Numbers 14

₁All of the Israelites came together and shouted_loudly and cried all night. ₂The Israelites accused Moses and Aaron and they said to them: ‘We wish we had died in Egypt or in the desert. We wish we were dead. ₃Why did the Lord bring us to this land to die here in war? The enemies will take our wives and children for themselves. It will be better for us if we go back to Egypt.’ ₄They said to each other: ‘Let us choose a new leader and go back to Egypt.’

₅Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground in front of all the Israelites. ₆Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, were 2 of the men who had gone to see what the land was like. They tore their clothes ₇and they said to the Israelites: ‘We went through the land to see what the land was like, and we are telling you that this is a very good land. ₈If the Lord is good to us, He will bring us into this land and He will give it to us. This is land with a lot of food, milk and honey. ₉But you must not rebel_against the Lord and you must not be afraid of the people in the land. We will defeat them easily. No one will be able to protect them. The Lord is with us, so do not be afraid.’

₁₀All of the Israelites who came together then said that they were going to kill Joshua and Caleb with stones. But then all of the Israelites saw that the Lord, the King, was at the tent where He appeared to the Israelites. ₁₁The Lord said to Moses: ‘These people keep on turning away from Me. They don't want to trust Me. I have shown them a lot of signs, but they do not believe that I can help them. How long will they keep on doing this? ₁₂I will send a disease and kill all of them. Then I will make your descendants a greater and stronger nation than they were.’

₁₃Then Moses said to the Lord: ‘They will tell the people of Egypt about this because You saved these people from them with your power. ₁₄The people of Egypt will talk to the people who live in this land. They will tell them that You, the Lord, were with your people and that You appeared to them. They will tell them that You led them with a cloud above them in the day and with fire at night. ₁₅If you kill your people now, then all the people will say: ₁₆“The Lord is not strong. He could not bring his people into the land that He promised to give them. That is why they have all died in the desert.” ₁₇Lord, that is why You must please show them now that You are strong. You have said: ₁₈“I, the Lord, am patient and loving. I forgive people when they sin and rebel, but I never say someone is innocent if he is guilty. I will punish the descendants for the sins of their forefathers. I will also punish their grandchildren and their great_grandchildren, the 3rd and 4th generation.”

₁₉You are always full of love. You have forgiven the sins of these people from the time that they went away from Egypt until now. You forgive their sins to the 3rd and 4th generation. Please forgive them now.’

₂₀The Lord said to Moses: ‘I will forgive them as you have asked Me to, ₂₁but as sure as I live, as sure as I am the King of all the world, ₂₂these people have seen that I am the King. They have seen the signs that I did in Egypt and in the desert, but they have tested Me more than 10 times and they have not listened to Me. ₂₃That is why none of them will see the land that I have promised their forefathers. Not one of the people who have turned away from Me and did not want to trust Me will go into the land.

₂₄But my servant Caleb is different. He kept on believing in Me. I will bring him into the land that he went to and the land will belong to his descendants.

₂₅The Amalekite people and the Canaanites live in the lower part of the land. You must turn away tomorrow and go further into the desert to the Red Sea.’

₂₆The Lord talked to Moses and Aaron and He said: ₂₇‘These sinful Israelites complain and accuse Me all the time. ₂₈You must tell them: “As sure as I live, I have heard what you said and what you wished for, and this is what I will do to you. It will happen: ₂₉Your dead bodies will lie in the sand of this desert, all of you whose names are written in the book, all who are older than 20 years, all who have accused Me. ₃₀I promised that you would live in that land, but now you will not go there. Only Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun, will go into the land. ₃₁And what will happen to your children? You said that the enemies would come and take them. But I will bring them into the land. They will know the land that you did not want to go into. ₃₂Your dead bodies will lie in this desert, ₃₃and your children will have to look after sheep and goats in the desert for 40 years. You were unfaithful and that is why you will suffer until you have died and your dead bodies lie in the desert. ₃₄You sent men to go and see what the land was like, and they were there for 40 days. I will punish you one year for each day that they were there. You will suffer for 40 years for your sin, and you will know that I am angry with you. ₃₅I, the Lord, have spoken. I will do this to these sinful people who have rebelled_against Me in this desert. You will all die here.” ’

₃₆Moses had sent men to go and look at the land. The men came back and they told the people bad things that were false about the land. They made the people of the congregation rebel_against Moses and they accused him. ₃₇The men who had told those bad things to the other people all died of the disease that the Lord sent. ₃₈Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, had also gone with the men to look at the land, but they did not die. They kept on living.

₃₉When Moses told the Israelites everything that the Lord had said, the people cried and mourned. ₄₀They got up early the next morning and wanted to go up onto the mountains. They said: ‘Here we are. We have sinned, but now we will go to the place that God has promised to give us.’

₄₁Moses said to them: ‘Why do you keep on sinning? Why don't you listen to the Lord? Your plan will not work. ₄₂Don't go, because the Lord is not with you. If you go into the land, the enemies will defeat you. ₄₃The Amalekite people and the Canaanites were there before you. You will die in war because you have turned away from the Lord. He will not be with you, and He will not help you.’

₄₄But the Israelites were stubborn. They went up onto the mountains. The covenant box of the Lord stayed in the camp and Moses also stayed there. ₄₅The Amalekite people and the Canaanites who lived in those mountains came down and defeated the Israelites. They chased the Israelites who ran away and fled to as far as the town of Hormah.