Numbers 14
14
1And the whole assembly lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole assembly said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or in this wilderness would that we had died! 3And why is Jehovah bringing us to this land that we may fall by the sword, that our wives and our little ones may become a prey? Is it not better for us to return to Egypt? 4And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt.
5Then Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the whole congregation of the assembly of the children of Israel. 6And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of them that searched out the land, rent their garments. 7And they spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it out, is a very, very good land. 8If Jehovah delight in us, he will bring us into this land, and give it us, a land that flows with milk and honey; 9only rebel not against Jehovah; and fear not the people of the land; for they shall be our food. Their defence is departed from them, and Jehovah is with us: fear them not. 10And the whole assembly said that they should be stoned with stones. And the glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting to all the children of Israel.
11And Jehovah said to Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe me, for all the signs which I have done among them? 12I will smite them with the pestilence, and destroy them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they. 13And Moses said to Jehovah, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for in thy might thou broughtest up this people from the midst of them; 14and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land, who have heard that thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of this people, that thou, Jehovah, lettest thyself be seen eye to eye, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night; 15if thou now slayest this people as one man, then the nations that have heard thy fame will speak, saying, 16Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land that he had sworn unto them, he has therefore slain them in the wilderness. 17And now, I beseech thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, 18Jehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in goodness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth generation. 19Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy loving-kindness, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
20And Jehovah said, I have pardoned according to thy word. 21But as surely as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah! 22for all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice, 23shall in no wise see the land which I did swear unto their fathers: none of them that despised me shall see it. 24But my servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit in him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he came; and his seed shall possess it. 25(Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley.) To-morrow turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness, on the way to the Red sea. 26And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27How long shall I bear with this evil assembly, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. 28Say unto them, As surely as I live, saith Jehovah, if I do not do unto you as ye have spoken in mine ears! 29In this wilderness shall your carcases fall; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number from twenty years old and upwards, who have murmured against me, 30shall in no wise come into the land, concerning which I have lifted up my hand to make you dwell in it; save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 31But your little ones, of whom ye said they should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land that ye have despised. 32And as to you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness. 33And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. 34After the number of the days in which ye have searched out the land, forty days, each day for a year shall ye bear your iniquities forty years, and ye shall know mine estrangement from you. 35I Jehovah have spoken; I will surely do it unto all this evil assembly which have gathered together against me! in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.
36And the men whom Moses had sent to search out the land, who returned, and made the whole assembly to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report upon the land, 37even those men who had brought up an evil report upon the land, died by a plague before Jehovah. 38But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, lived still of the men that had gone to search out the land. 39And Moses told all these sayings to all the children of Israel; then the people mourned greatly. 40And they rose up early in the morning, and went up to the hill-top, saying, Here are we, and we will go up to the place of which Jehovah has spoken; for we have sinned. 41And Moses said, Why now do ye transgress the commandment of Jehovah? but it shall not prosper! 42Go not up, for Jehovah is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies; 43for the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword; for as ye have turned away from Jehovah, Jehovah will not be with you. 44Yet they presumed to go up to the hill-top; but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and Moses, did not depart from the midst of the camp. 45And the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt on that hill, came down and smote them, and cut them to pieces, as far as Hormah.
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Numbers 14: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Numbers 14
14
The People Complain Again
1That night all the people in the camp began shouting loudly. 2The Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. All the people came together and said to Moses and Aaron, “We should have died in Egypt or in the desert. 3Did the Lord bring us to this new land to be killed in war? The enemy will kill us and take our wives and children! It would be better for us to go back to Egypt.”
4Then the people said to each other, “Let’s choose another leader and go back to Egypt.”
5Moses and Aaron bowed low to the ground in front of all the people gathered there. 6Joshua and Caleb became very upset. (Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were two of the men who explored the land.) 7These two men said to all the Israelites gathered there, “The land that we saw is very good. 8It is a land filled with many good things. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land. And he will give that land to us. 9So don’t turn against the Lord! Don’t be afraid of the people in that land. We can defeat them. They have no protection, nothing to keep them safe. But we have the Lord with us, so don’t be afraid!”
10All the people began talking about killing Joshua and Caleb with stones. But the Glory of the Lord appeared over the Meeting Tent where all the people could see it. 11The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “How long will these people continue to turn against me? They show that they don’t trust me or believe in my power, in spite of the many miracles I have done among them. 12I will kill them all with a terrible sickness. I will destroy them, and I will use you to make another nation. Your nation will be greater and stronger than these people.”
13Then Moses said to the Lord, “If you do that, the Egyptians will hear about it! They know that you used your great power to bring your people out of Egypt. 14The Egyptians have already told the people in Canaan about it. They already know you are the Lord. They know that you are with your people. They know that the people saw you. Those people know about the special cloud. They know you use the cloud to lead your people during the day. And they know the cloud becomes a fire to lead your people at night. 15So you must not kill these people now. If you kill them, all the nations who have heard about your power will say, 16‘The Lord was not able to bring them into the land he promised them. So he killed them in the desert.’
17“So now, Lord, show your strength! Show it the way you said you would. 18You said, ‘The Lord is slow to become angry. He is full of great love. He forgives#14:18 forgives Or “spares.” those who are guilty and break the law. But he always punishes those who are guilty. He punishes them, and he also punishes their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren for those bad things.’ 19Now, show your great love to these people. Forgive their sin. Forgive them the same way you have been forgiving them since the time they left Egypt until now.”
20The Lord answered, “Yes, I will forgive the people as you asked. 21But I tell you the truth. As surely as I live and as surely as the Glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, I make you this promise: 22None of the people I led out of Egypt will ever see the land of Canaan. They saw my glory and the great signs that I did in Egypt and in the desert. But they disobeyed me and tested me ten times. 23I promised their ancestors that I would give them that land. But none of those people who turned against me will ever enter that land! 24But my servant Caleb was different. He follows me completely. So I will bring him into the land that he has already seen, and his people will get that land. 25The Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valley. So tomorrow you must leave this place. Go back to the desert on the road to the Red Sea.”
The Lord Punishes the People
26The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 27“How long will these evil people continue to complain against me? I have heard their complaints and their griping. 28So tell them, ‘The Lord says that he will surely do all those things to you that you complained about. This is what will happen to you: 29You will die in this desert. Every person who is 20 years old or older and was counted as one of my people will die. You complained against me. 30So none of you will ever enter and live in the land that I promised to give you. Only Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun will enter that land. 31You were afraid and complained that your enemies in that new land would take your children away from you. But I tell you that I will bring them into the land. They will enjoy what you refused to accept. 32As for you people, you will die in this desert.
33“‘Your children will wander around like shepherds here in the desert for 40 years. They will suffer because you were not faithful to me. They must suffer until all of you lie dead in the desert. 34For 40 years you will suffer for your sins. (That is one year for each of the 40 days that the men explored the land.) You will know that it is a terrible thing for me to be against you.’
35“I am the Lord, and I have spoken. And I promise that I will do these things to all these evil people. They have come together against me. So they will all die here in this desert.”
36The men Moses sent to explore the new land were the ones who came back complaining about him to all the Israelites. They said that the people were not strong enough to enter that land. 37The men were responsible for spreading the trouble among the Israelites. So the Lord caused a sickness to kill all those men. 38But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were among the men who were sent out to explore the land. They are the only ones who did not get the sickness that caused the others to die.
The People Try to Go Into Canaan
39When Moses told the Israelites this, they were very sad. 40Early the next morning the people started to go up to the high hill country. They said, “We have sinned. We are sorry that we did not trust the Lord. We will go to the place that the Lord promised.”
41But Moses said, “Why are you not obeying the Lord’s command? You will not be successful! 42Don’t go into that land. The Lord is not with you, so your enemies will easily defeat you. 43The Amalekites and Canaanites will fight against you there. You have turned away from the Lord, so he will not be with you when you fight them. And you will all be killed in battle.”
44But the people did not believe Moses. They went toward the high hill country. But Moses and the Box of the Lord’s Agreement did not go with the people. 45The Amalekites and the Canaanites living in the hill country came down and attacked the Israelites and easily defeated them and chased them all the way to Hormah.
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