Numbers 14

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 At this, the whole community broke out with loud cries, and even in the night the people wailed.	1 And so, crying out, the entire crowd wept throughout that night.
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!	2 And all the sons of Israel were murmuring against Moses and Aaron, saying:
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?"	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 So 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 But Moses and Aaron fell prostrate before the whole assembled community of the 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, who had been in the party that scouted the land, tore their garments	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 said to the whole community of the Israelites, "The country which we went through and explored is a fine, rich land.	7 and they said to the entire multitude of the sons of Israel: “The land that we circled through is very good.
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.	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 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."	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 All protection has withdrawn from them.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 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.	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 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?	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 will strike them with pestilence and wipe them out. Then I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."	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 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.	13 And Moses said to the Lord: “But then the Egyptians, from whose midst you led out this people,
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.	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 now you slay this whole people, the nations who have heard such reports of you will say,	15 may hear that you have killed so great a multitude, as if they were one man, and they may 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.'	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 Now then, let the power of my Lord be displayed in its greatness, even as you have said,	17 Therefore, may the strength of the Lord be magnified, just as you swore, saying:
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.'	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 Pardon, then, the wickedness of this people in keeping with your great kindness, even as you have forgiven them 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 The LORD answered: "I pardon them as you have asked.	20 And the Lord said: “I have forgiven them according to your word.
21 Yet, by my life and the LORD'S glory that fills the whole earth,	21 Also, as I live, the entire world shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
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,	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 shall see the land which I promised on oath to their fathers. None of these who have spurned me shall 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 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.	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 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."	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 The LORD also said to Moses and Aaron:	26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
27 "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the Israelites against me.	27 “How long will this very wicked multitude murmur against me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel.
28 Tell them: By my life, says the LORD, I will do to you just what I have heard you say.	28 Therefore, say to them: As I live, says the Lord, as you spoke in my hearing, so will I do to you.
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,	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 not one shall enter the land where I solemnly swore to settle you, except Caleb, son 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 little ones, however, who you said would be taken as booty, I will bring in, and they shall appreciate the land you spurned.	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 bodies shall fall here in the desert,	32 Your carcasses shall lie in the wilderness.
33 here where your children must wander for forty years, suffering for your faithlessness, till the last 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 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.	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, 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."	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 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;	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 given out the bad report about the land were struck down by the LORD and died.	37 suffered death and were struck down in the sight of the Lord.
38 Of all the men who had gone to reconnoiter the land, only Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jephunneh, survived.	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 repeated these words to all the Israelites, the people felt great remorse.	39 And Moses spoke all these words to all the sons of Israel, and the people mourned exceedingly.
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."	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 But Moses said, "Why are you again disobeying the LORD'S orders? This cannot succeed.	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 up, because the LORD is not in your midst; if you go, you will be beaten down before your enemies.	42 Do not ascend, for the Lord is not with you, lest you be overthrown 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."	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 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.	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 And the Amalekites and Canaanites who dwelt in that hill country came down and defeated them, beating them back as far as 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.