Numbers 14:10-19

Living Bible

^10-11 But the only response of the people was to talk of stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared, and the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people despise me? Will they never believe me, even after all the miracles I have done among them? ¹² I will disinherit them and destroy them with a plague, and I will make you into a nation far greater and mightier than they are!”

¹³ “But what will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?” Moses pleaded with the Lord. “They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing your people. ¹⁴ They have told this to the inhabitants of this land, who are well aware that you are with Israel and that you talk with her face-to-face. They see the pillar of cloud and fire standing above us, and they know that you lead and protect us day and night. ¹⁵ Now if you kill all your people, the nations that have heard your fame will say, ¹⁶ ‘The Lord had to kill them because he wasn’t able to take care of them in the wilderness. He wasn’t strong enough to bring them into the land he swore he would give them.’

^17-18 “Oh, please, show the great power of your patience^[a] by forgiving our sins and showing us your steadfast love. Forgive us, even though you have said that you don’t let sin go unpunished, and that you punish the father’s fault in the children to the third and fourth generation. ¹⁹ Oh, I plead with you, pardon the sins of this people because of your magnificent, steadfast love, just as you have forgiven them all the time from when we left Egypt until now.”