Numbers 14

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

²And 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!

³And 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?

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

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

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

⁷and 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.

⁸If 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.

⁹Only 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.

¹⁰But 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.

¹¹And 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?

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

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

¹⁴and 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.

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

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

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

¹⁸Jehovah 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.

¹⁹Pardon, 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.

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

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

²²because 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;

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

²⁴but 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.

²⁵Now 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.

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

²⁷How 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.

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

²⁹your 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,

³⁰surely 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.

³¹But 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.

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

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

³⁴After 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.

³⁵I, 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.

³⁶And 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,

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

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

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

⁴⁰And 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.

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

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

⁴³For 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.

⁴⁴But 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.

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

Numbers 14

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

²All 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!

³Why 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?”

⁴So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

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

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

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

⁸If 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.

⁹Only 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!”

¹⁰But 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.

¹¹And 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?

¹²I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”

¹³But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵If 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.’

¹⁷So 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.’

¹⁹Pardon, 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,

²²not 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—

²³not 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.

²⁴But 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.

²⁵Now 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.”

²⁶Then 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.

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

²⁹Your 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.

³⁰Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

³¹But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it.

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

³³Your 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.

³⁴In 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.

³⁵I, 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.”

³⁶So 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—

³⁷those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.

³⁸Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.

³⁹And when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly.

⁴⁰Early 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.”

⁴¹But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed!

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

⁴³For 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.”

⁴⁴But 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.

⁴⁵Then 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.