1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

2And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

3And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

4And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

6And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:

7And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.

8If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

9Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

10But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

11And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?

12I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

13And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)

14And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and thatthou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

15Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,

16Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.

17And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,

18The LORD longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

19Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

20And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:

21But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.

22Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

23Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

24But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

25(Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

26And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

27How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

28Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

29Your 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,

30Doubtless 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.

31But 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.

32But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.

33And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

34After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, evenforty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, evenforty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

35I the LORD have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

36And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,

37Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD.

38But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.

39And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.

40And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.

41And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper.

42Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.

43For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.

44But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.

45Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

1And all the Congregation lifted vp their voyce and cried; and the people wept that night.

2And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses, and against Aaron: and the whole Congregation said vnto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this wildernesse.

3And wherefore hath the Lord brought vs vnto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wiues, and our children should be a pray? Were it not better for vs to returne into Egypt?

4And they saide one to another, Let vs make a captaine, and let vs returne into Egypt.

5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the Congregation of the children of Israel.

6 And Ioshua the sonne of Nun, and Caleb the sonne of Iephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes.

7And they spake vnto all the company of the children of Israel, saying. The land which wee passed thorow to search it, is an exceeding good land.

8If the Lord delight in vs, then he will bring vs into this land, and giue it vs, a land which floweth with milke and hony.

9Onely rebell not yee against the Lord, neither feare yee the people of the land, for they are bread for vs: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with vs: feare them not.

10But all the Congregation bade stone them with stones: and the glory of the Lord appeared in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, before all the children of Israel.

11 And the Lord said vnto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it bee, yer they beleeue me, for all the signes which I haue shewed among them?

12I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherite them, and will make of thee a greater nation, and mightier then they.

13 And Moses said vnto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall heare it, (for thou broughtest vp this people in thy might from among them:)

14And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they haue heard that thou Lord art among this people, that thou Lord art seene face to face, and that thy cloud standeth ouer them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

15 Now if thou shalt kill all this people, as one man, then the nations which haue heard the fame of thee, will speake, saying,

16Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the lande which he sware vnto them, therefore he hath slaine them in the wildernesse.

17And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,

18The Lord is long suffering, and of great mercie, forgiuing iniquitie and transgression, and by no meanes clearing the guiltie, visiting the iniquity of the fathers vpon the chldren, vnto the third and fourth generation.

19Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquitie of this people, according vnto the greatnesse of thy mercie, and as thou hast forgiuen this people, from Egypt, euen vntill now.

20And the Lord said, I haue pardoned, according to thy word.

21But as truly as I liue, all the earth shalbe filled with the glory of the Lord.

22Because all those men which haue seene my glory, and my miracles which I did in Egypt, and in the wildernesse, and haue tempted mee now these ten times, and haue not hearkened to my voice,

23Surely they shall not see the land which I sware vnto their fathers, neither shall any of them that prouoked me, see it.

24But my seruant Caleb, because hee had another spirit with him, (and hath followed mee fully) him will I bring into the land, whereinto he went, and his seed shall possesse it.

25(Now the Amalekites, and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley) to morrow turne you and get you into the wildernesse, by the way of the Red sea.

26 And the Lord spake vnto Moses, and vnto Aaron, saying,

27How long shall I beare with this euil congregation which murmure against mee? I haue heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmure against mee.

28Say vnto them, As truly as I liue, saith the Lord, as ye haue spoken in mine eares, so will I doe to you:

29Your carcases shall fall in this wildernesse, and all that were numbred of you, according to your whole number from twentie yeeres old and vpward, which haue murmured against mee,

30Doubtlesse ye shall not come into the land concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, saue Caleb the sonne of Iephunneh, and Ioshua the sonne of Nun.

31But your little ones, which yee said should be a pray, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye haue despised.

32But as for you, your carkases, they shall fall in this wildernesse.

33And your children shall wander in the wildernes forty yeres, and beare your whoredomes, vntill your carkases be wasted in the wildernesse.

34After the number of the dayes in which ye searched the land, euen fortie dayes (each day for a yeere) shall yee beare your iniquities, euen forty yeeres, and yee shall know my breach of promise.

35I the Lord haue said, I will surely doe it vnto all this euill Congregation, that are gathered together against mee: in this wildernesse they shalbe consumed, & there they shall die.

36And the men which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the Congregation to murmure against him, by bringing vp a slander vpon the land,

37Euen those men that did bring vp the euill report vpon the land, died by the plague, before the Lord.

38But Ioshua the sonne of Nun, and Caleb the sonne of Iephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, liued still.

39And Moses told these sayings vnto all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.

40 And they rose vp early in the morning, and gate them vp into the top of the mountaine, saying, Loe, we be here, and will goe vp vnto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we haue sinned.

41And Moses said, Wherefore now doe you transgresse the commaundement of the Lord ? but it shall not prosper.

42Goe not vp, for the Lord is not among you, that ye be not smitten before your enemies.

43For the Amalekites, and the Canaanites are there before you, and yee shall fall by the sword, because yee are turned away from the Lord; therefore the Lord will not bee with you.

44But they presumed to go vp vnto the hill top: neuertheles the Arke of the Couenant of the Lord, and Moses departed not out of the campe.

45Then the Amalekites came downe, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, euen vnto Hormah.

 

 

II == Ex 16:2 ; 17:3 Num 16:41 ; Ps 106:25 ; 1st Cor 10:10

 

 

III == Acts 7:39

 

 

 

IV == Deut 17:16 ; Nah 9:17 ; Acts 7:39

 

 

 

VI == Mt 26:65 ; Mk 14:63

 

VII == Num 13:27 ; Deut 1:25

 

VIII == Deut 10:15 ; 2nd Sam 15:25-26 ; 22:20 ; 1st Kings 10:9 ; Ps 22:8 ; 147:10-11 ; Isa 62:4

 

 

 

X == Ex 16:10 ; 17:4 ; 24:16-17 ; 40:34 ; Lev 9:23 ; Num 16:19 , 42 ; 20:6

 

XI == Deut 1:32 ; John 12:37 ; Heb 3:8 , 16 , 18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIV == Ex 13:21 ; 15:14 ; 40:38 ; Josh 2:9-10 ; 5:1 ; Neh 9:12 ; Ps 78:14 : 105:39

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XVI == Deut 9:28 ; Josh 7:9 ; 1st Cor 10:5

 

 

 

XVIII == Ex 20:5 ; 34:6-7 ; Ps 103:8 ; 145:8 ; Jon 4:2

 

 

XIX == Ex 34:9 ; Ps 78:38 ; 106:45

 

 

XX == Ps 106:23 ; James 5:16 ; 1st John 5:14-16

 

 

XXII == Gen 31:7 ; Deut 1:35 ;Ps 95:11 ; 106:26 ; Heb 3:17-18

 

 

XXIII == Num 32:11 ; Ezek 20:5 ; 1st Cor 10:5

XXIV == Deut 1:36 ; Josh 14:6 , 8-9 , 14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXVII == Ex 16:12 , 28 ; Num 14:11 ; Matt 17:17

 

XXVIII == Num 26:65 ; 32:11 ; Deut 1:35 ; Heb 3:17

XXIX == Heb 3:17

 

 

 

XXX == Gen 14:22 ; Num 32:12 ; Deut 32:12 ; Deut 1:36 , 38

XXXI == Ps 106:24

 

 

XXXII == 1st Cor 10:5 ; Heb 3:"17

 

XXXIII == Num 32:13 ; Deut 2:14 ; Ps 107:40 ; Ezek 23:35 ; Acts 4:36 ; 7:36

 

XXXIV == 1st Kings 8:56 ; Ezek 4:6 ; Heb 4:1 ; Acts 13:18

 

XXXV == Num 23:19 ; 26:65 ; Jude 5 ; 1st Cor 10:5

 

 

 

XXXVII == 1st Cor 10:10 ; Heb 3:17 ; Jude 1:5

XXXVIII == Josh 14:6 , 10

 

 

 

 

XL == Deut 1:41

 

 

 

 

XLI 2nd Chr 24:20 ;

 

 

 

XLIII ==2nd Chr 15:2

 

 

 

 

 

 

XLV == Deut 1:44 ; Judg 1:17

 

1 At this, the whole community broke out with loud cries, and even in the night the people wailed.

2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, the whole community saying to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that here in the desert we were dead!

3 Why is the LORD bringing us into this land only to have us fall by the sword? Our wives and little ones will be taken as booty. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?"

4 So they said to one another, "Let us appoint a leader and go back to Egypt."

5 But Moses and Aaron fell prostrate before the whole assembled community of the Israelites;

6 while Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, who had been in the party that scouted the land, tore their garments

7 and said to the whole community of the Israelites, "The country which we went through and explored is a fine, rich land.

8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us in and give us that land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

9 But do not rebel against the LORD! You need not be afraid of the people of that land; they are but food for us! Their defense has left them, but the LORD is with us. Therefore, do not be afraid of them."

10 In answer, the whole community threatened to stone them. But then the glory of the LORD appeared at the meeting tent to all the Israelites.

11 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people spurn me? How long will they refuse to believe in me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?

12 I will strike them with pestilence and wipe them out. Then I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."

13 But Moses said to the LORD: "Are the Egyptians to hear of this? For by your power you brought out this people from among them.

14 And are they to tell of it to the inhabitants of this land? It has been heard that you, O LORD, are in the midst of this people; you, LORD, who plainly reveal yourself! Your cloud stands over them, and you go before them by day in a column of cloud and by night in a column of fire.

15 If now you slay this whole people, the nations who have heard such reports of you will say,

16 'The LORD was not able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them; that is why he slaughtered them in the desert.'

17 Now then, let the power of my Lord be displayed in its greatness, even as you have said,

18 'The LORD is slow to anger and rich in kindness, forgiving wickedness and crime; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children to the third and fourth generation for their fathers' wickedness.'

19 Pardon, then, the wickedness of this people in keeping with your great kindness, even as you have forgiven them from Egypt until now."

20 The LORD answered: "I pardon them as you have asked.

21 Yet, by my life and the LORD'S glory that fills the whole earth,

22 of all the men who have seen my glory and the signs I worked in Egypt and in the desert, and who nevertheless have put me to the test ten times already and have failed to heed my voice,

23 not one shall see the land which I promised on oath to their fathers. None of these who have spurned me shall see it.

24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me unreservedly, I will bring him into the land where he has just been, and his descendants shall possess it.

25 But now, since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn away tomorrow and set out in the desert on the Red Sea road."

26 The LORD also said to Moses and Aaron:

27 "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the Israelites against me.

28 Tell them: By my life, says the LORD, I will do to you just what I have heard you say.

29 Here in the desert shall your dead bodies fall. Of all your men of twenty years or more, registered in the census, who grumbled against me,

30 not one shall enter the land where I solemnly swore to settle you, except Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun.

31 Your little ones, however, who you said would be taken as booty, I will bring in, and they shall appreciate the land you spurned.

32 But as for you, your bodies shall fall here in the desert,

33 here where your children must wander for forty years, suffering for your faithlessness, till the last of you lies dead in the desert.

34 Forty days you spent in scouting the land; forty years shall you suffer for your crimes: one year for each day. Thus you will realize what it means to oppose me.

35 I, the LORD, have sworn to do this to all this wicked community that conspired against me: here in the desert they shall die to the last man."

36 And so it happened to the men whom Moses had sent to reconnoiter the land and who on returning had set the whole community grumbling against him by spreading discouraging reports about the land;

37 these men who had given out the bad report about the land were struck down by the LORD and died.

38 Of all the men who had gone to reconnoiter the land, only Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, survived.

39 When Moses repeated these words to all the Israelites, the people felt great remorse.

40 Early the next morning they started up into the foothills, saying, "Here we are, ready to go up to the place that the LORD spoke of: for we were indeed doing wrong."

41 But Moses said, "Why are you again disobeying the LORD'S orders? This cannot succeed.

42 Do not go up, because the LORD is not in your midst; if you go, you will be beaten down before your enemies.

43 For there the Amalekites and Canaanites face you, and you will fall by the sword. You have turned back from following the LORD; therefore the LORD will not be with you."

44 Yet they dared to go up into the foothills, even though neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses left the camp.

45 And the Amalekites and Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country came down and defeated them, beating them back as far as Hormah.

KEY EVENT: The aimless wandering in the wilderness Num 14:33, 34

The People’s Rebellion: Jehovah’s Threat: Moses’ Intercessionc

v 1-5. The people cried all night in distress and wished to go back to Egypt. Neh. 9:17 reveals that they actually appointed a captain to lead them back. They didn’t consider what they would do without the Lord providing water and manna. As he saw all he had done crumbling, Moses (and Aaron) prostrated themselves before all.

 

 

v 6-10. Tearing the clothes was an expression of deep sorrow, and Joshua and Caleb pled with the people that if they pleased the Lord, he would give them that good land. He urged them not to rebel against the Lord because He was with them to help them. The people’s discouragement turned to anger, and they would have stoned the two spies if the Lord had not appeared before them in the pillar of cloud.

 

 

 

 

v 11,12. Moses probably went directly into the tabernacle, and the people saw the Lord’s approval of him, but were not able to hear the Lord offer to destroy them and make a nation out of Moses. As in Ex. 32:10, this was a test of Moses’ willingness to intercede for the people.

 

v 13,14. Moses was concerned that the Egyptians would hear of it just as they had heard of the great miracles of the Lord to this point.

 

 

 

v 15-19. Moses makes the plea that those same people will say the Lord wasn’t able to bring them to the land He had promised. He quoted the Lord’s own words in Ex. 34:6,7, then uses that for reason to ask the Lord to continue to forgive as He had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 20-25. The Lord says He will pardon them, but because they had seen His glory and miracles yet still had rebelled numerous times, (ten probably not exact number, but At the Red Sea, Ex. 14:11; Marah, 15:23,24; Wilderness of Sin, 16:2; About manna 2x, 16:20,27; At Rephidim, 17:1,2; Golden calf, 32’ Taberah, Num. 11:3; Kiibroth-hattaavah, Num. 11; Fear to enter land, Num. 14; or even the report of the ten spies.) they would not see the land to which He had promised them. Caleb (and Joshua, v 30) would enter and their families would possess it. Their enemies were just over the mountain in the next hill and valley, so the Lord instructed that tomorrow they go back into the wilderness toward the Red Sea. As people begged, v2, the Lord grants, v 28.

 

v 26-38. The Lord gives Moses and Aaron a bleak message to tell the rebellious people. With the exception of Joshua and Caleb (and their households), all those 20 years and upward, numbered in the census, would perish in the wilderness. Their children would enter the land, but not until they had wandered in the wilderness 40 years, a year for each day the spies searched the land. About a year and a half of that had already been fulfilled. Not only would the adults perish, but the ten spies who caused the people to murmur were stricken with a plague and they died at once. Even today the Lord forgives, but we may still have too bear the consequences of our sin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 39-45. After this report from Moses, the people spent another day mourning, but they also made a resolve. Next morning they rose early to climb the mountain and face the enemy as the Lord had originally told them. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and Moses warned them they would be defeated because the Lord was not with them now. Moses and the ark remained at camp, but the soldiers went up presumptuously against the Lord’s orders. The result was that the enemy killed many of them and routed the rest to Hormah, meaning “destruction”. Later they were to defeat the enemy at that same place, Num. 21:3. The exact location of most of the places on their journey can not be known