Numbers 14
14
Israel Refuses to Enter Canaan
1So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people #Num. 11:4; Deut. 1:45wept that night. 2#Ex. 16:2; 17:3; Num. 16:41; Ps. 106:25; 1 Cor. 10:10And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and #Num. 14:31; Deut. 1:39children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4So they said to one another, #Neh. 9:17“Let us select a leader and #Deut. 17:16; Acts 7:39return to Egypt.”
5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
6But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: #Num. 13:27; Deut. 1:25“The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8If the Lord #Deut. 10:15; 2 Sam. 15:25, 26; 1 Kin. 10:9; Ps. 147:11delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, #Ex. 3:8; Num. 13:27‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ 9Only #Deut. 1:26; 9:7, 23, 24; 1 Sam. 15:23do not rebel against the Lord, #Deut. 7:18nor fear the people of the land, for #Num. 24:8they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, #Gen. 48:21; Ex. 33:16; Deut. 20:1, 3, 4; 31:6–8; Josh. 1:5; Judg. 1:22; 2 Chr. 13:12; Ps. 46:7, 11; Zech. 8:23; Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”
10#Ex. 17:4And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now #Ex. 16:10; Lev. 9:23the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.
Moses Intercedes for the People
11Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these people #Ps. 95:8; Heb. 3:8reject Me? And how long will they not #Deut. 9:23; (John 12:37)believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? 12I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will #Ex. 32:10make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
13And #Ps. 106:23Moses said to the Lord: #Ex. 32:12; Deut. 9:26–28; 32:27“Then the Egyptians will hear it, for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, 14and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have #Deut. 2:25heard that You, Lord, are among these people; that You, Lord, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, 16‘Because the Lord was not #Deut. 9:28able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.’ 17And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, 18#Ex. 34:6, 7; Deut. 5:10; 7:9; Ps. 103:8; 145:8; Jon. 4:2‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, #Ex. 20:5; Deut. 5:9visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’ 19#Ex. 32:32; 34:9Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, #Ps. 51:1; 106:45according to the greatness of Your mercy, just #Ps. 78:38as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
20Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, #2 Sam. 12:13; Mic. 7:18–20; (1 John 5:14–16)according to your word; 21but truly, as I live, #Ps. 72:19; Is. 6:3; 66:18, 19; Hab. 2:14all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord— 22#Deut. 1:35; 1 Cor. 10:5; Heb. 3:17because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now #Gen. 31:7these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23they certainly shall not #Num. 26:65; 32:11; Heb. 3:18see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. 24But My servant #Josh. 14:6, 8, 9Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and #Num. 32:12has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. 25Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn and #Num. 21:4; Deut. 1:40move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.”
Death Sentence on the Rebels
26And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27#Ex. 16:28“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? #Ex. 16:12I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. 28#Deut. 1:35; 2:14, 15; Heb. 3:16–19Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: 29The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, #Num. 1:45, 46; 26:64; Josh. 5:6all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. 30#Num. 26:65; 32:12; Deut. 1:36–38; Josh. 14:6–15Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. 31#Num. 14:3; Deut. 1:39But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which #Ps. 106:24you have despised. 32But as for you, #Num. 26:64, 65; 32:13; 1 Cor. 10:5your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. 33And your sons shall #Num. 32:13; Ps. 107:40be shepherds in the wilderness #Deut. 2:14forty years, and #Ezek. 23:35bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. 34#Num. 13:25According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, #Ps. 95:10; Ezek. 4:6forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, #1 Kin. 8:56; (Heb. 4:1)and you shall know My rejection. 35#Num. 23:19I the Lord have spoken this. I will surely do so to all #1 Cor. 10:5this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ ”
36Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, 37those very men who brought the evil report about the land, #Num. 16:49; (1 Cor. 10:10); Heb. 3:17, 18died by the plague before the Lord. 38#Josh. 14:6, 10But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.
A Futile Invasion Attempt
39Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, #Ex. 33:4and the people mourned greatly. 40And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, #Deut. 1:41–44“Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned!”
41And Moses said, “Now why do you transgress the command of the Lord? For this will not succeed. 42#Deut. 1:42; 31:17Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. 43For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; #2 Chr. 15:2because you have turned away from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.”
44#Deut. 1:43But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed from the camp. 45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as #Num. 21:3Hormah.
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Numbers 14: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Numbers 14
14
The People Complain
1All night long the people cried out in distress. 2They complained against Moses and Aaron, and said, “It would have been better to die in Egypt or even here in the wilderness! 3Why is the LORD taking us into that land? We will be killed in battle, and our wives and children will be captured. Wouldn't it be better to go back to Egypt?” 4So they said to one another, “Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt!”
5Then Moses and Aaron bowed to the ground in front of all the people. 6And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of the spies, tore their clothes in sorrow 7and said to the people, “The land we explored is an excellent land. 8If the LORD is pleased with us, he will take us there and give us that rich and fertile land. 9#Heb 3.16Do not rebel against the LORD and don't be afraid of the people who live there. We will conquer them easily. The LORD is with us and has defeated the gods who protected them; so don't be afraid.” 10The whole community was threatening to stone them to death, but suddenly the people saw the dazzling light of the LORD's presence appear over the tent.
Moses Prays for the People
11The LORD said to Moses, “How much longer will these people reject me? How much longer will they refuse to trust in me, even though I have performed so many miracles among them? 12I will send an epidemic and destroy them, but I will make you the father of a nation that is larger and more powerful than they are!”
13 #
Ex 32.11–14
But Moses said to the LORD, “You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people, 14they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, LORD, are with us, that you are plainly seen when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say 16that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them. 17So now LORD, I pray, show us your power and do what you promised when you said, 18#Ex 20.5–6; 34.6–7; Deut 5.9–10; 7.9–10‘I, the LORD, am not easily angered, and I show great love and faithfulness and forgive sin and rebellion. Yet I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.’ 19And now, LORD, according to the greatness of your unchanging love, forgive, I pray, the sin of these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”
20The LORD answered, “I will forgive them, as you have asked. 21#Heb 3.18But I promise that as surely as I live and as surely as my presence fills the earth, 22none of these people will live to enter that land. They have seen the dazzling light of my presence and the miracles that I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, but they have tried my patience over and over again and have refused to obey me. 23They will never enter the land which I promised to their ancestors. None of those who have rejected me will ever enter it. 24#Josh 14.9–12But because my servant Caleb has a different attitude and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land which he explored, and his descendants will possess the land 25in whose valleys the Amalekites and the Canaanites now live. Turn back tomorrow and go into the wilderness in the direction of the Gulf of Aqaba.”
The Lord Punishes the People for Complaining
26The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 27“How much longer are these wicked people going to complain against me? I have heard enough of these complaints! 28Now give them this answer: ‘I swear that as surely as I live, I will do to you just what you have asked. I, the LORD, have spoken. 29#Heb 3.17You will die and your corpses will be scattered across this wilderness. Because you have complained against me, none of you over twenty years of age will enter that land. 30I promised to let you live there, but not one of you will, except Caleb and Joshua. 31You said that your children would be captured, but I will bring them into the land that you rejected, and it will be their home. 32You will die here in this wilderness. 33#Acts 7.36Your children will wander in the wilderness for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last one of you dies. 34You will suffer the consequences of your sin for forty years, one year for each of the forty days you spent exploring the land. You will know what it means to have me against you! 35I swear that I will do this to you wicked people who have gathered together against me. Here in the wilderness every one of you will die. I, the LORD, have spoken.’ ”
36-37The men Moses had sent to explore the land brought back a false report which caused the people to complain against the LORD. And so the LORD struck them with a disease, and they died. 38Of the twelve spies only Joshua and Caleb survived.
The First Attempt to Invade the Land
(Deut 1.41–46)
39When Moses told the Israelites what the LORD had said, they mourned bitterly. 40Early the next morning they started out to invade the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go to the place which the LORD told us about. We admit that we have sinned.”
41But Moses said, “Then why are you disobeying the LORD now? You will not succeed! 42Don't go. The LORD is not with you, and your enemies will defeat you. 43When you face the Amalekites and the Canaanites, you will die in battle; the LORD will not be with you, because you have refused to follow him.”
44Yet they still dared to go up into the hill country, even though neither the LORD's Covenant Box nor Moses left the camp. 45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived there attacked and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hormah.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.