^14:28Say to them, ‘As I live,⁴⁶ says⁴⁷ the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing.⁴⁸^14:29Your dead bodies⁴⁹ 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. ^14:30You will by no means enter into the land where⁵⁰ I swore⁵¹ to settle⁵² you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. ^14:31But I will bring in your little ones, whom you said would become victims of war,⁵³ and they will enjoy⁵⁴ the land that you have despised. ^14:32But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, ^14:33and your children will wander⁵⁵ in the wilderness forty years and suffer for your unfaithfulness,⁵⁶ until your dead bodies lie finished⁵⁷ in the wilderness. ^14:34According to the number of the days you have investigated this land, forty days—one day for a year—you will suffer for⁵⁸ your iniquities, forty years, and you will know what it means to thwart me.⁵⁹

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Footnotes

46 Here again is the oath that God swore in his wrath, an oath he swore by himself, that they would not enter the land. “As the Lord lives,” or “by the life of the Lord,” are ways to render it.
47 The word נְאֻם (né’um) is an “oracle.” It is followed by the subjective genitive: “the oracle of the Lord” is equal to saying “the Lord says.”
48 Heb “in my ears.” They had expressed the longing to have died in the wilderness, and not in war. God will now give them that. They would not say to God “your will be done,” so he says to them, “your will be done” (to borrow from C. S. Lewis).
49 Or “your corpses” (also in vv. 32, 33).
50 The relative pronoun “which” is joined with the resumptive pronoun “in it” to form a smoother reading “where.”
51 The Hebrew text uses the anthropomorphic expression “I raised my hand” in taking an oath.
52 Heb “to cause you to dwell; to cause you to settle.”
53 Or “plunder.”
54 Heb “know.”
55 The word is “shepherds.” It means that the people would be wilderness nomads, grazing their flock on available land.
56 Heb “you shall bear your whoredoms.” The imagery of prostitution is used throughout the Bible to reflect spiritual unfaithfulness, leaving the covenant relationship and following after false gods. Here it is used generally for their rebellion in the wilderness, but not for following other gods.
57 The infinitive is from תָּמַם (tamam), which means “to be complete.” The word is often used to express completeness in a good sense—whole, blameless, or the like. Here and in v. 35 it seems to mean “until your deaths have been completed.” See also Gen 47:15; Deut 2:15.
58 Heb “you shall bear.”
59 The phrase refers to the consequences of open hostility to God, or perhaps abandonment of God. The noun תְּנוּאָה (ténu’ah) occurs in Job 33:10 (perhaps). The related verb occurs in Num 30:6 (30:5 ) and 32:7 with the sense of “disallow, discourage.” The sense of the expression adopted in this translation comes from the meticulous study of R. Loewe, “Divine Frustration Exegetically Frustrated,” Words and Meanings, 137–58.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’

NIVNew International Version (2011)

So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: In 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. Not 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. As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. For 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.’

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Tell them: As I live—this is the Lord’s declaration—I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness—all of you who were registered in the census, the entire number of you twenty years old or more—because you have complained about me. I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. I will bring your children whom you said would become plunder into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it. But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years and bear the penalty for your acts of unfaithfulness until all your corpses lie scattered in the wilderness. You will bear the consequences of your iniquities forty years based on the number of the forty days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will know my displeasure.

NLTNew Living Translation

Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. You 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. You 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.

“ ‘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. But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness. And 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.

“ ‘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.’

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Say to them, ‘Surely as I live,’ declares Yahweh, ‘just as you spoke in my hearing, so I will do to you; in this desert your corpses will fall, and all your counted ones, according to all your number, from twenty years old and above who grumbled against me. You yourselves will not come into the land that I swore by oath to make you to dwell in it, but Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. But your little children, whom you said would be plunder, I will bring them, and they will know the land that you rejected. But for you, all your corpses will fall in this desert. And your children will be shepherds in the desert forty years, and you will bear your unfaithfulness until all your corpses have fallen in the desert. According to the number of the days that you explored the land, forty days, a day for each year, you will bear your sins forty years, and you will know my opposition.’

KJV 1900King James Version

Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

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