Numbers 14:1-45, NLT
Numbers 14
The People Rebel
1Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night.
5Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel.
10But 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.*14:10 Hebrew the Tent of Meeting.
Moses Intercedes for the People
13But 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.
17“Please, Lord, prove that your power is as great as you have claimed. For you said,
20Then the Lord said, “I will pardon them as you have requested.
The Lord Punishes the Israelites
26Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
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.
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.’
36The ten men Moses had sent to explore the land—the ones who incited rebellion against the Lord with their bad report—
39When Moses reported the Lord’s words to all the Israelites, the people were filled with grief.
41But Moses said, “Why are you now disobeying the Lord’s orders to return to the wilderness? It won’t work.
44But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant left the camp.