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The People Rebel

14 Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 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. “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?” Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”

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The People Complain

14 Then all the community lifted up their voices,[a] and the people wept during that night. 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! 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?” They said to each other,[c] “Let us appoint a leader, and we will return to Egypt.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 14:1 Hebrew “they lifted up and gave their voice”
  2. Numbers 14:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  3. Numbers 14:4 Literally “A man said to his brother”