New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night.
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The whole community was in an uproar, wailing all night long.
2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained.
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All the People of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The entire community was in on it: "Why didn't we die in Egypt? Or in this wilderness?
3 “Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”
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Why has God brought us to this country to kill us? Our wives and children are about to become plunder. Why don't we just head back to Egypt? And right now!"
4 Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”
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Soon they were all saying it to one another: "Let's pick a new leader; let's head back to Egypt."
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel.
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Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in front of the entire community, gathered in emergency session.
6 Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, tore their clothing.
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Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, members of the scouting party, ripped their clothes
7 They said to all the people of Israel, “The land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land!
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and addressed the assembled People of Israel: "The land we walked through and scouted out is a very good land - very good indeed.
8 And if the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey.
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If God is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land that flows, as they say, with milk and honey. And he'll give it to us.
9 Do not rebel against the LORD, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the LORD is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!”
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Just don't rebel against God! And don't be afraid of those people. Why, we'll have them for lunch! They have no protection and God is on our side. Don't be afraid of them!"
10 But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle.
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But, up in arms now, the entire community was talking of hurling stones at them.
11 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?
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God said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me like dirt? How long refuse to trust me? And with all these signs I've done among them!
12 I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are!”
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I've had enough - I'm going to hit them with a plague and kill them. But I'll make you into a nation bigger and stronger than they ever were."
13 But Moses objected. “What will the Egyptians think when they hear about it?” he asked the LORD . “They know full well the power you displayed in rescuing your people from Egypt.
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But Moses said to God, "The Egyptians are going to hear about this! You delivered this people from Egypt with a great show of strength, and now this?
14 Now if you destroy them, the Egyptians will send a report to the inhabitants of this land, who have already heard that you live among your people. They know, LORD, that you have appeared to your people face to face and that your pillar of cloud hovers over them. They know that you go before them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
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The Egyptians will tell everyone. They've already heard that you are God, that you are on the side of this people, that you are present among them, that they see you with their own eyes in your Cloud that hovers over them, in the Pillar of Cloud that leads them by day and the Pillar of Fire at night.
15 Now if you slaughter all these people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will say,
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If you kill this entire people in one stroke, all the nations that have heard what has been going on will say,
16 ‘The LORD was not able to bring them into the land he swore to give them, so he killed them in the wilderness.’
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'Since God couldn't get these people into the land which he had promised to give them, he slaughtered them out in the wilderness.'
17 “Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed. For you said,
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"Now, please, let the power of the Master expand, enlarge itself greatly, along the lines you have laid out earlier when you said,
18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.’
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God, slow to get angry and huge in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and rebellion and sin; Still, never just whitewashing sin. But extending the fallout of parents' sins to children into the third, even the fourth generation.
19 In keeping with your magnificent, unfailing love, please pardon the sins of this people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”
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"Please forgive the wrongdoing of this people out of the extravagance of your loyal love just as all along, from the time they left Egypt, you have been forgiving this people."
20 Then the LORD said, “I will pardon them as you have requested.
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God said, "I forgive them, honoring your words.
21 But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the LORD ’s glory,
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But as I live and as the Glory of God fills the whole Earth -
22 not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice.
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not a single person of those who saw my Glory, saw the miracle signs I did in Egypt and the wilderness, and who have tested me over and over and over again, turning a deaf ear to me -
23 They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it.
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not one of them will set eyes on the land I so solemnly promised to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with such repeated contempt will see it.
24 But my servant Caleb has a different attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.
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"But my servant Caleb - this is a different story. He has a different spirit; he follows me passionately. I'll bring him into the land that he scouted and his children will inherit it.
25 Now turn around, and don’t go on toward the land where the Amalekites and Canaanites live. Tomorrow you must set out for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea. ”
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"Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are so well established in the valleys, for right now change course and head back into the wilderness following the route to the Red Sea."
26 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
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God spoke to Moses and Aaron:
27 “How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me.
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"How long is this going to go on, all this grumbling against me by this evil-infested community? I've had my fill of complaints from these grumbling Israelites.
28 Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say.
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Tell them, As I live - God's decree - here's what I'm going to do:
29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me, every one of you who is twenty years old or older and was included in the registration will die.
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Your corpses are going to litter the wilderness - every one of you twenty years and older who was counted in the census, this whole generation of grumblers and grousers.
30 You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
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Not one of you will enter the land and make your home there, the firmly and solemnly promised land, except for Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
31 “‘You said your children would be carried off as plunder. Well, I will bring them safely into the land, and they will enjoy what you have despised.
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"Your children, the very ones that you said would be taken for plunder, I'll bring in to enjoy the land you rejected
32 But as for you, you will drop dead in this wilderness.
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while your corpses will be rotting in the wilderness.
33 And your children will be like shepherds, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. In this way, they will pay for your faithlessness, until the last of you lies dead in the wilderness.
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These children of yours will live as shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, living with the fallout of your whoring unfaithfulness until the last of your generation lies a corpse in the wilderness.
34 “‘Because your men explored the land for forty days, you must wander in the wilderness for forty years—a year for each day, suffering the consequences of your sins. Then you will discover what it is like to have me for an enemy.’
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You scouted out the land for forty days; your punishment will be a year for each day, a forty-year sentence to serve for your sins - a long schooling in my displeasure.
35 I, the LORD, have spoken! I will certainly do these things to every member of the community who has conspired against me. They will be destroyed here in this wilderness, and here they will die!”
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"I, God, have spoken. I will most certainly carry out these things against this entire evil-infested community which has banded together against me. In this wilderness they will come to their end. There they will die."
36 The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the LORD with their bad report—
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So it happened that the men Moses sent to scout out the land returned to circulate false rumors about the land causing the entire community to grumble against Moses -
37 were struck dead with a plague before the LORD .
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all these men died. Having spread false rumors of the land, they died in a plague, confronted by God.
38 Of the twelve who had explored the land, only Joshua and Caleb remained alive.
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Only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were left alive of the men who went to scout out the land.
39 When Moses reported the LORD ’s words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief.
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When Moses told all of this to the People of Israel, they mourned long and hard.
40 Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. “Let’s go,” they said. “We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the LORD has promised us.”
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But early the next morning they started out for the high hill country, saying, "We're here; we're ready - let's go up and attack the land that God promised us. We sinned, but now we're ready."
41 But Moses said, “Why are you now disobeying the LORD ’s orders to return to the wilderness? It won’t work.
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But Moses said, "Why are you crossing God's command yet again? This won't work.
42 Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the LORD is not with you.
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Don't attack. God isn't with you in this - you'll be beaten badly by your enemies.
43 When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The LORD will abandon you because you have abandoned the LORD .”
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The Amalekites and Canaanites are ready for you and they'll kill you. Because you have left off obediently following God, God is not going to be with you in this."
44 But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the LORD ’s Covenant left the camp.
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But they went anyway; recklessly and arrogantly they climbed to the high hill country. But the Chest of the Covenant and Moses didn't budge from the camp.
45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those hills came down and attacked them and chased them back as far as Hormah.
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The Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in the hill country came out of the hills and attacked and beat them, a rout all the way down to Hormah.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.