Numbers 14
Legacy Standard Bible
The People Rebel
14 Then all the congregation [a]lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept [b]that night. 2 And all the sons of Israel (A)grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “(B)Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 And why is Yahweh bringing us into this land, (C)to fall by the sword? (D)Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “(E)Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
5 (F)Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “(G)The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 (H)If Yahweh is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—(I)a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 But as for you, only (J)do not rebel against Yahweh; and do not (K)fear the people of the land, for they are our [c]bread. Their [d]protection has been removed from them, and Yahweh is with us; do not fear them.” 10 (L)But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then (M)the glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
Moses Prays for the People
11 (N)Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will (O)they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have done in their midst? 12 I will strike them with [e](P)pestilence and dispossess them, and I (Q)will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”
13 (R)But Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your power You brought up this people from their midst, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O Yahweh, are in the midst of this people, for (S)You, O Yahweh, are seen eye to eye, while 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 put this people to death as one man, (T)then the nations who have heard of Your fame will [f]say, 16 ‘Because Yahweh (U)was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 So now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have [g]declared, 18 ‘(V)Yahweh is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but (W)He will by no means clear the guilty, (X)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children [h]to the third and the fourth generations.’ 19 (Y)Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
Evil Complainers
20 So Yahweh said, “(Z)I have pardoned them according to your word; 21 but indeed, (AA)as I live, [i](AB)all the earth will be filled with the glory of Yahweh. 22 Surely (AC)all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I have done in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet (AD)have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23 (AE)shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. 24 But My servant Caleb, (AF)because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, [j](AG)I will bring into the land [k]which he entered, and his seed shall take possession of it. 25 (AH)Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the [l]Red Sea.”
26 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are (AI)grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are [m]making against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘(AJ)As I live,’ declares Yahweh, ‘just as (AK)you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; 29 (AL)your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all (AM)your [n]numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. 30 Surely you shall not come into the land in which I [o]swore to make you dwell, (AN)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 (AO)Your little ones, however, who you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, so that they will know the land which you have rejected. 32 (AP)But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33 And your sons shall be shepherds for (AQ)forty years in the wilderness, and they will [p]suffer for your [q]unfaithfulness, until your corpses come to an end in the wilderness. 34 According to the (AR)number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your [r]guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. 35 (AS)I, Yahweh, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall come to an end, and there they will die.’”
36 (AT)As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, 37 even (AU)those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a (AV)plague before Yahweh. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.
Israel Struck Down
39 Then Moses spoke (AW)these words to all the sons of Israel, and (AX)the people mourned greatly. 40 In the morning, however, they rose up early and went up to the [s]ridge of the hill country, saying, “(AY)Here we are; we will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised because we have indeed sinned.” 41 But Moses said, “(AZ)Why then do you trespass against the [t]command of Yahweh, when it will not succeed? 42 (BA)Do not go up, for Yahweh is not among you, so that you are not [u]defeated before your enemies. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned back from following Yahweh. And Yahweh will not be with you.” 44 But they went up heedlessly to the [v]ridge of the hill country; neither (BB)the ark of the covenant of Yahweh nor Moses moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as (BC)Hormah.
Footnotes
- Numbers 14:1 Lit lifted and gave their voice
- Numbers 14:1 Lit in that
- Numbers 14:9 Or food
- Numbers 14:9 Lit shadow
- Numbers 14:12 Lit the pestilence
- Numbers 14:15 Lit speak, saying
- Numbers 14:17 Lit spoken, saying
- Numbers 14:18 Lit on
- Numbers 14:21 Lit and all
- Numbers 14:24 Lit him I
- Numbers 14:24 Lit where
- Numbers 14:25 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Numbers 14:27 Lit complaining
- Numbers 14:29 Lit mustered
- Numbers 14:30 Lit lifted up My hand
- Numbers 14:33 Lit bear
- Numbers 14:33 Lit fornications
- Numbers 14:34 Or iniquities
- Numbers 14:40 Or top of the mountain
- Numbers 14:41 Lit mouth
- Numbers 14:42 Lit smitten
- Numbers 14:44 Or top of the mountain
Numbers 14
Evangelical Heritage Version
The People Rebel
14 The entire community raised a loud cry. The people wept that night. 2 All of the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The entire community said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! If only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our children will be taken as captives! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let’s put someone in charge and return to Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the entire assembly of the Israelite community.
6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of those who had scouted the land, tore their clothes. 7 They spoke to the entire Israelite community, “The land that we explored and scouted is a very good land. 8 If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that is flowing with milk and honey. 9 Only do not revolt against the Lord. Do not fear the people of the land, for we will eat them up.[a] Their protection is taken away from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
10 Still the entire community threatened to stone them to death. The Glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites over the Tent of Meeting. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? 12 I will strike them with a plague and disown them. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.”
Moses Intercedes for Israel
13 Moses said to the Lord, “The Egyptians will hear it, since by your own power you brought these people up from the midst of the Egyptians. 14 They will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have heard that you, the Lord, are in the midst of this people. You, the Lord, are seen face-to-face.[b] Your cloud stands over them. You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you killed these people, leaving no one, then the nations which have heard about your fame will say, 16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring these people into the land which he swore to them, he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 Now please let the power of the Lord be great, just as you have said, 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in mercy, forgiving guilt and rebellion. He certainly does not leave the guilty unpunished, following up on the guilt of the fathers with the children unto the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 According to your great mercy, please pardon the guilt of these people, just as you have forgiven these people from Egypt until now.”
God Decrees Forty Years of Wandering
20 The Lord said, “I have pardoned them just as you have said. 21 But as surely as I live, and as surely as the entire earth is filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 not one of the men who has seen my glory and my signs, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and who has tested me these ten times and has not listened to my voice— 23 I promise that none of them will see the land which I swore to their fathers. None of those who treated me with contempt will see it. 24 But because my servant Caleb had a different spirit and has followed me completely, I will bring him into the land to which he traveled. His descendants will possess it. 25 Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys and lowlands, tomorrow you are to turn back and set out into the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.”
26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, 27 “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the Israelites’ constant grumblings against me. 28 Tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you just as I have heard you say. 29 In this wilderness your corpses will fall. All of you who were registered in the census, every one of you twenty years old and up who have grumbled against me, 30 I swear that none of you will go into the land where I promised to settle you, except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 But your children, whom you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will experience the land which you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years. They will have to endure your prostitution until your corpses perish in the wilderness. 34 You will bear the consequences of your guilt for forty years, based on the number of days that you scouted the land, forty days, one year for every day. You will experience my opposition.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to this entire wicked community, who are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will perish. There they will die.”
36 The men whom Moses had sent to scout the land, who returned and made the entire community grumble against him by giving a negative report about the land— 37 those men who brought the wicked, negative report about the land—died by the plague before the Lord. 38 Of those men who had gone to scout the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive.
Israel Defeated in Battle
39 Moses told these things to all the Israelites, and the people mourned bitterly. 40 They got up early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country. They said, “We are ready. We will go up to the place which the Lord spoke about. We admit we have sinned.”
41 Moses said, “What is this? Why are you going against the Lord’s command? This will not succeed. 42 Do not go up, because the Lord is not among you. You will be struck down before your enemies, 43 because the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there to oppose you. You will fall by the sword because you turned away from following the Lord. Therefore the Lord will not be with you.”
44 But they dared to go up to the heights of the hill country. Nevertheless, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and Moses did not leave the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites, who lived in that hill country, came down, attacked them, and beat them down all the way to Hormah.
Footnotes
- Numbers 14:9 Literally they are bread to us
- Numbers 14:14 Literally eye to eye
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