Numbers 14
King James Version
14 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
3 And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
5 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, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
8 If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
9 Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.
10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.
11 And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
13 And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)
14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou Lord art among this people, that thou Lord art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
15 Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
16 Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
18 The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
20 And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
24 But 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.
25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) Tomorrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.
26 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
28 Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me.
30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
31 But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.
32 But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.
33 And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.
34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.
35 I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
36 And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,
37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord.
38 But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.
39 And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.
40 And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned.
41 And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper.
42 Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.
43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you.
44 But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.
Numbers 14
Lexham English Bible
The People Complain
14 Then all the community lifted up their voices,[a] and the people wept during that night. 2 And all the Israelites[b] grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and all the community said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt or in this desert! 3 Why did Yahweh bring us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little children will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 They said to each other,[c] “Let us appoint a leader, and we will return to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before[d] the assembly of the community of the Israelites.[e] 6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, from the explorers of the land, tore their garments. 7 And they said to all the community of the Israelites,[f] “The land that we went through to explore is an exceptionally good land.[g] 8 If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and he will give it to us, a land that is flowing with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel against Yahweh, and you will not fear the people of the land, because they will be our food. Their protection[h] has been turned from them; Yahweh is with us. You should not fear them.” 10 And all the community said to stone them with stones, but the glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of assembly among the Israelites.[i]
11 And Yahweh said to Moses, “How long until this people will despise me, and how long until they will not believe in me, and in all the signs that I have done in their[j] midst? 12 I will strike them[k] with disease, and I will dispossess them;[l] I will make you into a greater and stronger nation than them.”[m]
13 And Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear that you brought up this people from their[n] midst in your power, 14 and they will tell it[o] to the inhabitants of this land. They heard that you, Yahweh, are in the midst of this people, that you are seen eye to eye, and your cloud is standing over them, and in a column of cloud you go before them by day and in a column of fire at night. 15 But if you destroy this people all at once,[p] the nations that will have heard your message will say, 16 ‘Yahweh was unable to bring this people in the land that he swore by an oath, and he slaughtered them in the desert.’ 17 But now, please, let the power of my Lord be great, just has you spoke,
18 ‘Yahweh is slow to anger[q]
and great of loyal love,
forgiving[r] sin and rebellion;
but surely he leaves nothing unpunished,
visiting the sin of the fathers on the sons
to the third and fourth generations.’
19 Please forgive the sin of this people according to the greatness of your loyal love, just as you forgave[s] this people, from Egypt until now.”
20 Yahweh said, “I have forgiven them according to your word; 21 but as I am alive, the glory of Yahweh will fill all the earth. 22 But because all the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the desert yet tested me these ten times and did not listen to my voice, 23 they will not see the land that I swore by oath to their ancestors,[t] and all those who despised me will not see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because another spirit was with him, he remained true after me, and I will bring him into the land that he entered,[u] and his offspring will take possession of it. 25 And the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; tomorrow turn and set out for the desert by way of the Red Sea.”[v]
26 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long will I bear this evil community who are grumbling against me? I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites[w] which they are making[x] against me. 28 Say to them, ‘Surely as I live,’ declares[y] Yahweh, ‘just as you spoke in my hearing,[z] so I will do to you; 29 in this desert your corpses will fall, and all your counted ones, according to all your number, from twenty years old[aa] and above who grumbled against me. 30 You yourselves will not come into the land that I swore by oath[ab] to make you to dwell in it, but Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 But your little children, whom you said would be plunder, I will bring them, and they will know the land that you rejected. 32 But for you, all your corpses will fall in this desert. 33 And your children will be shepherds in the desert forty years,[ac] and you will bear your unfaithfulness until all your corpses have fallen[ad] in the desert. 34 According to the number of the days[ae] that you explored the land, forty days,[af] a day for each year,[ag] you will bear your sins forty years,[ah] and you will know my opposition.’ 35 I, Yahweh, have spoken; I will surely do this to all this evil community who has banded together against me. In this desert they will come to an end, and there they will die.”
36 As for the men whom Moses sent to explore the land, who returned and made the community grumble against him by spreading a report over the land, 37 the men who spread the evil report of the land died by the plague before Yahweh.[ai] 38 But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh lived from among the men who went to explore the land.
39 And Moses spoke words to all the Israelites,[aj] and the people mourned greatly. 40 They rose early in the morning and went to the top of the mount, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that Yahweh said, because we have sinned.” 41 But Moses said, “Why are you going against the command of Yahweh? It will not succeed. 42 You should not go up because Yahweh is not in your midst; do not let yourselves be defeated in the presence of your enemies, 43 because the Amalekites[ak] and the Canaanites[al] are there before you,[am] and you will fall by the sword; because you have turned back from Yahweh, and Yahweh will not be with you.” 44 But they dared to go to the top of the mountain, and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and Moses did not depart from the midst of the camp. 45 So the Amalekites[an] and the Canaanites[ao] who were living on the mountain descended, and they beat them down, up to Hormah.
Footnotes
- Numbers 14:1 Hebrew “they lifted up and gave their voice”
- Numbers 14:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 14:4 Literally “A man said to his brother”
- Numbers 14:5 Literally “in the presence of”
- Numbers 14:5 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 14:7 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 14:7 Literally “the land is very very good”
- Numbers 14:9 Literally “Their shadow”
- Numbers 14:10 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 14:11 Hebrew “his”
- Numbers 14:12 Hebrew “him”
- Numbers 14:12 Hebrew “him”
- Numbers 14:12 Hebrew “him”
- Numbers 14:13 Hebrew “his”
- Numbers 14:14 Literally “say”
- Numbers 14:15 Literally “as one man”
- Numbers 14:18 Literally “slow of noses”
- Numbers 14:18 Literally “lifting up”
- Numbers 14:19 Literally “lifted up”
- Numbers 14:23 Or “fathers”
- Numbers 14:24 Or “he went to”
- Numbers 14:25 Literally “sea of reed”
- Numbers 14:27 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 14:27 Literally “they are grumbling”
- Numbers 14:28 Literally “declaration of”
- Numbers 14:28 Literally “in my ears”
- Numbers 14:29 Literally “a son of twenty years”
- Numbers 14:30 Literally “I lifted up my hand”
- Numbers 14:33 Hebrew “year”
- Numbers 14:33 Literally “until to complete your corpses”
- Numbers 14:34 Hebrew “day”
- Numbers 14:34 Hebrew “day”
- Numbers 14:34 Literally “a day for a year a day for a year”
- Numbers 14:34 Hebrew “year”
- Numbers 14:37 Literally “in the presence of Yahweh”
- Numbers 14:39 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Numbers 14:43 Hebrew “Amalekite”
- Numbers 14:43 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Numbers 14:43 Literally “in your presence”
- Numbers 14:45 Hebrew “Amalekite”
- Numbers 14:45 Hebrew “Canaanite”
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