Numbers 14

1 Then all the people gave load cries of grief, and all that night they gave themselves up to weeping.

All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

2 And all the children of Israel, crying out against Moses and Aaron, said, If only we had come to our death in the land of Egypt, or even in this waste land!

All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that we had died in this wilderness!

3 Why is the Lord taking us into this land to come to our death by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will get into strange hands: would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?

Why does the LORD bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be captured or killed! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?”

4 And they said to one another, Let us make a captain over us, and go back to Egypt.

They said to one another, “Let’s choose a leader, and let’s return into Egypt.”

5 Then Moses and Aaron went down on their faces before the meeting of the people.

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, two of those who had been to see the land, giving signs of grief,

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

7 Said to all the children of Israel, This land which we went through to see is a very good land.

They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.

8 And if the Lord has delight in us, he will take us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

If the LORD delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey.

9 Only, do not go against the Lord or go in fear of the people of the land, for they will be our food; their strength has been taken from them and the Lord is with us: have no fear of them.

Only don’t rebel against the LORD, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defence is removed from over them, and the LORD is with us. Don’t fear them.”

10 But all the people said they were to be stoned. Then the glory of the Lord was seen in the Tent of meeting, before the eyes of all the children of Israel.

But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones. The LORD’s glory appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the children of Israel.

11 And the Lord said to Moses, How long will this people have no respect for me? how long will they be without faith, in the face of all the signs I have done among them?

The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? How long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked amongst them?

12 I will send disease on them for their destruction, and take away their heritage, and I will make of you a nation greater and stronger than they.

I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

13 And Moses said to the Lord, Then it will come to the ears of the Egyptians; for by your power you took this people out from among them;

Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from amongst them.

14 And they will give the news to the people of this land: they have had word that you, Lord, are present with this people, letting yourself be seen face to face, and that your cloud is resting over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you LORD are amongst this people; for you LORD are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.

15 Now if you put to death all this people as one man, then the nations who have had word of your glory will say,

Now if you killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of you will speak, saying,

16 Because the Lord was not able to take this people into the land which he made an oath to give them, he sent destruction on them in the waste land.

‘Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’

17 So now, may my prayer come before you, and let the power of the Lord be great, as you said:

Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying,

18 The Lord is slow to wrath and great in mercy, overlooking wrongdoing and evil, and will not let wrongdoers go free; sending punishment on children for the sins of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation.

‘The LORD is slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and disobedience; and he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation.’

19 May the sin of this people have forgiveness, in the measure of your great mercy, as you have had mercy on them from Egypt up till now.

Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

20 And the Lord said, I have had mercy, as you say:

The LORD said, “I have pardoned according to your word;

21 But truly, as I am living, and as all the earth will be full of the glory of the Lord;

but in very deed—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the LORD’s glory—

22 Because all these men, having seen my glory and the signs which I have done in Egypt and in the waste land, still have put me to the test ten times, and have not given ear to my voice;

because all those men who have seen my glory and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice;

23 They will not see the land about which I made an oath to their fathers; not one of these by whom I have not been honoured will see it.

surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who despised me see it.

24 But my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit in him, and has been true to me with all his heart, him I will take into that land into which he went, and his seed will have it for their heritage.

But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him I will bring into the land into which he went. His offspring shall possess it.

25 Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites are in the valley; tomorrow, turning round, go into the waste land by the way to the Red Sea.

Since the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn and go into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

26 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

27 How long am I to put up with this evil people and their outcries against me? The words which they say against me have come to my ears.

“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation that complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel, which they complain against me.

28 Say to them, By my life, says the Lord, as certainly as your words have come to my ears, so certainly will I do this to you:

Tell them, ‘As I live, says the LORD, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so I will do to you.

29 Your dead bodies will be stretched out in this waste land; and of all your number, all those of twenty years old and over who have been crying out against me,

Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were counted of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me,

30 Not one will come into the land which I gave my word you would have for your resting-place, but only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.

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

31 And your little ones, whom you said would come into strange hands, I will take in, and they will see the land which you would not have.

But I will bring in your little ones that you said should be captured or killed, and they shall know the land which you have rejected.

32 But as for you, your dead bodies will be stretched in this waste land.

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

33 And your children will be wanderers in the waste land for forty years, undergoing punishment for your false ways, till your bodies become dust in the waste land.

Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies are consumed in the wilderness.

34 And as you went through the land viewing it for forty days, so for forty years, a year for every day, you will undergo punishment for your wrongdoing, and you will see that I am against you.

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

35 I the Lord have said it, and this I will certainly do to all this evil people who have come together against me: in this waste land destruction will come on them, and death will be their fate.

I, the LORD, have spoken. I will surely do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.”

36 And the men whom Moses sent to see the land, and who, by the bad account they gave of the land, were the cause of the outcry the people made against Moses,

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,

37 Those same men who said evil of the land, came to their death by disease before the Lord.

even those men who brought up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before the LORD.

38 But Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, of those who went to see the land, were not touched by disease.

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

39 And when Moses put these words before the children of Israel, the people were full of grief.

Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.

40 And early in the morning they got up and went to the top of the mountain, saying, We are here and we will go up to the place which the Lord said he would give us: for we have done wrong.

They rose up early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which the LORD has promised; for we have sinned.”

41 And Moses said, Why are you now acting against the Lord's order, seeing that no good will come of it?

Moses said, “Why now do you disobey the commandment of the LORD, since it shall not prosper?

42 Go not up, for the Lord is not with you, and you will be overcome by those who are fighting against you.

Don’t go up, for the LORD isn’t amongst you; that way you won’t be struck down before your enemies.

43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will be put to death by their swords: because you have gone back from the way of the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.

For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you will fall by the sword because you turned back from following the LORD; therefore the LORD will not be with you.”

44 But they gave no attention to his words and went to the top of the mountain, though Moses and the ark of the Lord's agreement did not go out of the tent-circle.

But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain. Nevertheless, the ark of the LORD’s covenant and Moses didn’t depart out of the camp.

45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who were living in the hill-country, and overcame them completely, driving them back as far as Hormah.

Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down even to Hormah.