| New International Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. | 1Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept. |
| 2All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! | 2All the Israelites grumbled 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 is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" | 3Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” |
| 4And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." | 4So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” |
| 5Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. | 5Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel. |
| 6Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes | 6Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes |
| 7and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. | 7and said to the whole congregation of Israel, “The land we passed through and explored is an exceedingly good land. |
| 8If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. | 8If the LORD delights in us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and He will give it to us. |
| 9Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them." | 9Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!” |
| 10But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. | 10But the whole congregation threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting. |
| 11The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? | 11And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them? |
| 12I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they." | 12I will strike them with a plague and destroy them—and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.” |
| 13Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them. | 13But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them. |
| 14And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, LORD, are with these people and that you, LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. | 14And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have already heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, that You, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that Your cloud stands over them, and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. |
| 15If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, | 15If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, |
| 16The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.' | 16‘Because the LORD was unable to bring this people into the land He swore to give them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ |
| 17"Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared: | 17So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared: |
| 18The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.' | 18‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’ |
| 19In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now." | 19Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.” |
| 20The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. | 20“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied. |
| 21Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, | 21“Yet as surely as I live and as surely as the whole earth is filled with the glory of the LORD, |
| 22not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times-- | 22not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times— |
| 23not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. | 23not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will see it. |
| 24But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. | 24But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it. |
| 25Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea." | 25Now since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea.” |
| 26The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: | 26Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, |
| 27"How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. | 27“How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me. |
| 28So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: | 28So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. |
| 29In this wilderness your bodies will fall--every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. | 29Your bodies will fall in this wilderness—all who were numbered in the census, everyone twenty years of age or older—because you have grumbled against Me. |
| 30Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. | 30Surely none of you will enter the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. |
| 31As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. | 31But I will bring your children, whom you said would become plunder, into the land you have rejected—and they will enjoy it. |
| 32But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. | 32As for you, however, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. |
| 33Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. | 33Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. |
| 34For forty years--one year for each of the forty days you explored the land--you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.' | 34In keeping with the forty days you spied out the land, you shall bear your guilt forty years—a year for each day—and you will experience My alienation. |
| 35I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die." | 35I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this entire wicked congregation, which has conspired against Me. They will meet their end in the wilderness, and there they will die.” |
| 36So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it-- | 36So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land— |
| 37these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD. | 37those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD. |
| 38Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived. | 38Of those men who had gone to spy out the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive. |
| 39When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. | 39And when Moses relayed these words to all the Israelites, the people mourned bitterly. |
| 40Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, "Now we are ready to go up to the land the LORD promised. Surely we have sinned!" | 40Early the next morning they got up and went up toward the ridge of the hill country. “We have indeed sinned,” they said, “but we will go to the place the LORD has promised.” |
| 41But Moses said, "Why are you disobeying the LORD's command? This will not succeed! | 41But Moses said, “Why are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD? This will not succeed! |
| 42Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, | 42Do not go up, lest you be struck down by your enemies, because the LORD is not among you. |
| 43for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword." | 43For there the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, He will not be with you.” |
| 44Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD's covenant moved from the camp. | 44But they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the covenant of the LORD moved from the camp. |
| 45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah. | 45Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah. |
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