Numbers 14–15

The People Rebel

14That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.^{d 2}All the Israelites grumbled^e against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt!^f Or in this wilderness!^{g 3}Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?^h Our wives and childrenⁱ will be taken as plunder.^j Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?^k” ⁴And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.^l”

⁵Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown^m in front of the whole Israelite assemblyⁿ gathered there. ⁶Joshua son of Nun^o and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes^{p 7}and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.^{q 8}If the Lord is pleased with us,^r he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey,^s and will give it to us.^{t 9}Only do not rebel^u against the Lord. And do not be afraid^v of the people of the land,^w because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with^x us.^y Do not be afraid of them.”^z

¹⁰But the whole assembly talked about stoning^a them. Then the glory of the Lord^b appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. ¹¹The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt?^c How long will they refuse to believe in me,^d in spite of all the signs^e I have performed among them? ¹²I will strike them down with a plague^f and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation^g greater and stronger than they.”^h

¹³Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.^{i 14}And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard^j that you, Lord, are with these people^k and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face,^l that your cloud stays over them,^m and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.^{n 15}If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, ¹⁶‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath,^o so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’^p

¹⁷“Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: ¹⁸‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.^q Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’^{r 19}In accordance with your great love, forgive^s the sin of these people,^t just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”^u

²⁰The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them,^v as you asked. ²¹Nevertheless, as surely as I live^w and as surely as the glory of the Lord^x fills the whole earth,^{y 22}not one of those who saw my glory and the signs^z I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times^a—²³not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath^b to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt^c will ever see it.^{d 24}But because my servant Caleb^e has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly,^f I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.^{g 25}Since the Amalekites^h and the Canaanitesⁱ are living in the valleys, turn^j back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.^ak”

²⁶The 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.^{l 28}So tell them, ‘As surely as I live,^m declares the Lord, I will do to youⁿ the very thing I heard you say: ²⁹In this wilderness your bodies will fall^o—every one of you twenty years old or more^p who was counted in the census^q and who has grumbled against me. ³⁰Not one of you will enter the land^r I swore with uplifted hand^s to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh^t and Joshua son of Nun.^{u 31}As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.^{v 32}But as for you, your bodies will fall^w in this wilderness. ³³Your children will be shepherds here for forty years,^x suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. ³⁴For forty years^y—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land^z—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ ³⁵I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things^a to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.^b”

³⁶So the men Moses had sent^c to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble^d against him by spreading a bad report^e about it—³⁷these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report^f about the land were struck down and died of a plague^g before the Lord. ³⁸Of the men who went to explore the land,^h only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.ⁱ

³⁹When Moses reported this^j to all the Israelites, they mourned^k bitterly. ⁴⁰Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country,^l saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord promised. Surely we have sinned!^m”

⁴¹But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? This will not succeed!^{n 42}Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies,^{o 43}for the Amalekites^p and the Canaanites^q will face you there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, he will not be with you^r and you will fall by the sword.”

⁴⁴Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up^s toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord’s covenant moved from the camp.^{t 45}Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites^u who lived in that hill country^v came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.^w

Supplementary Offerings

15The Lord said to Moses, ²“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘After you enter the land I am giving you^x as a home ³and you present to the Lord food offerings from the herd or the flock,^y as an aroma pleasing to the Lord^z—whether burnt offerings^a or sacrifices, for special vows or freewill offerings^b or festival offerings^c—⁴then the person who brings an offering shall present to the Lord a grain offering^d of a tenth of an ephah^a of the finest flour^e mixed with a quarter of a hin^b of olive oil. ⁵With each lamb^f for the burnt offering or the sacrifice, prepare a quarter of a hin of wine^g as a drink offering.^h

⁶“ ‘With a ramⁱ prepare a grain offering^j of two-tenths of an ephah^ck of the finest flour mixed with a third of a hin^d of olive oil,^{l 7}and a third of a hin of wine^m as a drink offering.ⁿ Offer it as an aroma pleasing to the Lord.^o

⁸“ ‘When you prepare a young bull^p as a burnt offering or sacrifice, for a special vow^q or a fellowship offering^r to the Lord, ⁹bring with the bull a grain offering^s of three-tenths of an ephah^et of the finest flour mixed with half a hin^f of olive oil, ¹⁰and also bring half a hin of wine^u as a drink offering.^v This will be a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.^{w 11}Each bull or ram, each lamb or young goat, is to be prepared in this manner. ¹²Do this for each one, for as many as you prepare.^x

¹³“ ‘Everyone who is native-born^y must do these things in this way when they present a food offering as an aroma pleasing to the Lord.^{z 14}For the generations to come,^a whenever a foreigner^b or anyone else living among you presents a food^c offering^d as an aroma pleasing to the Lord, they must do exactly as you do. ¹⁵The community is to have the same rules for you and for the foreigner residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.^e You and the foreigner shall be the same before the Lord: ¹⁶The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing among you.^f’ ”

¹⁷The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land to which I am taking you^{g 19}and you eat the food of the land,^h present a portion as an offering to the Lord.^{i 20}Present a loaf from the first of your ground meal^j and present it as an offering from the threshing floor.^{k 21}Throughout the generations to come^l you are to give this offering to the Lord from the first of your ground meal.^m

Offerings for Unintentional Sins

²²“ ‘Now if you as a community unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the Lord gave Mosesⁿ—²³any of the Lord’s commands to you through him, from the day the Lord gave them and continuing through the generations to come^o—²⁴and if this is done unintentionally^p without the community being aware of it,^q then the whole community is to offer a young bull for a burnt offering^r as an aroma pleasing to the Lord,^s along with its prescribed grain offering^t and drink offering,^u and a male goat for a sin offering.^{gv 25}The priest is to make atonement for the whole Israelite community, and they will be forgiven,^w for it was not intentional^x and they have presented to the Lord for their wrong a food offering^y and a sin offering.^{z 26}The whole Israelite community and the foreigners residing among them will be forgiven, because all the people were involved in the unintentional wrong.^a

²⁷“ ‘But if just one person sins unintentionally,^b that person must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering.^{c 28}The priest is to make atonement^d before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven.^{e 29}One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you.^f

³⁰“ ‘But anyone who sins defiantly,^g whether native-born or foreigner,^h blasphemes the Lordⁱ and must be cut off from the people of…