Israel’s Inheritance in Canaan

14 The Israelites received these portions that the priest Eleazar,^(A) Joshua son of Nun, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes gave them in the land of Canaan.^{(B) 2} Their inheritance was by lot^(C) as the Lord commanded through Moses for the nine and a half tribes, ³ because Moses had given the inheritance to the two and a half tribes beyond the Jordan. But he gave no inheritance among them to the Levites. ⁴ The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. No portion of the land was given to the Levites except cities to live in, along with pasturelands for their cattle and livestock. ⁵ So the Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses,^(D) and they divided the land.

Caleb’s Inheritance

⁶ The descendants of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord promised Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about you and me.^{(E) 7} I was forty years old when Moses the Lord’s servant sent me from Kadesh-barnea to scout the land, and I brought back an honest report.^{(F) 8} My brothers who went with me caused the people to lose heart, but I followed the Lord my God completely.^{(G) 9} On that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land where you have set foot will be an inheritance for you and your descendants forever, because you have followed the Lord my God completely.’^(H)

¹⁰ “As you see, the Lord has kept me alive these forty-five years as he promised,^(I) since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel was journeying in the wilderness. Here I am today, eighty-five years old. ¹¹ I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks^[a] is now as it was then.^{(J) 12} Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there,^(K) as well as large fortified cities.^(L) Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.”

¹³ Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as an inheritance.^{(M) 14} Therefore, Hebron still belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance today^(N) because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, completely. ¹⁵ Hebron’s name used to be Kiriath-arba; Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.^(O) After this, the land had rest from war.^(P)

Israel’s Refusal to Enter Canaan

14 Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. ² All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron,^(A) and the whole community told 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 die by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder.^(B) Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ^{(C) 4} So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole assembly of the Israelite community. ⁶ Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and said to the entire Israelite community, “The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land.^{(D) 8} If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey,^(E) and give it to us. ⁹ Only don’t rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them.^(F) Their protection^(G) has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don’t be afraid of them!”

¹⁰ While the whole community threatened to stone them,^(H) the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.

God’s Judgment of Israel’s Rebellion

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people despise me? How long will they not trust in me despite all the signs I have performed among them?^{(I) 12} I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are.”^(J)

¹³ But Moses replied to the Lord, “The Egyptians will hear about it, for by your strength you brought up this people from them. ¹⁴ They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land.^(K) They have heard that you, Lord, are among these people, how you, Lord, are seen face to face, how your cloud stands over them, and how you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.^{(L) 15} If you kill this people with a single blow,^[a](M) the nations that have heard of your fame^(N) will declare, ¹⁶ ‘Since the Lord wasn’t able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them,^(O) he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’^(P)

¹⁷ “So now, may my Lord’s power be magnified just as you have spoken: ¹⁸ The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love,^(Q) forgiving iniquity and rebellion.^(R) But he will not leave the guilty unpunished,^(S) bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generation.^{(T) 19} Please pardon the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of your faithful love,^(U) just as you have forgiven them from Egypt until now.”

²⁰ The Lord responded, “I have pardoned them as you requested. ²¹ Yet as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord’s glory,^{(V) 22} none of the men who have seen my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested me these ten times and did not obey me, ²³ will ever see the land I swore to give their ancestors.^(W) None of those who have despised me^(X) will see it. ²⁴ But since my servant Caleb has a different spirit and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land where he has gone, and his descendants will inherit it.^{(Y) 25} Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the lowlands,^[b] turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.”^(Z)

A Hymn of Praise