Numbers 14
The full text of Numbers 14 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.
2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!
3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"
4 And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.
6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes
7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.
8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.
9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."
10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites.
11 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?
12 I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."
13 Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.
14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, LORD, are with these people and that you, LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
15 If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say,
16 'The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.'
17 "Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared:
18 'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he visits the iniquity of the parents upon the children to the third and fourth generation.'
19 In keeping with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."
20 The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked.
21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth,
22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—
23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.
24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.
25 Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea."
26 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:
27 "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites.
28 So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say:
29 In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.
30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.
31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.
32 But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness.
33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, bearing the consequences of your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness.
34 For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you."
35 I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die."
36 So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it—
37 these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD.
38 Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.
39 When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly.
40 Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, "Now we are ready to go up to the land the LORD promised. Surely we have sinned!"
41 But Moses said, "Why are you disobeying the LORD's command? This will not succeed!
42 Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies,
43 for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword."
44 Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD's covenant moved from the camp.
45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, attacked them, and beat them back all the way to Hormah.
Translation notes (14)
- Numbers 14:9a The phrase "we will devour them" translates the Hebrew lachmenu hem, which literally means "they are our bread." This is a vivid idiom suggesting that the formidable peoples will be as easily consumed as food. Similarly, "their protection is gone" translates sar tsillam, literally "their shadow has departed," with a shadow being a common biblical image for shelter or defense.
- Numbers 14:11a "Treat me with contempt" translates the Hebrew word na'ats, meaning to spurn, despise, or provoke by rejection. "Refuse to believe in me" translates the Hebrew lo ya'aminu vi, from 'aman, the root of "faith" or "trust"; this refers to a failure to trust the LORD, not merely intellectual doubt.
- Numbers 14:14a "Seen face to face" translates the Hebrew 'ayin be-'ayin nir'ah, which literally means "eye to eye seen." This is an idiom for the LORD's direct, unmistakable presence with Israel, witnessed by the nations.
- Numbers 14:18a Moses here quotes the LORD's great self-revelation in Exodus 34:6-7. "Steadfast love" translates the Hebrew word chesed, meaning covenant loyalty or loving-kindness. The clause about visiting iniquity "to the third and fourth generation" is theologically significant and much debated; it is rendered faithfully and reserved for eventual review by scholars.
- Numbers 14:19a "Your great love" translates the Hebrew godel chasdekha, meaning "the greatness of your chesed." Chesed refers to covenant loyalty or loving-kindness, and this is the basis Moses appeals to for pardon, picking up the word from verse 18.
- Numbers 14:21a "As surely as I live" translates the Hebrew chai-ani, which is the LORD's solemn self-oath. This clause can be understood either as a statement that the glory does fill the earth, or as part of the oath, meaning "as surely as it fills the earth"; the translation preserves both possible meanings.
- Numbers 14:22a "Ten times" translates the Hebrew zeh 'eser pe'amim, which is likely an idiom meaning "again and again" or "repeatedly," though some interpreters count ten specific provocations. "Tested me" translates the Hebrew nasah, meaning to put the LORD to the proof through unbelief.
- Numbers 14:24a "Follows me wholeheartedly" translates the Hebrew vaymalle acharai, literally "he has fully followed after me," meaning completely loyal and holding nothing back. "A different spirit" translates the Hebrew ruach acheret, which sets Caleb apart from the unbelieving generation.
- Numbers 14:25a "Red Sea" translates the Hebrew yam suph, which traditionally refers to the Red Sea. The Hebrew literally means "Sea of Reeds," and its precise identification is debated; the conventional "Red Sea" is kept for recognizability.
- Numbers 14:30a "Swore with uplifted hand" translates the Hebrew nasati et yadi, which literally means "I lifted my hand." This was the gesture that accompanied a solemn oath.
- Numbers 14:33a "Your unfaithfulness" translates the Hebrew zenuteykhem, literally "your whoredoms" or "acts of harlotry." This is a prophetic image of covenant infidelity as adultery against the LORD; the startling metaphor is preserved, not softened to a generic "sins."
- Numbers 14:34a "What it is like to have me against you" translates the Hebrew et-tenu'ati, a rare word that perhaps means "my opposition," "my displeasure," or "the consequence of thwarting me." Its exact sense is uncertain; the translation conveys the LORD's turning against them without over-defining the term.
- Numbers 14:44a "In their presumption they went up" translates the Hebrew vayya'pilu, a rare verb that roughly means "they presumed," "acted defiantly," or "pushed recklessly upward." Its precise nuance is uncertain; the sense of reckless self-assertion is kept in the translation.
- Numbers 14:45a "Hormah" is connected with a Hebrew root meaning "destruction" or "devoting to destruction" (compare Numbers 21:3), an apt name for the place of this rout.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own modern English translation, worked directly from the original Hebrew and honest to the earliest manuscripts. It was completed in 2026 — the most modern English Bible translation — and is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter, including all of Numbers, is free to read here on the web.
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