Numbers 14

Wycliffe Bible

14 Therefore all the company cried, and wept in that night,

² and all the sons of Israel grouched against Moses and Aaron, and said, We would that we had been dead in Egypt, either that we were dead in this wilderness; we would that we perished, (and all the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and said, We wish that we had died in Egypt, or that we had already died here in this wilderness; yea, we wish that we were dead,)

³ and that the Lord lead us not into this land, lest we fall by sword, and our wives and our free children be led, or taken, prisoners; whether it is not better to us to turn again into Egypt? (is it not better for us to return to Egypt?)

⁴ And they said one to another, Ordain we a duke, or a leader, to us, and turn we again into Egypt. (And they said to one another, Let us choose a new leader, and let us return to Egypt.)

⁵ And when this was heard, Moses and Aaron fell down low to the earth (Moses and Aaron fell down on the ground), before all the multitude of the sons of Israel.

⁶ And soothly Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, which also compassed the land, rent their clothes, (And truly Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, two of the spies who had gone throughout the land, tore their clothes,)

⁷ and they spake thus to all the multitude of the sons of Israel, (and said,) The land which we compassed is full good; (and they spoke thus to all the multitude of the Israelites, and said, The land which we went about is very good;)

⁸ if the Lord is merciful to us, he shall lead us into it, and he shall give us the land flowing with milk and honey.

⁹ Do not ye rebel against the Lord, neither dread ye the people of this land, for we be able to devour them so as bread; all their help hath passed away from them, the Lord is with us, do not ye dread. (Do not ye rebel against the Lord, nor fear ye the people of this land, for we be able to eat them up like a piece of bread; all their help hath passed away from them, yea, the Lord is with us, do not ye fear.)

¹⁰ And when all the multitude cried (out), and would have oppressed them with stones, the glory of the Lord appeared upon the roof of the bond of peace, while all the sons of Israel saw. (But when all the multitude shouted, and would have killed them with stones, the glory of the Lord appeared over the Tabernacle of the Covenant, before all the Israelites.)

¹¹ And the Lord said to Moses, How long shall this people backbite me, or mis-deem me? How long shall they not believe to me, in (spite of) all the signs which I have done before them? (And the Lord said to Moses, How long shall these people backbite me, or mis-judge me? How long shall they not believe me, or not trust in me, in spite of all the miracles which I have done before them?)

¹² Therefore I shall smite them with pestilence, and I shall waste them; soothly I shall make thee prince upon a greater folk, and stronger than is this. (And so I shall strike them with a pestilence, or a plague, and I shall destroy them; and then I shall make thee the leader of a greater, and of a stronger, nation than these people be.)

¹³ And Moses said to the Lord, [The] Egyptians hear not, from whose middle thou leddest out this people, (And Moses said to the Lord, But then the Egyptians, from whose midst thou leddest out these people, shall hear of it,)

¹⁴ and (they shall tell it to) the dwellers of this land, which heard that thou, Lord, art in this people (who have heard that thou, Lord, art with these people), and art seen face to face, and that thy cloud defendeth them, and that thou goest before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night,

¹⁵ that thou hast slain so great a multitude as (if they be just) one man, and (then they shall) say,

¹⁶ He might not bring this people into the land for which he swore to give to them, therefore he killed them in (the) wilderness; (Because he could not bring these people into the land which he had sworn to give them, and so he killed all of them in this wilderness;)

¹⁷ therefore (let) the strength of the Lord be magnified, or made great, as thou hast sworn, (saying of thyself),

¹⁸ [The] Lord (is) patient, and of much mercy, doing away wickedness and trespasses, and leaving no man unguilty, (or innocent,) which visitest the sins of (the) fathers into (the) sons into the third and fourth generation (and who visitest the sins of the fathers upon the children into the third and fourth generations),

¹⁹ (so) I beseech thee, forgive thou the sin of this thy people, after the greatness of thy mercy, as thou were merciful to them going out of Egypt till to this place.

²⁰ And the Lord said, I have forgiven to them, by thy word. (And the Lord said, I now forgive them, because of thy words.)

²¹ And as soothly (as) I live; and the glory of the Lord shall be filled in all [the] earth; (But as truly as I live, the glory of the Lord shall fill all the earth;)

²² nevertheless all [the] men that saw my majesty, and my signs, (and wonders,) which I did in Egypt and (here) in the wilderness, and [have] tempted me now by ten times, and obeyed not to my voice,

²³ shall not see the land for which I swore to their fathers, neither any of them that backbited me, shall see it.

²⁴ I shall lead my servant Caleb, that was full of another spirit and followed me, into this land, which he compassed, and his seed shall wield it. (But I shall lead my servant Caleb, who was full of another spirit and followed me, into this land, which he went about, and his descendants shall possess it.)

²⁵ For Amalek and Canaanites dwell in the valleys, tomorrow move ye [the] tents, and turn ye again into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. (For the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in these valleys, tomorrow move ye your tents, and return ye to the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.)

²⁶ And the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron, and said,

²⁷ How long groucheth this worst multitude against me? I have heard the grouching plaints of the sons of Israel. (How long grumbleth this worst multitude against me? I have heard all the grumbling and the complaints of the Israelites.)

²⁸ Therefore say thou to them, (As) I live, saith the Lord; as ye spake while I heard, so I shall do to you;

²⁹ your carrions, or dead bodies, shall lie in this wilderness. All ye that be numbered, from twenty years and above, and have grouched against me, (all your corpses shall lie here in this wilderness. All ye who be listed, or registered, from twenty years of age and older, and have grumbled against me,)

³⁰ shall not enter into the land, upon which I have raised (up) mine hand, that I should make you to dwell there (where I would have you live), except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.

³¹ Forsooth I shall lead in your little children, of which ye said that they should be preys, either ravens, to (thine) enemies, that they see the land which displeased you. (But I shall lead in your little children, they of whom ye said would become your enemies’ spoils, so that they can have the land which hath so displeased you.)

³² Forsooth your carrions shall lie in the wilderness; (But your corpses shall lie here in this wilderness;)

³³ your sons shall be walkers-about in the desert by forty years, and they shall bear your fornication, till the carrions of their fathers be wasted in (the) desert, (your sons shall be wanderers in this wilderness for forty years, and they shall bear your punishment, until their fathers’ corpses be wasted in this wilderness,)

³⁴ by the number of forty days, in which ye beheld the land; a year shall be reckoned for a day, and by forty years ye shall receive (the penalty for) your wickedness, or be punished for your grouching, and ye shall know my vengeance. (yea, for the forty days in which ye looked the land over, a year shall be reckoned for a day, and so for forty years ye shall receive the penalty for your wickedness, and shall be punished for your grumbling, and then ye shall know my vengeance.)

³⁵ For as I spake, so I shall do to all this worst multitude, that rose (up) together against me; it shall fail (they shall fail), and shall die in this wilderness.

³⁶ Therefore all the men which Moses had sent to see the land, and which turned again, and made all the multitude to grouch against him, and depraved the land, (And so all the men whom Moses had sent to look over the land, and returned, and then had made all the multitude to grumble against him, and to despise the land,)

³⁷ that it was evil, were dead, and smitten in the sight of the Lord^[a]. (by saying that it was evil, were then struck by the Lord with a pestilence, or a plague, and died.)

³⁸ Soothly (only) Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, lived, of all the men, that went to see the land (who went to see the land).

³⁹ And Moses spake all these words to all the sons of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. (And Moses spoke all these words to all the Israelites, and the people greatly mourned.)

⁴⁰ And, lo! they rose in the morrowtide first, and they went up into the top of the hill, and said, We be ready to go up to the place, of which the Lord spake, for we have sinned. (And lo! they rose up early the next morning, and left to go up into the heights of the hill country, saying, See, now we be ready to go up to the place, of which the Lord hath spoken, and we confess, that we have sinned.)

⁴¹ To whom Moses said, Why over-pass ye the word of the Lord, that shall not befall to you into prosperity? (To whom Moses said, Why pass ye over the word of the Lord? this shall not befall to you into any prosperity, or any success, but only evil.)

⁴² Do not ye go up, for the Lord is not with you, lest ye fall before your enemies. (Do not ye go up, for the Lord is not with you, and ye shall fall before your enemies.)

⁴³ Amalek and Canaanites be before you, by the sword of which ye shall fall, for ye would not assent to the Lord, neither the Lord shall be with you. (The Amalekites and the Canaanites be before you, by whose sword ye shall fall, for ye would not assent to the Lord, and so the Lord shall not be with you.)

⁴⁴ And they were made dark, that is, blinded in their sin, and went up into the top of the hill; forsooth the ark of the testament of the Lord and Moses went not away from the tents. (But they were blinded by their sin, and they went up anyway into the heights of the hill country; but neither the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, that is, the Ark of the Witnessing, nor Moses, left the camp.)

⁴⁵ And Amalek came down, and Canaanites, that dwelled in the hill, and he smote the children of Israel, and he cutted them down, and pursued them (till) to Hormah. (And the Amalekites, and the Canaanites, who lived in that hill country, came down, and they struck the Israelites, and they cut them down, and pursued them as far as Hormah.)