Numbers 14:1–5

ISRAEL’S REFUSAL TO ENTER CANAAN

14 Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. 2 All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron,j and the whole community told them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder.k Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”l 4 So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole assembly of the Israelite community.