| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. | 1Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. |
| 2Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. | 2And all the Israelites murmured 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 perished in this wilderness! |
| 3“Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” | 3Why has the LORD brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt?" |
| 4Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!” | 4So they said to one another, "Let's appoint a leader and return to Egypt." |
| 5Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel. | 5Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground before the whole assembled community of the Israelites. |
| 6Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing. | 6And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of those who had investigated the land, tore their garments. |
| 7They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land! | 7They said to the whole community of the Israelites, "The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land. |
| 8And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. | 8If the LORD delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us--a land that is flowing with milk and honey. |
| 9Do not rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!” | 9Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection has turned aside from them, but the LORD is with us. Do not fear them!" |
| 10But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle. | 10However, the whole community threatened to stone them. But the glory of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting. |
| 11And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them? | 11The LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me, and how long will they not believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them? |
| 12I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!” Moses Intercedes for the People | 12I will strike them with the pestilence, and I will disinherit them; I will make you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!" |
| 13But Moses objected. “What will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?” he asked the LORD. “They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing your people from Egypt. | 13Moses said to the LORD, "When the Egyptians hear it--for you brought up this people by your power from among them-- |
| 14Now if you destroy them, the Egyptians will send a report to the inhabitants of this land, who have already heard that you live among your people. They know, LORD, that you have appeared to your people face to face and that your pillar of cloud hovers over them. They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. | 14then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, LORD, are among this people, that you, LORD, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. |
| 15Now if you slaughter all these people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will say, | 15If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, |
| 16‘The LORD was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.’ | 16Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.' |
| 17“Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed. For you said, | 17So now, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said, |
| 18‘The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.’ | 18The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.' |
| 19In keeping with your magnificent, unfailing love, please pardon the sins of this people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.” | 19Please forgive the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now." |
| 20Then the LORD said, “I will pardon them as you have requested. | 20Then the LORD said, "I have forgiven them as you asked. |
| 21But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the LORD’s glory, | 21But truly, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. |
| 22not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. | 22For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted me now these ten times, and have not obeyed me, |
| 23They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it. | 23they will by no means see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it. |
| 24But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land. | 24Only my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit and has followed me fully--I will bring him into the land where he had gone, and his descendants will possess it. |
| 25Now turn around, and don’t go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea. ” The LORD Punishes the Israelites | 25(Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites were living in the valleys.) Tomorrow, turn and journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea." |
| 26Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, | 26The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron: |
| 27“How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me. | 27"How long must I bear with this evil congregation that murmurs against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites that they murmured against me. |
| 28Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. | 28Say to them, 'As I live, says the LORD, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing. |
| 29You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die. | 29Your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness--all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me. |
| 30You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. | 30You will by no means enter into the land where I swore to settle you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. |
| 31“‘You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised. | 31But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war, and they will enjoy the land that you have despised. |
| 32But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. | 32But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, |
| 33And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness. | 33and your children will wander in the wilderness forty years and suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your dead bodies lie finished in the wilderness. |
| 34“‘Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.’ | 34According to the number of the days you have investigated this land, forty days--one day for a year--you will suffer for your iniquities, forty years, and you will know what it means to thwart me. |
| 35I, the LORD, have spoken! I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!” | 35I, the LORD, have said, "I will surely do so to all this evil congregation that has gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will be finished, and there they will die!"'" |
| 36The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the LORD with their bad report— | 36The men whom Moses sent to investigate the land, who returned and made the whole community murmur against him by producing an evil report about the land, |
| 37were struck dead with a plague before the LORD. | 37those men who produced the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the LORD. |
| 38Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive. | 38But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among the men who went to investigate the land, lived. |
| 39When Moses reported the LORD’s words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief. | 39When Moses told these things to all the Israelites, the people mourned greatly. |
| 40Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. “Let’s go,” they said. “We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the LORD has promised us.” | 40And early in the morning they went up to the crest of the hill country, saying, "Here we are, and we will go up to the place that the LORD commanded, for we have sinned." |
| 41But Moses said, “Why are you now disobeying the LORD’s orders to return to the wilderness? It won’t work. | 41But Moses said, "Why are you now transgressing the commandment of the LORD? It will not succeed! |
| 42Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the LORD is not with you. | 42Do not go up, for the LORD is not among you, and you will be defeated before your enemies. |
| 43When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The LORD will abandon you because you have abandoned the LORD.” | 43For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be with you." |
| 44But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant left the camp. | 44But they dared to go up to the crest of the hill, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed from the camp. |
| 45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them back as far as Hormah. | 45So the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country swooped down and attacked them as far as Hormah. |
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