Numbers 14
New Living Translation
The People Rebel
14 Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. 3 “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel. 6 Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. 7 They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! 8 And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. 9 Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
10 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle.[a] 11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? 12 I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!”
Moses Intercedes for the People
13 But Moses objected. “What will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?” he asked the Lord. “They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing your people from Egypt. 14 Now if you destroy them, the Egyptians will send a report to the inhabitants of this land, who have already heard that you live among your people. They know, Lord, that you have appeared to your people face to face and that your pillar of cloud hovers over them. They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you slaughter all these people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16 ‘The Lord was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.’
17 “Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed. For you said, 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.’ 19 In keeping with your magnificent, unfailing love, please pardon the sins of this people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”
20 Then the Lord said, “I will pardon them as you have requested. 21 But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, 22 not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. 23 They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land. 25 Now turn around, and don’t go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.[b]”
The Lord Punishes the Israelites
26 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 27 “How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me. 28 Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. 30 You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
31 “‘You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. 32 But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. 33 And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness.
34 “‘Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken! I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!”
36 The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the Lord with their bad report— 37 were struck dead with a plague before the Lord. 38 Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.
39 When Moses reported the Lord’s words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief. 40 Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. “Let’s go,” they said. “We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the Lord has promised us.”
41 But Moses said, “Why are you now disobeying the Lord’s orders to return to the wilderness? It won’t work. 42 Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the Lord is not with you. 43 When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The Lord will abandon you because you have abandoned the Lord.”
44 But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them back as far as 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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