Numbers 13-16

Numbers 13

¹And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

²Send thou men, that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a prince among them.

³And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of the LORD: 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, namely, of the tribe 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, Geuel the son of Machi.

¹⁶These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

¹⁷And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way by the South, and go up into the mountains:

¹⁸and see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, whether they be few or many;

¹⁹and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strong holds;

²⁰and what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.

²¹So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, to the entering in of Hamath.

²²And they went up by the South, and came unto Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

²³And they came unto the valley of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it upon a staff between two; they brought also of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

²⁴That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the children of Israel cut down from thence.

²⁵And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days.

²⁶And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.

²⁷And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

²⁸Howbeit the people that dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fenced, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

²⁹Amalek dwelleth in the land of the South: and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanite dwelleth by the sea, and along by the side of Jordan.

³⁰And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

³¹But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

³²And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature.

³³And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, which come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Numbers 14

¹And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

²And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

³And wherefore doth the LORD bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones shall be a prey: were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

⁴And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

⁵Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

⁶And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that spied out the land, rent their clothes:

⁷and they spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.

⁸If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it unto us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

⁹Only rebel not against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is removed from over them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

¹⁰But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the children of Israel.

¹¹And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have wrought among them?

¹²I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.

¹³And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it; for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;

¹⁴and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: they have heard that thou LORD art in the midst of this people; for thou LORD art seen face to face, and thy cloud standeth over them, and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.

¹⁵Now if thou shalt kill this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,

¹⁶Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.

¹⁷And now, I pray thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,

¹⁸The LORD is slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.

¹⁹Pardon, I pray thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and according as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

²⁰And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:

²¹but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD;

²²because all those men which have seen my glory, and my signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

²³surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that despised me see it:

²⁴but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

²⁵Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley: tomorrow turn ye, and get you into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.

²⁶And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

²⁷How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

²⁸Say unto them, As I live, saith the LORD, surely as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

²⁹your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,

³⁰surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I lifted up my hand that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

³¹But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have rejected.

³²But as for you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness.

³³And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be consumed in the wilderness.

³⁴After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation.

³⁵I the LORD have spoken, surely this will I do unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

³⁶And the men, which Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the land,

³⁷even those men that did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before the LORD.

³⁸But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive of those men that went to spy out the land.

³⁹And Moses told these words unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.

⁴⁰And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.

⁴¹And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD, seeing it shall not prosper?

⁴²Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten down before your enemies.

⁴³For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned back from following the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.

⁴⁴But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.

⁴⁵Then the Amalekite came down, and the Canaanite which dwelt in that mountain, and smote them and beat them down, even unto Hormah.

Numbers 15

¹And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you,

³and will make an offering by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a freewill offering, or in your set feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the LORD, of the herd, or of the flock:

⁴then shall he that offereth his oblation offer unto the LORD a meal offering of a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of oil:

⁵and wine for the drink offering, the fourth part of an hin, shalt thou prepare with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.

⁶Or for a ram, thou shalt prepare for a meal offering two tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with the third part of an hin of oil:

⁷and for the drink offering thou shalt offer the third part of an hin of wine, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

⁸And when thou preparest a bullock for a burnt offering, or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings unto the LORD:

⁹then shall he offer with the bullock a meal offering of three tenth parts of an ephah of fine flour mingled with half an hin of oil.

¹⁰and thou shalt offer for the drink offering half an hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

¹¹Thus shall it be done for each bullock, or for each ram, or for each of the he-lambs, or of the kids.

¹²According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to every one according to their number.

¹³All that are homeborn shall do these things after this manner, in offering an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

¹⁴And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; as ye do, so he shall do.

¹⁵For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you, a statute for ever throughout your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD.

¹⁶One law and one ordinance shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.

¹⁷And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

¹⁸Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you,

¹⁹then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave offering unto the LORD.

²⁰Of the first of your dough ye shall offer up a cake for an heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshing-floor, so shall ye heave it.

²¹Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the LORD an heave offering throughout your generations.

²²And when ye shall err, and not observe all these commandments, which the LORD hath spoken unto Moses,

²³even all that the LORD hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the LORD gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations;

²⁴then it shall be, if it be done unwittingly, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the LORD, with the meal offering thereof, and the drink offering thereof, according to the ordinance, and one he-goat for a sin offering.

²⁵And the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and they shall be forgiven; for it was an error, and they have brought their oblation, an offering made by fire unto the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their error:

²⁶and all the congregation of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; for in respect of all the people it was done unwittingly.

²⁷And if one person sin unwittingly, then he shall offer a she-goat of the first year for a sin offering.

²⁸And the priest shall make atonement for the soul that erreth, when he sinneth unwittingly, before the LORD, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.

²⁹Ye shall have one law for him that doeth aught unwittingly, for him that is homeborn among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.

³⁰But the soul that doeth aught with an high hand, whether he be homeborn or a stranger, the same blasphemeth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

³¹Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment; that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.

³²And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks upon the sabbath day.

³³And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.

³⁴And they put him in ward, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.

³⁵And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall surely be put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.

³⁶And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.

³⁷And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

³⁸Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of each border a cord of blue:

³⁹and it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:

⁴⁰that ye may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.

⁴¹I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to 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 Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men:

²and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown:

³and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?

⁴And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:

⁵and he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, In the morning the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he shall choose will he cause to come near unto him.

⁶This do; take you censers, Korah, and all his company;

⁷and put fire therein, and put incense upon them before the LORD tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.

⁸And Moses said unto Korah, Hear now, ye sons of Levi:

⁹seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself; to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them;

¹⁰and that he hath brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee? and seek ye the priesthood also?

¹¹Therefore thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and Aaron, what is he that ye murmur against him?

¹²And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: and they said, We will not come up:

¹³is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but thou must needs make thyself also a prince over us?

¹⁴Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.

¹⁵And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.

¹⁶And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy congregation before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow:

¹⁷and take ye every man his censer, and put incense upon them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each his censer.

¹⁸And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood at the door of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron.

¹⁹And Korah assembled all the congregation against them unto the door of the tent of meeting: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.

²⁰And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

²¹Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.

²²And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

²³And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

²⁴Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

²⁵And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

²⁶And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.

²⁷So they gat them up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.

²⁸And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.

²⁹If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.

³⁰But if the LORD make a new thing, and the ground open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have despised the LORD.

³¹And it came to pass, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:

³²and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

³³So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit: and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the assembly.

³⁴And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up.

³⁵And fire came forth from the LORD, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.

³⁶And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

³⁷Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are holy;

³⁸even the censers of these sinners against their own lives, and let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are holy: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.

³⁹And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, which they that were burnt had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar:

⁴⁰to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to burn incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD spake unto him by the hand of Moses.

⁴¹But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.

⁴²And it came to pass, when the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.

⁴³And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting.

⁴⁴And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

⁴⁵Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

⁴⁶And Moses said unto Aaron, Take thy censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon, and carry it quickly unto the congregation, and make atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.

⁴⁷And Aaron took as Moses spake, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.

⁴⁸And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.

⁴⁹Now they that died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides them that died about the matter of Korah.

⁵⁰And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tent of meeting: and the plague was stayed.