Numbers

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

1All the people cried out loud together. They wept all 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!

2The people of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron. The whole group said to them, "We wish we had died back in Egypt! Or we wish we had died here in this empty desert!"

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?

3"Why is the LORD bringing us to this land? We will be killed by swords. Our wives and children will be carried off. Wouldn't it be better to go back to Egypt?"

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

4They said to each other, "Let's choose a leader. Let's go back to Egypt."

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

5Then Moses and Aaron bowed down with their faces to the ground. All the people of Israel were watching.

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

6Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh tore their own clothes. They were two of the men who had explored the land.

NoteTearing your own clothes was how people long ago showed they were very upset.

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.

7They said to the whole group of Israel, "The land we walked through is a very 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.

8"If the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us there. It is a rich land, full of milk and honey. He will give it to us."

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.

9"Only do not turn against the LORD. Do not be afraid of the people who live there. We will beat them as easily as eating bread. Nothing is left to keep them safe. The LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!"

Note"They are bread for us" is a picture. It means the enemy will be easy to beat.

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.

10But the whole group wanted to throw stones at Joshua and Caleb. Then the bright glory of the LORD appeared at the tent where God met his people. All Israel saw it.

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?

11The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with no respect? How long until they trust me? They have seen all the wonders I did."

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

12"I will strike them with a sickness and destroy them. Then I will make you into a nation bigger and stronger than they are."

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

13Moses said to the LORD, "The Egyptians will hear about it. You brought these people out from Egypt with your great power."

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 that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

14"And they will tell the people who live in this land. Those people have heard that you, LORD, are here with Israel. They heard that you are seen face to face. Your cloud stands over them. You go ahead of them in a tall cloud by day. You go ahead in a tall 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,

15"If you kill all these people at once, the nations who have heard of you will talk. They will say,"

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.

16"'The LORD was not able to bring these people to the land he promised them. So he killed them out in the desert.'"

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

17"So now, please show how great your power is. This is what you said about yourself:"

18The LORD is 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.

18"'The LORD does not get angry quickly. He loves very much. He forgives wrong and sinful acts. But he does not let guilty people go free. He punishes children for their parents' sins, even the grandchildren and great-grandchildren.'"

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.

19"Please forgive these people for the wrong they have done. Your love is very great. You have forgiven them again and again since Egypt."

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

20The LORD said, "I have forgiven them, just as you asked."

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

21"But I am the living God, and this is sure. The whole earth will be filled with my glory."

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;

22"All these men saw my glory. They saw the wonders I did in Egypt and in the desert. Still they have tested me ten times. They have not listened to me."

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

23"So none of them will see the land I promised to their fathers. Not one who treated me with no respect will 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.

24"But my servant Caleb thinks in a different way. He has followed me with his whole heart. I will bring him into the land he visited. His family after him will own it."

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

25(The Amalekites and the Canaanites were living in the valley.) "Tomorrow turn around. Go back into the desert on the road to the Red Sea."

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

26Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said:

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.

27"How long will I put up with this bad group that complains about me? I have heard the people of Israel complaining about 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:

28"Tell them this: I am the living God, says the LORD. I heard what you said. I will do exactly that 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,

29"Your dead bodies will fall in this desert. That means every one of you who was counted, age twenty and older, who complained about 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.

30"None of you will enter the land I promised to give you as a home. Only Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun will go in."

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.

31"You said your little children would be carried off. But I will bring them in. They will come to know the land you said no to."

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

32"But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this desert."

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

33"Your children will wander in the desert for forty years. They will suffer because you were not faithful to me. This lasts until the last of your bodies lies in the desert."

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

34"You explored the land for forty days. So you will pay for your sin for forty years, one year for each day. You will learn what it is like when I turn against you."

NoteThe KJV says "my breach of promise" here. That does not mean God broke a promise. The old words mean God turning away from them.

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.

35"I, the LORD, have said it, and I will do it. This whole bad group joined together against me. They will come to their end in this desert. Here they will 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,

36Moses had sent men to explore the land. They came back and made the whole group complain. They said things about the land that were bad and untrue.

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

37Those men who brought back the bad report died. A sickness struck them down in front of 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.

38Of the men who explored the land, only two stayed alive. They were Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh.

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

39Moses told all these words to the people of Israel. The people were very sad and cried.

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.

40Early the next morning they got up and climbed the hill. They said, "Here we are. We have sinned. Now we will go to the place the LORD promised."

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

41Moses said, "Why are you breaking the LORD's command now? It will not work."

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

42"Do not go up. The LORD is not with you. Your enemies will beat you."

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.

43"The Amalekites and the Canaanites are there waiting for you. You will be killed by swords. You turned away from the LORD, so he 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.

44But they were bold and climbed the hilltop anyway. Moses stayed in the camp. So did the ark, the special chest that held God's agreement.

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

45Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived on that hill came down. They attacked Israel and beat them badly. They chased them all the way to Hormah.