Numbers 13:25-14:35

New American Standard Bible

The Spies’ Reports

²⁵When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, ²⁶they went on and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ^[a]in the wilderness of Paran at ^(A)Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷So they reported to him and said, “We came into the land where you sent us, and ^(B)it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and ^(C)this is its fruit. ²⁸Nevertheless, ^(D)the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And indeed, we saw ^(E)the ^[b]descendants of Anak there! ²⁹Amalek is living in the land of ^(F)the Negev, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and ^(G)the Amorites are living in the hill country, and ^(H)the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰Then Caleb quieted the people ^[c]before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will certainly prevail over it.” ³¹But the men who had gone up with him said, “^(I)We are not able to go up against the people, because they are too strong for us.” ³²So they brought ^(J)a bad report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is ^(K)a land that devours its inhabitants; and ^(L)all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature. ³³We also saw the ^[d]^(M)Nephilim there (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and ^(N)we were like ^[e]grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation ^[f]raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept ^[g]that night. ²And all the sons of Israel ^(O)grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the entire congregation said to them, “^(P)If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness! ³So why is the Lord bringing us into this land ^(Q)to fall by the sword? ^(R)Our wives and our little ones will become plunder! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” ⁴So they said to one another, “^(S)Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”

⁵^(T)Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. ⁶And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; ⁷and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “^(U)The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. ⁸^(V)If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—^(W)a land which flows with milk and honey. ⁹Only ^(X)do not rebel against the Lord; and do not ^(Y)fear the people of the land, for they will be our ^[h]prey. Their ^[i]protection is gone from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” ¹⁰^(Z)But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then ^(AA)the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

Moses Pleads for the People

¹¹^(AB)And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people be disrespectful to Me? And how long will ^(AC)they not ^[j]believe in Me, despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst? ¹²I will strike them with ^[k]^(AD)plague and dispossess them, and I ^(AE)will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

¹³^(AF)But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people up from their midst, ¹⁴and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are in the midst of this people, because ^(AG)You, Lord, 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. ¹⁵Now if You put this people to death ^[l]all at once, ^(AH)then the nations who have heard of Your fame will ^[m]say, ¹⁶‘Since the Lord ^(AI)could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷So now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying, ¹⁸‘^(AJ)The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in mercy, forgiving wrongdoing and violation of His Law; but ^(AK)He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, ^(AL)inflicting the ^[n]punishment of the fathers on the children ^[o]to the third and the fourth generations.’ ¹⁹Please ^(AM)forgive the guilt of this people in accordance with the greatness of Your mercy, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

The Lord Pardons and Rebukes

²⁰So the Lord said, “^(AN)I have forgiven them in accordance with your word; ²¹however, ^(AO)as I live, ^[p]^(AP)all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. ²²Certainly ^(AQ)all the people who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet ^(AR)have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, ²³^(AS)shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who were disrespectful to Me see it. ²⁴But as for My servant Caleb, ^(AT)because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, ^(AU)I will bring him into the land which he ^[q]entered, and his ^[r]descendants shall take possession of it. ²⁵^(AV)Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way of the ^[s]Red Sea.”

²⁶The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron again, saying, ²⁷“How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who are ^(AW)grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel which they are ^[t]voicing against Me. ²⁸Say to them, ‘^(AX)As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘just as ^(AY)you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you; ²⁹^(AZ)your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, all ^(BA)your ^[u]numbered men according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. ³⁰By no means will you come into the land where I ^[v]swore to settle you, ^(BB)except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. ³¹^(BC)Your children, however, whom you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. ³²^(BD)But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. ³³Also, your sons will be shepherds in the wilderness for ^(BE)forty years, and they will ^[w]suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your bodies perish in the wilderness. ³⁴In accordance with the ^(BF)number of days that you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall suffer the punishment for your ^[x]guilt a year, that is, forty years, and you will know My opposition. ³⁵^(BG)I, the Lord, have spoken, I certainly will do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. They shall be worn out in this wilderness, and there they shall die.’”