UST NUM Chapter 14

◄ NUM 14 ► ║ ©

14 During that night, all the Israelite people cried loudly. 2 Also, all the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron. The whole Israelite community said to Moses and Aaron, “We wish that we had died in Egypt or in this desolate area! 3 Yahweh has taken us to this land only so that the people who live here can slaughter us men. Then, they will capture our wives and children. It is best for us to go back to Egypt!” 4 So they said to each other, “We should choose a new leader, and he will lead us back to Egypt.” 5 Then Aaron and Moses sorrowfully and fearfully bowed down before Yahweh in front of the whole Israelite community. 6 Nun’s son Joshua and Jephunneh’s son Caleb were two of the men who had scouted Canaan out. They ripped their clothing to show how sad they were. 7 They told the whole Israelite community, “The area that we scouted out is extremely good. 8 We should act to please Yahweh. Then, he will lead us to Canaan and give it to us. It is a very fertile place! 9 But please, do not refuse to obey Yahweh! He acts for us. So, do not be afraid of the people who live in Canaan! There is nothing to protect them. We will defeat them as easily as we eat food. So, do not be afraid of them! 10 Then the whole Israelite community talked about killing Caleb and Joshua by throwing stones at them. However, Yahweh made himself present to all the Israelites in a glorious way at the sacred tent. 11 Yahweh told Moses, “I am displeased that these people keep rejecting me. I am displeased that they do not trust me, despite all the amazing things that I have performed among them. 12 So I will kill them with a terrible disease, and they will not live in the land of Canaan. Instead, I will make your descendants a people group. They will be more numerous and more powerful than these Israelites.” 13 Moses replied to Yahweh, “You powerfully took these people from Egypt. But if you do what you say, the Egyptians will learn about it, 14 and they will tell it to the people in Canaan. The people in Canaan have already learned that you, Yahweh, are present with the Israelites. The people in Canaan have learned that the Israelites can see your presence directly and that the cloud that you control is above them. The people in Canaan have learned that you lead the Israelites during the day with a cloud that looks like a column and during the night with fire that looks like a column. 15 So suppose that you kill all the Israelites at once. In that case, the people groups who have learned about you will say, 16 ‘Yahweh could not take these people into the land that he promised to give to them, so he killed them in the desolate area.’ 17 So, I ask you to show that you are very powerful. That is what you said about yourself when you told me, 18 ‘I do not quickly become angry. Instead, I am faithful. I forgive people when they do what is wrong or disobey me. However, I will certainly punish some people. When parents do what is wrong, I will punish their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.’ 19 I ask that you pardon these people for what they have done wrong. I ask that because you are very faithful and because you have been pardoning them during the whole time we traveled from Egypt to this place.” 20 Yahweh replied, “I have pardoned them as you asked. 21 Yet, I surely live, and I surely am gloriously present throughout the whole world. 22 Just as surely, I proclaim something about all the people who experienced the amazing things that I performed in Egypt and in the desolate area and how I make myself gloriously present. Those people provoked me many times and did not do what I said. 23 Because of that, I proclaim that none of them will experience the land that I promised their ancestors that I would give to their descendants. Indeed, no one who rejected me will experience that land. 24 However, Caleb, who serves me, is different from those people. He has obeyed me completely. Because of that, I will take him into the land that he scouted out. Some of it will belong to his descendants. 25 Now the Amalekite people group and the Canaanite people group live in the nearby valley. So, tomorrow you and the Israelites must turn around and leave this place and walk to the desolate area. You must walk on the road to the Sea of Reeds. 26 Then Yahweh told Aaron and Moses, 27 “I have often listened to these Israelites complain about me. I am displeased that this wicked community keeps doing that! 28 So tell them, ‘Here is what I, Yahweh, say: I surely live. Just as surely, I will make you experience exactly what you said to me. 29 Everyone who complained about me will die in this desolate area. That includes all the men who were at least 20 years old whom Moses, Aaron, and the 12 leaders listed. 30 You will certainly not enter the land that I solemnly promised to give to you. Only Jephunneh’s son Caleb, Nun’s son Joshua, 31 and your children will enter that land. Those are the very children whom you said your enemies would capture. Those are the people I will take to the land that you refused to enter, and they will experience it. 32 But as for you, you will die in this desolate area. 33 Your children will wander in this desolate area as herders for about forty years. Until all of you die in this desolate area, they will suffer because you did not faithfully obey me. 34 I will punish you for what you did wrong for forty years. That is one year for each of the forty days that the 12 leaders scouted Canaan out. You will experience what it is like to have me as an enemy. 35 This will certainly happen because I, Yahweh, have declared it! I will certainly carry out everything I have said about this wicked community that gathers together to oppose me. They will never leave this desolate area. In fact, they will die here!’ ” 36 As for ten of the leaders whom Moses told to scout out the land of Canaan, they had come back and told bad things about Canaan. What they did caused the Israelite community to complain about Moses. 37 So, a terrible disease killed those men in Yahweh’s presence. 38 Of the 12 men who had scouted Canaan out, only Nun’s son Joshua and Jephunneh’s son Caleb stayed alive. 39 Then Moses told the Israelites what Yahweh had said. They were very sad. 40 They woke up early the next morning and started to go to the highest parts of the hilly area in Canaan. They said, “We are here! We did what was wrong. So, now we will walk to the area that Yahweh spoke about.” 41 Moses replied, “You should not do that. You are disobeying what Yahweh said! You will not accomplish anything good. 42 Yahweh will not act for you. So, you should not walk there. Otherwise, the people who oppose you will defeat you. 43 I mean that the Amalekite people group and the Canaanite people group will oppose you there, and they will slaughter you. Here is why: you stopped obeying Yahweh. So, Yahweh will not act for you. 44 Despite that, the Israelites decided to walk to the highest parts of the hilly area in Canaan. However, both the sacred chest and Moses remained at the campsite. 45 Then men from the Amalekite people group and the Canaanite people group who lived in that hilly area attacked the Israelites. They defeated the Israelites and chased them to Hormah, which means “destroy”.

◄ NUM 14 ► ║ ©

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