Numbers 13-16

Numbers 13

¹And the Lord said to Moses,

²Send men to get knowledge about the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from every tribe of their fathers you are to send a man, every one a chief among them.

³And Moses sent them from the waste land of Paran as the Lord gave orders, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.

⁴And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, the son of Zaccur.

⁵Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori.

⁶Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.

⁷Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph.

⁸Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Nun.

⁹Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu.

¹⁰Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi.

¹¹Of the tribe of Joseph, that is of the family of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi.

¹²Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli.

¹³Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael

¹⁴Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi.

¹⁵Of the tribe of Gad, Gevel, the son of Machi.

¹⁶These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to get knowledge about the land. And Moses gave to Hoshea, the son of Nun, the name of Joshua.

¹⁷So Moses sent them to have a look at the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up into the South and into the hill-country;

¹⁸And see what the land is like; and if the people living in it are strong or feeble, small or great in number;

¹⁹And what sort of land they are living in, if it is good or bad; and what their living-places are, tent-circles or walled towns;

²⁰And if the land is fertile or poor, and if there is wood in it or not. And be of good heart, and come back with some of the produce of the land. Now it was the time when the first grapes were ready.

²¹So they went up and got a view of the land, from the waste land of Zin to Rehob, on the way to Hamath.

²²They went up into the South and came to Hebron; and Ahiman and Sheshai and Talmai, the children of Anak, were living there. (Now the building of Hebron took place seven years before that of Zoan in Egypt.)

²³And they came to the valley of Eshcol, and cutting down a vine-branch with its grapes, two of them took it on a rod between them; and they took some pomegranates and figs.

²⁴That place was named the valley of Eshcol because of the grapes which the children of Israel took from there.

²⁵At the end of forty days they came back from viewing the land.

²⁶And they came back to Moses and Aaron and all the children of Israel, to Kadesh in the waste land of Paran; and gave an account to them and to all the people and let them see the produce of the land.

²⁷And they said, We came to the land where you sent us, and truly it is flowing with milk and honey: and here is some of the produce of it.

²⁸But the people living in the land are strong, and the towns are walled and very great; further, we saw the children of Anak there.

²⁹And the Amalekites are in the South; and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill-country; and the Canaanites by the sea and by the side of Jordan.

³⁰Then Caleb made signs to the people to keep quiet, and said to Moses, Let us go up straight away and take this land; for we are well able to overcome it.

³¹But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.

³²And they gave the children of Israel a bad account of the land they had been to see, saying, This land through which we went is a land causing destruction to those living in it; and all the people we saw there are men of more than common size.

³³There we saw those great men, the sons of Anak, offspring of the Nephilim: and we seemed to ourselves no more than insects, and so we seemed to them.

Numbers 14

¹Then all the people gave load cries of grief, and all that night they gave themselves up to weeping.

²And all the children of Israel, crying out against Moses and Aaron, said, If only we had come to our death in the land of Egypt, or even in this waste land!

³Why is the Lord taking us into this land to come to our death by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will get into strange hands: would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?

⁴And they said to one another, Let us make a captain over us, and go back to Egypt.

⁵Then Moses and Aaron went down on their faces before the meeting of the people.

⁶And Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, two of those who had been to see the land, giving signs of grief,

⁷Said to all the children of Israel, This land which we went through to see is a very good land.

⁸And if the Lord has delight in us, he will take us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁹Only, do not go against the Lord or go in fear of the people of the land, for they will be our food; their strength has been taken from them and the Lord is with us: have no fear of them.

¹⁰But all the people said they were to be stoned. Then the glory of the Lord was seen in the Tent of meeting, before the eyes of all the children of Israel.

¹¹And the Lord said to Moses, How long will this people have no respect for me? how long will they be without faith, in the face of all the signs I have done among them?

¹²I will send disease on them for their destruction, and take away their heritage, and I will make of you a nation greater and stronger than they.

¹³And Moses said to the Lord, Then it will come to the ears of the Egyptians; for by your power you took this people out from among them;

¹⁴And they will give the news to the people of this land: they have had word that you, Lord, are present with this people, letting yourself be seen face to face, and that your cloud is resting over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

¹⁵Now if you put to death all this people as one man, then the nations who have had word of your glory will say,

¹⁶Because the Lord was not able to take this people into the land which he made an oath to give them, he sent destruction on them in the waste land.

¹⁷So now, may my prayer come before you, and let the power of the Lord be great, as you said:

¹⁸The Lord is slow to wrath and great in mercy, overlooking wrongdoing and evil, and will not let wrongdoers go free; sending punishment on children for the sins of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation.

¹⁹May the sin of this people have forgiveness, in the measure of your great mercy, as you have had mercy on them from Egypt up till now.

²⁰And the Lord said, I have had mercy, as you say:

²¹But truly, as I am living, and as all the earth will be full of the glory of the Lord;

²²Because all these men, having seen my glory and the signs which I have done in Egypt and in the waste land, still have put me to the test ten times, and have not given ear to my voice;

²³They will not see the land about which I made an oath to their fathers; not one of these by whom I have not been honoured will see it.

²⁴But my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit in him, and has been true to me with all his heart, him I will take into that land into which he went, and his seed will have it for their heritage.

²⁵Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites are in the valley; tomorrow, turning round, go into the waste land by the way to the Red Sea.

²⁶Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

²⁷How long am I to put up with this evil people and their outcries against me? The words which they say against me have come to my ears.

²⁸Say to them, By my life, says the Lord, as certainly as your words have come to my ears, so certainly will I do this to you:

²⁹Your dead bodies will be stretched out in this waste land; and of all your number, all those of twenty years old and over who have been crying out against me,

³⁰Not one will come into the land which I gave my word you would have for your resting-place, but only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.

³¹And your little ones, whom you said would come into strange hands, I will take in, and they will see the land which you would not have.

³²But as for you, your dead bodies will be stretched in this waste land.

³³And your children will be wanderers in the waste land for forty years, undergoing punishment for your false ways, till your bodies become dust in the waste land.

³⁴And as you went through the land viewing it for forty days, so for forty years, a year for every day, you will undergo punishment for your wrongdoing, and you will see that I am against you.

³⁵I the Lord have said it, and this I will certainly do to all this evil people who have come together against me: in this waste land destruction will come on them, and death will be their fate.

³⁶And the men whom Moses sent to see the land, and who, by the bad account they gave of the land, were the cause of the outcry the people made against Moses,

³⁷Those same men who said evil of the land, came to their death by disease before the Lord.

³⁸But Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, of those who went to see the land, were not touched by disease.

³⁹And when Moses put these words before the children of Israel, the people were full of grief.

⁴⁰And early in the morning they got up and went to the top of the mountain, saying, We are here and we will go up to the place which the Lord said he would give us: for we have done wrong.

⁴¹And Moses said, Why are you now acting against the Lord's order, seeing that no good will come of it?

⁴²Go not up, for the Lord is not with you, and you will be overcome by those who are fighting against you.

⁴³For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will be put to death by their swords: because you have gone back from the way of the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.

⁴⁴But they gave no attention to his words and went to the top of the mountain, though Moses and the ark of the Lord's agreement did not go out of the tent-circle.

⁴⁵Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who were living in the hill-country, and overcame them completely, driving them back as far as Hormah.

Numbers 15

¹And the Lord said to Moses,

²Say to the children of Israel, When you have come into the land which I am giving to you for your resting-place,

³And are going to make an offering by fire to the Lord, a burned offering or an offering in connection with an oath, or an offering freely given, or at your regular feasts, an offering for a sweet smell to the Lord, from the herd or the flock:

⁴Then let him who is making his offering, give to the Lord a meal offering of a tenth part of a measure of the best meal mixed with a fourth part of a hin of oil:

⁵And for the drink offering, you are to give with the burned offering or other offering, the fourth part of a hin of wine for every lamb.

⁶Or for a male sheep, give as a meal offering two tenth parts of a measure of the best meal mixed with a third part of a hin of oil:

⁷And for the drink offering give a third part of a hin of wine, for a sweet smell to the Lord.

⁸And when you make ready a young ox for a burned or other offering, or for the effecting of an oath, or for peace-offerings to the Lord:

⁹Then with the ox give a meal offering of three tenth parts of a measure of the best meal mixed with half a hin of oil.

¹⁰And for the drink offering: give half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire for a sweet smell to the Lord.

¹¹This is to be done for every young ox and for every male sheep or he-lamb or young goat.

¹²Whatever number you make ready, so you are to do for every one.

¹³All those who are Israelites by birth are to do these things in this way, when giving an offering made by fire of a sweet smell to the Lord.

¹⁴And if a man from another country or any other person living among you, through all your generations, has the desire to give an offering made by fire of a sweet smell to the Lord, let him do as you do.

¹⁵There is to be one law for you and for the man of another country living with you, one law for ever from generation to generation; as you are, so is he to be before the Lord.

¹⁶The law and the rule are to be the same for you and for those from other lands living with you.

¹⁷And the Lord said to Moses,

¹⁸Say to the children of Israel, When you come into the land where I am guiding you,

¹⁹Then, when you take for your food the produce of the land, you are to give an offering lifted up before the Lord.

²⁰Of the first of your rough meal you are to give a cake for a lifted offering, lifting it up before the Lord as the offering of the grain-floor is lifted up.

²¹From generation to generation you are to give to the Lord a lifted offering from the first of your rough meal.

²²And if in error you go against any of these laws which the Lord has given to Moses,

²³All the laws which the Lord has given you by the hand of Moses, from the day when the Lord gave them, and ever after from generation to generation;

²⁴Then, if the wrong is done in error, without the knowledge of the meeting of the people, let all the meeting give a young ox as a burned offering, a sweet smell to the Lord, with its meal offering and its drink offering, as is ordered in the law, together with a he-goat for a sin-offering.

²⁵So the priest will make the people free from sin, and they will have forgiveness; for it was an error, and they have given their offering made by fire to the Lord, and their sin-offering before the Lord, on account of their error:

²⁶And all the meeting of the children of Israel, as well as those from other lands living among them, will have forgiveness; for it was an error on the part of the people.

²⁷And if one person does wrong, without being conscious of it, then let him give a she-goat of the first year for a sin-offering.

²⁸And the priest will take away the sin of the person who has done wrong, if the wrong was done unconsciously, and he will have forgiveness.

²⁹The law in connection with wrong done unconsciously is to be the same for him who is an Israelite by birth and for the man from another country who is living among them.

³⁰But the person who does wrong in the pride of his heart, if he is one of you or of another nation by birth, is acting without respect for the Lord, and will be cut off from his people.

³¹Because he had no respect for the word of the Lord, and did not keep his law, that man will be cut off without mercy and his sin will be on him.

³²Now while the children of Israel were in the waste land, they saw a man who was getting sticks on the Sabbath day.

³³And those who saw him getting sticks took him before Moses and Aaron and all the people.

³⁴And they had him shut up, because they had no directions about what was to be done with him.

³⁵Then the Lord said to Moses, Certainly the man is to be put to death: let him be stoned by all the people outside the tent-circle.

³⁶So all the people took him outside the tent-circle and he was stoned to death there, as the Lord gave orders to Moses.

³⁷And the Lord said to Moses,

³⁸Say to the children of Israel that through all their generations they are to put on the edges of their robes an ornament of twisted threads, and in every ornament a blue cord;

³⁹So that, looking on these ornaments, you may keep in mind the orders of the Lord and do them; and not be guided by the desires of your hearts and eyes, through which you have been untrue to me:

⁴⁰And that you may keep in mind all my orders and do them and be holy to your God.

⁴¹I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, so that I might be your God: I am the Lord your God.

Numbers 16

¹Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Pallu, the son of Reuben, made themselves ready,

²And came before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty chiefs of the people, men of good name who had a place in the meeting of the people.

³They came together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take overmuch on yourselves, seeing that all the people are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them; why then have you put yourselves in authority over the people of the Lord?

⁴And Moses, hearing this, went down on his face;

⁵And he said to Korah and his band, In the morning the Lord will make clear who are his, and who is holy, and who may come near him: the man of his selection will be caused to come near him.

⁶So do this: let Korah and all his band take vessels for burning perfumes;

⁷And put spices on the fire in them before the Lord tomorrow; then the man marked out by the Lord will be holy: you take overmuch on yourselves, you sons of Levi.

⁸And Moses said to Korah, Give ear now, you sons of Levi:

⁹Does it seem only a small thing to you that the God of Israel has made you separate from the rest of Israel, letting you come near himself to do the work of the House of the Lord, and to take your place before the people to do what has to be done for them;

¹⁰Letting you, and all your brothers the sons of Levi, come near to him? and would you now be priests?

¹¹So you and all your band have come together against the Lord; and Aaron, who is he, that you are crying out against him?

¹²Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: and they said, We will not come up:

¹³Is it not enough that you have taken us from a land flowing with milk and honey, to put us to death in the waste land, but now you are desiring to make yourself a chief over us?

¹⁴And more than this, you have not taken us into a land flowing with milk and honey, or given us a heritage of fields and vine-gardens: will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.

¹⁵Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, Give no attention to their offering: not one of their asses have I taken, or done wrong to any of them.

¹⁶And Moses said to Korah, You and all your band are to come before the Lord tomorrow, you and they and Aaron:

¹⁷And let every man take a vessel for burning perfumes, and put sweet spices in them; let every man take his vessel before the Lord, two hundred and fifty vessels; you and Aaron and everyone with his vessel.

¹⁸So every man took his vessel and they put fire in them, with spices, and came to the door of the Tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.

¹⁹And Korah made all the people come together against them to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the glory of the Lord was seen by all the people.

²⁰And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

²¹Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them.

²²Then falling down on their faces they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, because of one man's sin will your wrath be moved against all the people?

²³And the Lord said to Moses,

²⁴Say to the people, Come away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram.

²⁵So Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the responsible men of Israel went with him.

²⁶And he said to the people, Come away now from the tents of these evil men, without touching anything of theirs, or you may be taken in the punishment of their sins.

²⁷So on every side they went away from the tent of Korah Dathan, and Abiram: and Dathan and Abiram came out to the door of their tents, with their wives and their sons and their little ones.

²⁸And Moses said, Now you will see that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and I have not done them of myself.

²⁹If these men have the common death of men, or if the natural fate of all men overtakes them, then the Lord has not sent me.

³⁰But if the Lord does something new, opening the earth to take them in, with everything which is theirs, and they go down living into the underworld, then it will be clear to you that the Lord has not been honoured by these men.

³¹And while these words were on his lips, the earth under them was parted in two;

³²And the earth, opening her mouth, took them in, with their families, and all the men who were joined to Korah, and their goods.

³³So they and all theirs went down living into the underworld, and the earth was shut over them, and they were cut off from among the meeting of the people.

³⁴And all Israel round about them went in flight at their cry, For fear, said they, that we go down into the heart of the earth.

³⁵Then fire came out from the Lord, burning up the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the perfume.

³⁶And the Lord said to Moses,

³⁷Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he is to take out of the flames the vessels with the perfumes in them, turning the fire out of them, for they are holy;

³⁸And let the vessels of those men, who with their lives have made payment for their sin, be hammered out into plates as a cover for the altar; for they have been offered before the Lord and are holy; so that they may be a sign to the children of Israel.

³⁹So Eleazar the priest took the brass vessels which had been offered by those who were burned up, and they were hammered out to make a cover for the altar:

⁴⁰To be a sign, kept in memory for ever by the children of Israel, that no man who is not of the seed of Aaron has the right of burning spices before the Lord, so that he may not be like Korah and his band: as the Lord said to him by the mouth of Moses.

⁴¹But on the day after, all the children of Israel made an outcry against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have put to death the Lord's people.

⁴²Now when the people had come together against Moses and Aaron, looking in the direction of the Tent of meeting, they saw the cloud covering it, and the glory of the Lord came before their eyes.

⁴³Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of meeting.

⁴⁴And the Lord said to Moses,

⁴⁵Come out from among this people, so that I may send sudden destruction on them. And they went down on their faces.

⁴⁶And Moses said to Aaron, Take your vessel and put in it fire from the altar, and sweet spices, and take it quickly into the meeting of the people, and make them free from sin: for wrath has gone out from the Lord, and the disease is starting.

⁴⁷And at the words of Moses, Aaron took his vessel, and went running among the people; and even then the disease had made a start among them; and he put spices in his vessel to take away the sin of the people.

⁴⁸And he took his place between the dead and the living: and the disease was stopped.

⁴⁹Now fourteen thousand, seven hundred deaths were caused by that disease, in addition to those who came to their end because of what Korah had done.

⁵⁰Then Aaron went back to Moses to the door of the Tent of meeting: and the disease came to a stop.