Numbers 14

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 The whole community then cried out in dismay, and the people wept al that night.	1 And so, crying out, the entire crowd wept throughout that night.
2 Al the Israelites muttered at Moses and Aaron, and the whole community said to them, 'Would toGod we had died in Egypt, or even that we had died in this desert!	2 And all the sons of Israel were murmuring against Moses and Aaron, saying:
3 Why has Yahweh brought us to this country, for us to perish by the sword and our wives and childrento be seized as booty? Should we not do better to go back to Egypt?'	3 “If only we had died in Egypt,” and, “If only we would perish in this vast wilderness,” and, “May the Lord not lead us into this land, lest we fall by the sword, and our wives, as well as our children, be led away as captives. Is it not better to return to Egypt?”
4 And they said to one another, 'Let us appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.'	4 And they said to one another, “Let us appoint our leader, and so return to Egypt.”
5 At this, Moses and Aaron threw themselves on their faces in front of the whole assembled communityof Israelites,	5 And when Moses and Aaron heard this, they fell prone on the ground in the sight of the multitude of the sons of Israel.
6 while Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of the men who had reconnoitred thecountry, tore their clothes	6 Yet truly, Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who themselves had also viewed the land, tore their garments,
7 and addressed the whole community of Israelites as fol ows, 'The country we went to reconnoitre is agood country, an excel ent country.	7 and they said to the entire multitude of the sons of Israel: “The land that we circled through is very good.
8 If Yahweh is pleased with us, he will lead us into this country and give it to us. It is a country flowingwith milk and honey.	8 If the Lord will be gracious to us, he will lead us into it, and he will give us the land flowing with milk and honey.
9 But do not rebel against Yahweh or be afraid of the people of the country, for we shal gobble themup. Their protecting shade has deserted them, while we have Yahweh on our side. Do not be afraid of them.'	9 Do not choose to be rebellious against the Lord. And do not fear the people of this land, for, like bread, so are we able to devour them. All protection has withdrawn from them. The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid.”
10 The whole community was talking of stoning them, when the glory of Yahweh appeared to al theIsraelites, inside the Tent of Meeting,	10 And when the entire multitude cried out, and they wanted to crush them with stones, the glory of the Lord appeared, over the roof of the covenant, to all the sons of Israel.
11 and Yahweh said to Moses: 'How much longer wil these people treat me with contempt? How muchlonger will they refuse to trust me, in spite of al the signs I have displayed among them?	11 And the Lord said to Moses: “How long will this people disparage me? How long will they refuse to believe me, despite all the signs that I have wrought before them?
12 I shall strike them with pestilence and disown them. And of you I shall make a new nation, greaterand mightier than they are.'	12 Therefore, I will strike them with a pestilence, and so I will consume them. But you I will make the ruler over a great nation, and one which is mightier than this one.”
13 Moses said to Yahweh: 'Suppose the Egyptians hear about this -- for by your power you broughtthese people out of their country-	13 And Moses said to the Lord: “But then the Egyptians, from whose midst you led out this people,
14 and tel the people living in this country. They have heard that you, Yahweh, are with this people,and that you, Yahweh, show yourself to them face to face; that your cloud stands over them and that you gobefore them in a pil ar of cloud by day and a pil ar of fire by night.	14 and the inhabitants of this land, who have heard that you, O Lord, are among this people, and that you are seen face to face, and that your cloud protects them, and that you go before them with a column of cloud by day, and a column of fire by night,
15 If you kil this people now as though it were one man, then the nations who have heard about youwil say,	15 may hear that you have killed so great a multitude, as if they were one man, and they may say:
16 "Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the country which he had sworn to give them, and sohe has slaughtered them in the desert."	16 ‘He was not able to lead the people into the land about which he had sworn. Therefore, he slew them in the wilderness.’
17 No, my Lord! Now is the time to assert your power as you promised when you said, earlier,	17 Therefore, may the strength of the Lord be magnified, just as you swore, saying:
18 "Yahweh, slow to anger and rich in faithful love, forgiving faults and transgression, and yet lettingnothing go unchecked, punishing the parents' guilt in the children to the third and fourth generation."	18 ‘The Lord is patient and full of mercy, taking away iniquity and wickedness, and forsaking no one who is harmless. He visits the sins of the fathers upon the sons, to the third and fourth generation.’
19 In your most faithful love, please forgive this people's guilt, as you have done from Egypt until now.'	19 Forgive, I beg you, the sins of this people, according to the greatness of your mercy, just as you have been gracious to them in their journey from Egypt to this place.”
20 Yahweh said, 'I forgive them as you ask.	20 And the Lord said: “I have forgiven them according to your word.
21 But -- as I live, and as the glory of Yahweh fills the whole world-	21 Also, as I live, the entire world shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
22 of all these people who have seen my glory and the signs that I worked in Egypt and in the desert,who have put me to the test ten times already and not obeyed my voice,	22 And yet, all the men who have seen my majesty, and the signs that I have wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, and who have tested me ten times already, and yet have not obeyed my voice,
23 not one shal see the country which I promised to give their ancestors. Not one of those who havetreated me contemptuously will see it.	23 these shall not see the land, about which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of those who detracted me gaze upon it.
24 However, since my servant Caleb is of another spirit and since he has obeyed me completely, I shallbring him into the country where he has been, and his descendants will own it	24 My servant Caleb, who, being full of another spirit, has followed me, I will lead into this land, through which he has wandered, and his offspring shall possess it.
25 (the Amalekites and Canaanites occupy the plain). Tomorrow you wil turn about and go back intothe desert, in the direction of the Sea of Suph.'	25 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys. Tomorrow, move the camp and return into the wilderness, by the way of the Red Sea.”
26 Yahweh then spoke to Moses and Aaron and said:	26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
27 'How much longer am I to endure this perverse community muttering against me? I have heard whatthe Israelites mutter against me.	27 “How long will this very wicked multitude murmur against me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel.
28 Say to them, "As I live, Yahweh declares, I shal do to you what I have heard you saying.	28 Therefore, say to them: As I live, says the Lord, as you spoke in my hearing, so will I do to you.
29 In this desert your dead bodies wil fal , al you who were counted in the census, from the age oftwenty years and over who have muttered against me.	29 In the wilderness, here shall your carcasses lie. All you who were numbered from twenty years and above, and who have murmured against me,
30 I swear none of you will enter the country where I swore most solemnly to settle you, except Calebson of Jephunneh, and Joshua son of Nun.	30 you shall not enter into the land, over which I lifted up my hand to cause you to live there, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
31 Your children, who you said would be seized as booty, wil be the ones whom I shal bring in so thatthey get to know the country you disdained,	31 But your little ones, about whom you said that they would be a prey to the enemies, I will lead them in, so that they may see the land that has displeased you.
32 but, as for you, your dead bodies wil fall in this desert	32 Your carcasses shall lie in the wilderness.
33 and your children wil be nomads in the desert for forty years, bearing the consequences of yourfaithlessness, until the last one of you lies dead in the desert.	33 Your sons shall wander in the desert for forty years, and they shall bear your fornication, until the carcasses of their fathers are consumed in the desert.
34 For forty days you reconnoitred the country. Each day wil count as a year: for forty years you willbear the consequences of your guilt and learn what it means to reject me."	34 According to the number of the forty days, during which you examined the land, one year shall be charged for each day. And so, for forty years you shall take back your iniquities, and you shall know my retribution.
35 I, Yahweh, have spoken: this is how I swear to treat this entire perverse community united againstme. In this desert, to the last man, they shall die.'	35 For just as I have spoken, so shall I do, to this entire most wicked multitude, which has risen up together against me. In the wilderness, here shall it fade away and die.”
36 The men whom Moses had sent to reconnoitre the country and who on their return had incited thewhole community of Israel to mutter about him by disparaging it,	36 Therefore, all the men, whom Moses had sent to contemplate the land, and who, having returned, had caused the entire multitude to murmur against him, disparaging the land as if it were evil,
37 these men who had disparaged the country were al struck dead before Yahweh.	37 suffered death and were struck down in the sight of the Lord.
38 Of the men who had gone to reconnoitre the country, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son ofJephunneh were left alive.	38 But only Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, out of all those who had journeyed to examine the land.
39 When Moses told all the Israelites what had been said, the people set up a great outcry.	39 And Moses spoke all these words to all the sons of Israel, and the people mourned exceedingly.
40 Early next morning they set out for the heights of the hil country saying, 'Look, we wil set out for theplace about which Yahweh said that we have sinned.'	40 And behold, rising up at first light, they climbed to the top of the mountain, and they said, “We are prepared to ascend to the place, about which the Lord has spoken, for we have sinned.”
41 To which, Moses said, 'Why disobey Yahweh's order? No success wil come of doing so.	41 And Moses said to them: “Why do you transgress the word of the Lord, merely because it will not result in prosperity for you?
42 Do not go, for Yahweh is not among you, and you wil be defeated by your enemies.	42 Do not ascend, for the Lord is not with you, lest you be overthrown before your enemies.
43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are ahead of you, and you wil be put to the sword, since youhave turned away from Yahweh, and Yahweh is not with you.'	43 The Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, by whose sword you shall be ruined, for you were not willing to consent to the Lord, and so the Lord is not with you.”
44 All the same, they presumptuously set off for the heights of the hil country. Neither the ark of thecovenant of Yahweh nor Moses left the camp.	44 But they, having been darkened, ascended to the top of the mountain. But the ark of the testament of the Lord, and Moses, did not withdraw from the camp.
45 The Amalekites and Canaanites living in those highlands then came down, defeated them andharried them al the way to Hormah.	45 And the Amalekites descended, along with those Canaanites who were living in the mountains. And so, striking and cutting them down, they pursued them all the way to Hormah.