Then all the congregation of Israel raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night. 2 All the Israelites ^amurmured in discontent against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “^bOh that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land of Canaan, ^ato fall by the sword? ^bOur wives and ¹children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” Acts 7:37-39 4 So they said one to another, “^aLet us appoint a new leader and return to Egypt.”

5 ^aThen Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites. 6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes as a sign of grief, 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “^aThe land through which we passed as spies is an exceedingly good land. 8 ^aIf the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ^ba land which ¹flows with milk and honey. 9 Only ^ado not rebel against the LORD; and do not ^bfear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.” 10 ^aBut all the congregation said to stone Joshua and Caleb with stones. But ^bthe glory and brilliance of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) before all the sons of Israel.

11 ^aThe LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me disrespectfully and reject Me? And how long will ^bthey not believe in Me, despite all the miraculous signs which I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them with the ^apestilence (plague) and dispossess them, and ^bwill make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

13 ^aBut Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up these people from among them, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, LORD, are among these people of Israel, that ^aYou, LORD, are seen face to face, while Your cloud stands over them; and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if You kill these people as one man, ^athen the nations (Gentiles) that have heard of Your fame will say, 16 ‘Because the LORD ^awas not able to bring these people into the land which He promised to give them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 But now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying, 18 ‘^aThe LORD is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving wickedness and transgression; but ^bHe will by no means clear the guilty, ^cvisiting (avenging) the wickedness and guilt of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generations that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers.’ Ex 34:6, 7 19 ^aPlease pardon the wickedness and guilt of these people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You have forgiven these people, from Egypt even until now.”

20 So the LORD said, “^aI have pardoned them according to your word; 21 but indeed ^aas I live, ^ball the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. Is 6:3; 11:9 22 Surely ^aall the men who have seen My glory and My miraculous signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet ^bhave put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23 ^awill by no means see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; nor will any who treated me disrespectfully and rejected Me see it. Heb 6:4-11 24 But My servant Caleb, ^abecause he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, ^bI will bring into the land into which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it. 25 ^aNow the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valley; tomorrow turn and set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.”

26 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who ^amurmur in discontent against Me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they are making against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘^aAs I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just what ^byou have spoken in My hearing I will most certainly do to you; 29 ^ayour dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, even all ^bwho were numbered of you, your entire number from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me. Heb 3:17-19 30 ^aExcept for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, not one of you shall enter the land in which I swore an oath to settle you. 31 But ^ayour children whom you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will know the land which you have despised and rejected. 32 ^aBut as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your sons shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for ^aforty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness (spiritual infidelity) , until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness. 34 According to the ^anumber of days in which you spied out the land of Canaan, forty days, for each day, you shall bear and suffer a year for your sins and guilt, for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure the revoking of My promise and My estrangement because of your sin. 35 ^aI, the LORD, have spoken. I will most certainly do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed by war, disease, and plagues, and here they shall die.’” 1+@Cor 10:10, 11

36 ^aAs for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and made all the congregation murmur and complain against him by bringing back a bad report concerning the land, 37 even ^athose ten men who brought back the very bad report of the land died by a ^bplague before the LORD. Heb 3:17-19; Jude 5-7 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

39 Moses spoke the Lord’s ^awords to all the Israelites, and ^bthe people mourned greatly. 40 They got up early in the morning and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Look, ^ahere we are; we have indeed sinned, but we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised.” 41 But Moses said, “^aWhy then are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD, when it will not succeed? 42 ^aDo not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the LORD is not among you. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, because you have turned away from following the LORD; therefore the LORD will not be with you.” 44 But in their arrogance they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country; however, neither ^athe ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and struck the Israelites and scattered them as far as ^aHormah.

Then all the congregation ¹raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept ²that night. 2 And all the sons of Israel ^agrumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the entire congregation said to them, “^bIf only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness! 3 So why is the LORD bringing us into this land ^ato fall by the sword? ^bOur wives and our little ones will become plunder! Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “^aLet’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”

5 ^aThen Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “^aThe land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 ^aIf the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—^ba land which flows with milk and honey. 9 Only ^ado not rebel against the LORD; and do not ^bfear the people of the land, for they will be our ¹prey. Their ²protection is gone from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” 10 ^aBut all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then ^bthe glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

11 ^aAnd the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people be disrespectful to Me? And how long will ^bthey not ¹believe in Me, despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst? 12 I will strike them with ^1aplague and dispossess them, and I ^bwill make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

13 ^aBut Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people up from their midst, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, LORD, are in the midst of this people, because ^aYou, LORD, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if You put this people to death ¹all at once, ^athen the nations who have heard of Your fame will ²say, 16 ‘Since the LORD ^acould not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 So now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying, 18 ‘^aThe LORD is slow to anger and abundant in mercy, forgiving wrongdoing and violation of His Law; but ^bHe will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, ^cinflicting the ¹punishment of the fathers on the children ²to the third and the fourth generations.’ 19 Please ^aforgive the guilt of this people in accordance with the greatness of Your mercy, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

20 So the LORD said, “^aI have forgiven them in accordance with your word; 21 however, ^aas I live, ^1ball the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. 22 Certainly ^aall the people who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet ^bhave put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23 ^ashall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who were disrespectful to Me see it. 24 But as for My servant Caleb, ^abecause he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, ^bI will bring him into the land which he ¹entered, and his ²descendants shall take possession of it. 25 ^aNow the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way of the ¹Red Sea.”

26 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron again, saying, 27 “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who are ^agrumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel which they are ¹voicing against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘^aAs I live,’ declares the LORD, ‘just as ^byou have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you; 29 ^ayour dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, all ^byour ¹numbered men according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. 30 By no means will you come into the land where I ¹swore to settle you, ^aexcept for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 ^aYour children, however, whom you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. 32 ^aBut as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Also, your sons will be shepherds in the wilderness for ^aforty years, and they will ¹suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your bodies perish in the wilderness. 34 In accordance with the ^anumber of days that you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall suffer the punishment for your ¹guilt a year, that is, forty years, and you will know My opposition. 35 ^aI, the LORD, have spoken, I certainly will do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. They shall be worn out in this wilderness, and there they shall die.’”

36 ^aAs for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and led all the congregation to grumble against him by bringing a bad report about the land, 37 ^athose men who brought the bad report of the land also died by a ^bplague in the presence of the LORD. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

39 Now when Moses spoke ^athese words to all the sons of Israel, ^bthe people mourned greatly. 40 In the morning, however, they got up early and went up to the ¹ridge of the hill country, saying, “^aHere we are; and we will go up to the place which the LORD has ²promised, for ³we have sinned.” 41 But Moses said, “^aWhy then are you ^bviolating the ¹command of the LORD, when doing so will not succeed? 42 ^aDo not go up, for the LORD is not among you, ¹to prevent you from being defeated ²by your enemies. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there ¹to confront you, and you will fall by the sword, since you have turned back from following the LORD. And the LORD will not be with you.” 44 But they foolishly dared to go up to the ¹ridge of the hill country; neither ^athe ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and scattered them as far as ^aHormah.