. You said,

18 Jehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; and that will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.

‘I do not quickly become angry; instead, I love people very much, and I forgive people for having sinned and having disobeyed my laws. But I will always punish [LIT] people who are guilty of doing what is wrong. When parents sin, I will punish them, but I will also punish their children and their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren and their great-great-grandchildren.’

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

So, because you love people like that, forgive these people for the sins that they have committed, just like you have continued to forgive them ever since they left Egypt.”

20 And Jehovah said, I have pardoned according to thy word:

Then Yahweh replied, “I have forgiven them, as you requested me to.

21 but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah;

But, just as certainly as I live and that people all over the world [can see] my (glory/glorious power), [I solemnly declare this: ]

22 because all those men that have seen my glory, and my signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

All these people saw my glory and all the miracles that I performed in Egypt and in the desert, but they disobeyed me, and many times they tested [whether they could continue to do evil things without my punishing them].

23 surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised me see it:

Because of that, not one of them will see the land that I promised their ancestors [that I would give to them]. No one who rejected me will see that land.

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.

But Caleb, who serves me [well], is different from the others. He obeys me completely. So I will bring him into that land that he has already seen, and his descendants will inherit/possess some of it.

25 Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley: to-morrow turn ye, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.

So, since the descendants of Amalek and Canaan who are living in the valleys [in Canaan are very strong], when you leave here tomorrow, [instead of traveling toward Canaan], go back along the road through the desert towards the Red Sea.”

26 And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

Then Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses/me,

27 How long [shall I bear] with this evil congregation, that murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

“How long will the wicked people of this nation keep complaining about me [RHQ]? I have heard everything that they have grumbled/complained against me.

28 Say unto them, As I live, saith Jehovah, surely as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

So now tell them this: ‘Just as certainly as I, Yahweh, live, I will do exactly what you said would happen.

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

[I will cause] all of you to die here in this desert! Because you grumbled about me, none of you who are more than 20 years old and who were counted when Moses counted everyone

30 surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

will enter the land that I solemnly promised to give to you. Only Caleb and Joshua will enter that land.

31 But your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have rejected.

You said that your children would be taken from you [to become slaves], but I will take them into the land, and they will enjoy living in the land that you (rejected/said that you could not conquer).

32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness.

But as for you [adults], you will die here in this desert.

33 And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness.

And like shepherds [wander around in the desert as they take care of their sheep], your children will wander around in this desert for 40 years. Because you adults were not loyal/faithful to me, your children will suffer until you all die in the desert.

34 After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation.

You will suffer for your sins for 40 years. That will be one year for each of the 40 days that the twelve men explored Canaan land. And I will be like an enemy to you.’

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

[This will certainly happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it! I will do these things to every one in this group who conspired against me. They (conspired against/decided together to reject) me here in the desert, and they will all die right here in this desert!”

36 And the men, whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the land,

Then the ten men [who had explored Canaan and] who had urged the people to rebel against Yahweh by giving reports that discouraged the people

37 even those men that did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Jehovah.

were immediately struck with a plague/disease that Yahweh sent, and they died.

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

Of the twelve men who had explored Canaan, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.

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

When Moses/I reported to the Israeli people what Yahweh had said, many of them were very sad.

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

So the people got up early the next morning and started to go toward the hilly area in Canaan. They said, “[We know that] we have sinned, but now we [are ready to] enter the land that Yahweh promised to give to us.”

41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of Jehovah, seeing it shall not prosper?

But Moses/I said, “Yahweh commanded you [to return to the desert, so] why are you now disobeying him [RHQ]? It will not (succeed/be possible).

42 Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you; that ye be not smitten down before your enemies.

Do not try to enter the land now! [If you try], your enemies will defeat you, because Yahweh will not (be with/help) you.

43 For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned back from following Jehovah, therefore Jehovah will not be with you.

When you begin to fight the descendants of Amalek and Canaan, they will slaughter you! Yahweh will abandon you, because you have abandoned him.”

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

But even though Moses/I did not leave the camp, and the sacred chest that contained the Ten Commandments was not taken from the camp, the people began to go towards the hilly area in Canaan.

45 Then the Amalekite came down, and the Canaanite who dwelt in that mountain, and smote them and beat them down, even unto Hormah.

Then the descendants of Amalek and Canaan who lived in that hilly area came down and attacked them and chased them as far [south] as [the town of] Hormah.