² And all the sons of Israel ^(A)grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the entire congregation said to them, “^(B)If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness! ³ So why is the Lord bringing us into this land ^(C)to fall by the sword? ^(D)Our wives and our little ones will become plunder! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” ⁴ So they said to one another, “^(E)Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”

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

Moses Pleads for the People

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

^13 (R)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, ¹⁴ and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are in the midst of this people, because ^(S)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. ¹⁵ Now if You put this people to death ^[e]all at once, ^(T)then the nations who have heard of Your fame will ^[f]say, ¹⁶ ‘Since the Lord ^(U)could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷ So now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying, ¹⁸ ‘^(V)The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in mercy, forgiving wrongdoing and violation of His Law; but ^(W)He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, ^(X)inflicting the ^[g]punishment of the fathers on the children ^[h]to the third and the fourth generations.’ ¹⁹ Please ^(Y)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.”