Numbers 11-14

New American Standard Bible

The People Complain

11 Now the people became like ^(A)those who complain of adversity ^(B)in the ears of the Lord; and the Lord heard them and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some at the outskirts of the camp. ^2 (C)The people then cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire ^[a]died out. ³ So that place was named ^[b](D)Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

⁴ Now the ^(E)rabble who were among them ^[c]had greedy cravings; and the sons of Israel also wept again and said, “^(F)Who will give us ^[d]meat to eat? ^5 (G)We remember the fish which we used to eat for free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; ⁶ but now ^(H)our ^[e]appetite is gone. There is nothing at all ^[f]to look at except this manna!”

^7 (I)Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of ^[g](J)bdellium. ⁸ The people would roam about and gather it and grind it ^[h]between two millstones, or pound it in the mortar, and boil it in the pot and make loaves with it; and its taste was like the taste of ^[i]cake baked with oil. ^9 (K)When the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna would come down ^[j]with it.

The Complaint of Moses

¹⁰ Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each one at the entrance of his tent; and the anger of the Lord became very hot, and ^[k]Moses was displeased. ^11 (L)So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You ^[l]been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have put the burden of all this people on me? ¹² Was it I who conceived all this people? Or did I give birth to them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them ^[m]in your arms, as a ^[n](M)nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which ^(N)You swore to their fathers’? ¹³ Where am I to get meat to give to ^(O)all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat so that we may eat!’ ^14 (P)I am not able to carry all this people by myself, because it is too ^[o]burdensome for me. ^15 (Q)So if You are going to deal with me this way, please kill me now, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my misery.”

Seventy Elders to Assist Moses

¹⁶ The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me ^(R)seventy men from the elders of Israel, ^(S)whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their stand there with you. ^17 (T)Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take away some of ^(U)the Spirit who is upon you, and put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it by yourself. ¹⁸ And you shall say to the people, ‘^(V)Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept ^(W)in the ears of the Lord, saying, “^[p]Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat and you shall eat. ¹⁹ You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, ^20 [q]but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nose and ^[r]makes you nauseated; because ^(X)you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” ²¹ But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am included, are six hundred thousand on foot! Yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’ ²² Are flocks and herds to be slaughtered for them, so that it will be sufficient for them? Or are all the fish of the sea to be ^[s]caught for them, so that it will be sufficient for them?” ²³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Is ^(Y)the Lord’s ^[t]power too little? Now you shall see whether ^(Z)My word will ^[u]come true for you or not.”

²⁴ So Moses went out and ^(AA)told the people the words of the Lord. He also gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and positioned them around the tent. ^25 (AB)Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took away some of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. Yet they did not do it again.

²⁶ But two men had remained in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the ^[v]other, Medad. And ^(AC)the Spirit rested upon them (and they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ So a young man ran and informed Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸ Then ^(AD)Joshua the son of Nun, the personal servant of Moses from his youth, responded and said, “^(AE)My lord Moses, restrain them!” ²⁹ But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? ^(AF)If only all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” ³⁰ Then Moses ^[w]returned to the camp, both he and the elders of Israel.

The Quail and the Plague

^31 (AG)Now a wind burst forth from the Lord and it brought quail from the sea, and dropped them beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side all around the camp, and about ^[x]two cubits deep on the surface of the ground. ³² And the people ^[y]spent all that day, all night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quail (the one who gathered least gathered ^[z]ten ^(AH)homers) and spread them out for themselves all around the camp. ^33 (AI)While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very severe plague. ³⁴ So that place was named ^[aa](AJ)Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy. ³⁵ From Kibroth-hattaavah ^(AK)the people set out for Hazeroth, and they ^[ab]remained at Hazeroth.

The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron

12 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a ^(AL)Cushite woman); ^2 (AM)and they said, “Is it a fact that the Lord has spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard this. ³ (Now the man Moses was ^(AN)very humble, more than any person who was on the face of the earth.) ⁴ And the Lord suddenly said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “You three go out to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went out. ^5 (AO)Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward, ⁶ He said,

⁹ And the anger of the Lord burned against them and ^(AV)He departed. ¹⁰ But when the cloud had withdrawn from above the tent, behold, ^(AW)Miriam was leprous, as ^(AX)white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. ¹¹ Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I beg you, ^(AY)do not ^[ae]hold us responsible for this sin by which we have turned out to be foolish, and by which we have sinned. ¹² Oh, do not let her be like a dead person, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb!” ¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “God, ^(AZ)heal her, please!” ¹⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only ^(BA)spit in her face, would she not be put to shame for seven days? Have her shut ^(BB)outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may be received again.” ¹⁵ So ^(BC)Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.

¹⁶ Afterward, however, the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

Spies View the Land

13 Then ^(BD)the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “^(BE)Send out men for yourself to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” ³ So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the ^[af]command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel. ⁴ These then were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; ⁵ from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; ⁶ from the tribe of Judah, ^(BF)Caleb the son of Jephunneh; ⁷ from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; ⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, ^(BG)Hoshea the son of Nun; ⁹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; ¹⁰ from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; ¹¹ from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; ¹² from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; ¹³ from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; ¹⁴ from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; ¹⁵ and from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. ¹⁶ These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called ^(BH)Hoshea the son of Nun, ^[ag]Joshua.

¹⁷ When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, he said to them, “Go up there into ^(BI)the ^[ah]Negev; then go up into the hill country. ¹⁸ See what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. ¹⁹ And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are the people in open camps or in fortifications? ²⁰ And ^(BJ)how is the land, is it ^[ai]productive or unproductive? Are there trees in it or not? And ^(BK)show yourselves courageous and get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

²¹ So they went up and spied out the land from ^(BL)the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, ^[aj](BM)at Lebo-hamath. ²² When they had gone up into ^(BN)the Negev, ^[ak]they came to Hebron where ^(BO)Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the ^[al]descendants of ^(BP)Anak were. (Hebron was built seven years before ^(BQ)Zoan in Egypt.)

²³ Then they came to the ^[am]Valley of ^[an](BR)Eshcol, and from there they cut off a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of ^[ao]Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut off from there.

The Spies’ Reports

²⁵ When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, ²⁶ they went on and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ^[ap]in the wilderness of Paran at ^(BS)Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ So they reported to him and said, “We came into the land where you sent us, and ^(BT)it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and ^(BU)this is its fruit. ²⁸ Nevertheless, ^(BV)the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And indeed, we saw ^(BW)the ^[aq]descendants of Anak there! ²⁹ Amalek is living in the land of ^(BX)the Negev, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and ^(BY)the Amorites are living in the hill country, and ^(BZ)the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”

³⁰ Then Caleb quieted the people ^[ar]before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will certainly prevail over it.” ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “^(CA)We are not able to go up against the people, because they are too strong for us.” ³² So they brought ^(CB)a bad report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy out is ^(CC)a land that devours its inhabitants; and ^(CD)all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature. ³³ We also saw the ^[as](CE)Nephilim there (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and ^(CF)we were like ^[at]grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation ^[au]raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept ^[av]that night. ² And all the sons of Israel ^(CG)grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the entire congregation said to them, “^(CH)If 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 ^(CI)to fall by the sword? ^(CJ)Our 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, “^(CK)Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”

^5 (CL)Then 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, “^(CM)The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. ^8 (CN)If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—^(CO)a land which flows with milk and honey. ⁹ Only ^(CP)do not rebel against the Lord; and do not ^(CQ)fear the people of the land, for they will be our ^[aw]prey. Their ^[ax]protection is gone from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” ^10 (CR)But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then ^(CS)the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

Moses Pleads for the People

^11 (CT)And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people be disrespectful to Me? And how long will ^(CU)they not ^[ay]believe in Me, despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst? ¹² I will strike them with ^[az](CV)plague and dispossess them, and I ^(CW)will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

^13 (CX)But 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 ^(CY)You, 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 ^[ba]all at once, ^(CZ)then the nations who have heard of Your fame will ^[bb]say, ¹⁶ ‘Since the Lord ^(DA)could 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 ‘^(DB)The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in mercy, forgiving wrongdoing and violation of His Law; but ^(DC)He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, ^(DD)inflicting the ^[bc]punishment of the fathers on the children ^[bd]to the third and the fourth generations.’ ¹⁹ Please ^(DE)forgive 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.”

The Lord Pardons and Rebukes

²⁰ So the Lord said, “^(DF)I have forgiven them in accordance with your word; ²¹ however, ^(DG)as I live, ^[be](DH)all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. ²² Certainly ^(DI)all the people who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet ^(DJ)have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, ^23 (DK)shall 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, ^(DL)because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, ^(DM)I will bring him into the land which he ^[bf]entered, and his ^[bg]descendants shall take possession of it. ^25 (DN)Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way of the ^[bh]Red Sea.”

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron again, saying, ²⁷ “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who are ^(DO)grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel which they are ^[bi]voicing against Me. ²⁸ Say to them, ‘^(DP)As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘just as ^(DQ)you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you; ^29 (DR)your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, all ^(DS)your ^[bj]numbered 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 ^[bk]swore to settle you, ^(DT)except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. ^31 (DU)Your children, however, whom you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. ^32 (DV)But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. ³³ Also, your sons will be shepherds in the wilderness for ^(DW)forty years, and they will ^[bl]suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your bodies perish in the wilderness. ³⁴ In accordance with the ^(DX)number of days that you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall suffer the punishment for your ^[bm]guilt a year, that is, forty years, and you will know My opposition. ^35 (DY)I, 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 (DZ)As 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 (EA)those men who brought the bad report of the land also died by a ^(EB)plague 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.

Israel Repulsed

³⁹ Now when Moses spoke ^(EC)these words to all the sons of Israel, ^(ED)the people mourned greatly. ⁴⁰ In the morning, however, they got up early and went up to the ^[bn]ridge of the hill country, saying, “^(EE)Here we are; and we will go up to the place which the Lord has ^[bo]promised, for ^[bp]we have sinned.” ⁴¹ But Moses said, “^(EF)Why then are you ^(EG)violating the ^[bq]command of the Lord, when doing so will not succeed? ^42 (EH)Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, ^[br]to prevent you from being defeated ^[bs]by your enemies. ⁴³ For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there ^[bt]to 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 ^[bu]ridge of the hill country; neither ^(EI)the 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 ^(EJ)Hormah.