The People Rebel

14 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.^{(A) 2} All the Israelites grumbled^(B) against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt!^(C) Or in this wilderness!^{(D) 3} Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?^(E) Our wives and children^(F) will be taken as plunder.^(G) Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?^(H)” ⁴ And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.^(I)”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown^(J) in front of the whole Israelite assembly^(K) gathered there. ⁶ Joshua son of Nun^(L) and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes^{(M) 7} and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.^{(N) 8} If the Lord is pleased with us,^(O) he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey,^(P) and will give it to us.^{(Q) 9} Only do not rebel^(R) against the Lord. And do not be afraid^(S) of the people of the land,^(T) because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with^(U) us.^(V) Do not be afraid of them.”^(W)

¹⁰ But the whole assembly talked about stoning^(X) them. Then the glory of the Lord^(Y) appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. ¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt?^(Z) How long will they refuse to believe in me,^(AA) in spite of all the signs^(AB) I have performed among them? ¹² I will strike them down with a plague^(AC) and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation^(AD) greater and stronger than they.”^(AE)

¹³ Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.^{(AF) 14} And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard^(AG) that you, Lord, are with these people^(AH) and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face,^(AI) that your cloud stays over them,^(AJ) and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.^{(AK) 15} If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, ¹⁶ ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath,^(AL) so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’^(AM)

¹⁷ “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: ¹⁸ ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.^(AN) Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’^{(AO) 19} In accordance with your great love, forgive^(AP) the sin of these people,^(AQ) just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”^(AR)

²⁰ The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them,^(AS) as you asked. ²¹ Nevertheless, as surely as I live^(AT) and as surely as the glory of the Lord^(AU) fills the whole earth,^{(AV) 22} not one of those who saw my glory and the signs^(AW) I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times^(AX)— ²³ not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath^(AY) to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt^(AZ) will ever see it.^{(BA) 24} But because my servant Caleb^(BB) has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly,^(BC) I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.^{(BD) 25} Since the Amalekites^(BE) and the Canaanites^(BF) are living in the valleys, turn^(BG) back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.^[a](BH)”