Moses Intercedes for the People
20 Then the Lord said, âI have pardoned, according to your word; 21 but truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the proof these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice, 23 shall see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; and none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25 Now, since the Amalâ˛ekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.â
An Attempted Invasion is Repulsed
26 And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, 27 âHow long shall this wicked congregation murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the people of Israel, which they murmur against me. 28 Say to them, âAs I live, says the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and of all your number, numbered from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunâ˛neh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.â 35 I, the Lord, have spoken; surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.â
36 And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up an evil report against the land, 37 the men who brought up an evil report of the land, died by plague before the Lord. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunâ˛neh remained alive, of those men who went to spy out the land.
â Numbers 14:20-38 | Revised Standard Version (RSV)
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Š 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved.
Cross References: Exodus 6:8; Exodus 16:7; Exodus 16:12; Exodus 17:2; Exodus 20:5; Numbers 11:1; Numbers 13:4; Numbers 13:6; Numbers 13:29; Numbers 13:32; Numbers 14:6; Numbers 16:49; Numbers 23:19; Numbers 26:65; Numbers 26:64-65; Numbers 32:11; Numbers 32:13; Deuteronomy 2:7; Deuteronomy 2:14; Joshua 5:6; Judges 11:16; Psalm 72:19; Psalm 78:33; Psalm 99:8; Psalm 106:24; Jeremiah 31:2; Ezekiel 20:18; Habakkuk 2:14; Acts 7:36; Acts 13:8; 1 Corinthians 10:5; 1 Corinthians 10:10; Hebrews 3:17-18; Revelation 10:6
Notes: Numbers 14:20-38 explains God's judgment on the Israelites after their rebellion, declaring that the adult generation who refused to enter the Promised Land will die in the wilderness. He decrees they will wander for 40 yearsâone year for each day spent scouting the landâwith only their children and a few faithful individuals, Joshua and Caleb, inheriting the land. Those who spread the bad report, including the spies and others who rebelled, will die by a plague.
