Numbers 14:1–20

Israel’s Refusal to Enter Canaan

14Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. ²All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, ^eand the whole community told 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 into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. ^fWouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ^g4So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

⁵Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground in front of the whole assembly of the Israelite community. ⁶Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes ⁷and said to the entire Israelite community: “The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land. ^h8If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, ⁱand give it to us. ⁹Only don’t rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. ^jTheir protection ^khas been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don’t be afraid of them!”

¹⁰While the whole community threatened to stone them, ^lthe glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.

God’s Judgment of Israel’s Rebellion

¹¹The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people despise Me? How long will they not trust in Me despite all the signs I have performed among them? ^m12I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are.” ⁿ

¹³But Moses replied to the Lord, “The Egyptians will hear about it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from them. ¹⁴They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. ^oThey have heard that You, Lord, are among these people, how You, Lord, are seen face to face, how Your cloud stands over them, and how You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. ^p15If You kill this people with a single blow, ^qrthe nations that have heard of Your fame ^swill declare, ¹⁶‘Since the Lord wasn’t able to bring this people into the land He swore to give them, ^tHe has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ ^u

¹⁷“So now, may my Lord’s power be magnified just as You have spoken: ¹⁸The Lord is slow to anger and rich in faithful love, ^vforgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. ^wBut He will not leave the guilty unpunished, ^xbringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children to the third and fourth generation. ^y19Please pardon the wrongdoing of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your faithful love, ^zjust as You have forgiven them from Egypt until now.”

²⁰The Lord responded, “I have pardoned them as you requested.