The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people ^(A)wept that night. ² And all the people of Israel ^(B)grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or ^(C)would that we had died in this wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? ^(D)Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ And they said to one another, ^(E)“Let us choose a leader and ^(F)go back to Egypt.”

⁵ Then ^(G)Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. ^6 (H)And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ^(I)“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. ⁸ If ^(J)the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, ^(K)a land that flows with milk and honey. ⁹ Only ^(L)do not rebel against the Lord. And ^(M)do not fear the people of the land, for ^(N)they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” ^10 (O)Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But ^(P)the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people ^(Q)despise me? And how long will they not ^(R)believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? ¹² I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I ^(S)will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

Moses Intercedes for the People

¹³ But ^(T)Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, ¹⁴ and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. ^(U)They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and ^(V)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 kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ¹⁶ ‘It is because the Lord ^(W)was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷ And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ^18 (X)‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, ^(Y)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ ¹⁹ Please ^(Z)pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just ^(AA)as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

God Promises Judgment

²⁰ Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, ^(AB)according to your word. ²¹ But truly, as I live, and as all ^(AC)the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, ^22 (AD)none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ^(AE)ten times and have not obeyed my voice, ^23 (AF)shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. ²⁴ But my servant ^(AG)Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has ^(AH)followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. ^25 (AI)Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, ^(AJ)turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²⁷ “How long shall ^(AK)this wicked congregation grumble against me? ^(AL)I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. ²⁸ Say to them, ^(AM)‘As I live, declares the Lord, ^(AN)what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: ^29 (AO)your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and ^(AP)of all your number, listed in the census ^(AQ)from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, ³⁰ not one shall come into the land where I ^(AR)swore that I would make you dwell, ^(AS)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. ^31 (AT)But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that ^(AU)you have rejected. ³² But as for you, ^(AV)your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. ³³ And your children ^(AW)shall be shepherds in the wilderness ^(AX)forty years and shall ^(AY)suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. ^34 (AZ)According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, ^(BA)forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ ^35 (BB)I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all ^(BC)this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”

^36 (BD)And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land— ³⁷ the men who brought up a bad report of the land—^(BE)died by plague before the Lord. ³⁸ Of those men who went to spy out the land, ^(BF)only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

Israel Defeated in Battle

³⁹ When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people ^(BG)mourned greatly. ⁴⁰ And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, ^(BH)“Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” ^41 (BI)But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed? ^42 (BJ)Do not go up, ^(BK)for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. ⁴³ For there ^(BL)the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” ^44 (BM)But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither ^(BN)the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp. ⁴⁵ Then ^(BO)the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to ^(BP)Hormah.

The Lord Reigns

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^(B)by the will of God according to ^(C)the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

² To Timothy, ^(D)my beloved child:

^(E)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You

^3 (F)I thank God ^(G)whom I serve, as did my ancestors, ^(H)with a clear conscience, as I remember you ^(I)constantly in my prayers night and day. ^4 (J)As I remember your tears, ^(K)I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I am reminded of ^(L)your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and ^(M)your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. ⁶ For this reason I remind you ^(N)to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, ⁷ for God gave us ^(O)a spirit not of fear but ^(P)of power and love and self-control.

⁸ Therefore ^(Q)do not be ashamed of ^(R)the testimony about our Lord, nor of ^(S)me his prisoner, but ^(T)share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, ^9 (U)who saved us and ^(V)called us to^[a] a holy calling, ^(W)not because of our works but because of ^(X)his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus ^(Y)before the ages began,^{[b] 10} and which now has ^(Z)been manifested through ^(AA)the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, ^(AB)who abolished death and ^(AC)brought life and ^(AD)immortality to light through the gospel, ^11 (AE)for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, ^12 (AF)which is why I suffer as I do. But ^(AG)I am not ashamed, for ^(AH)I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until ^(AI)that day ^(AJ)what has been entrusted to me.^{[c] 13 (AK)}Follow ^(AL)the pattern of ^(AM)the sound^[d] words ^(AN)that you have heard from me, in ^(AO)the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ By the Holy Spirit ^(AP)who dwells within us, guard ^(AQ)the good deposit entrusted to you.

¹⁵ You are aware that ^(AR)all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to ^(AS)the household of Onesiphorus, for he often ^(AT)refreshed me and was not ashamed of ^(AU)my chains, ¹⁷ but when he arrived in Rome ^(AV)he searched for me earnestly and found me— ¹⁸ may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on ^(AW)that day!—and you well know all the service he ^(AX)rendered at Ephesus.

A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

2 You then, ^(A)my child, ^(B)be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, ² and ^(C)what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses ^(D)entrust to faithful men,^{[a] (E)}who will be able to teach others also. ^3 (F)Share in suffering as ^(G)a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ No soldier ^(H)gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. ^5 (I)An athlete is not ^(J)crowned unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶ It is ^(K)the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. ⁷ Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, ^(L)risen from the dead, the ^(M)offspring of David, ^(N)as preached in my gospel, ^9 (O)for which I am suffering, ^(P)bound with chains as a criminal. But ^(Q)the word of God is not bound! ¹⁰ Therefore ^(R)I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain ^(S)the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with ^(T)eternal glory. ¹¹ The saying is ^(U)trustworthy, for:

for ^(AB)he cannot deny himself.

A Worker Approved by God

¹⁴ Remind them of these things, and ^(AC)charge them before God^{[b] (AD)}not to quarrel about words, ^(AE)which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,^[c] a worker ^(AF)who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But ^(AG)avoid ^(AH)irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are ^(AI)Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, ^(AJ)saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹ But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ^(AK)“The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone ^(AL)who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

²⁰ Now in ^(AM)a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, ^(AN)some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. ²¹ Therefore, ^(AO)if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,^[d] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ^(AP)ready for every good work.

²² So ^(AQ)flee ^(AR)youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with ^(AS)those who call on the Lord ^(AT)from a pure heart. ²³ Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant ^(AU)controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And ^(AV)the Lord's servant^[e] must not be quarrelsome but ^(AW)kind to everyone, ^(AX)able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents ^(AY)with gentleness. God ^(AZ)may perhaps grant them repentance ^(BA)leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from ^(BB)the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.