Numbers 14:13-35

Moses Intercedes for the People

13 But b Moses said to the Lord, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. c They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and d your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, 16 'It is because the Lord e was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.' 17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18 f 'The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, g visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.' 19 Please h pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just i as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now."

God Promises Judgment

20 Then the Lord said, "I have pardoned, j according to your word. 21 But truly, as I live, and as all k the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 l none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these m ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 n shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant o Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has p followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25 q Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, r turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea."

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27 "How long shall s this wicked congregation grumble against me? t I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28 Say to them, u 'As I live, declares the Lord, v what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 w your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and x of all your number, listed in the census y from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I z swore that I would make you dwell, a except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 b But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that c you have rejected. 32 But as for you, w your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children d shall be shepherds in the wilderness e forty years and shall f suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 g According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, h forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.' 35 i I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all j this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die."

  1. Cross References
    Exodus 32:12
    Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent...
    Deuteronomy 9:28
    Lest the land from which you brought us say, "B...
    Deuteronomy 32:27
    Had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest...
    Psalms 106:23
    Therefore he said he would destroy them - had n...
    Ezekiel 20:9
    But I acted for the sake of my name, that it sh...
    Ezekiel 20:14
    But I acted for the sake of my name, that it sh...
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 15:14
    The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
    Joshua 2:9 - 10
    And said to the men, "I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you.
    Joshua 5:1
    As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.
  3. Cross References
    Exodus 13:21
    And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
  4. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 9:28
    Lest the land from which you brought us say, "Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.
    Joshua 7:9
    For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?
  5. Cross References
    Exodus 34:6 - 7
    The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
  6. Cross References
    Exodus 20:5
    You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.
  7. Cross References
    Exodus 34:9
    And he said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.
  8. Cross References
    Psalms 78:38
    Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath.
    Psalms 106:45
    For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 106:23
    Therefore he said he would destroy them - had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
    James 5:16
    Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
    1 John 5:14 - 16
    And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
  10. Cross References
    Psalms 72:19
    Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!
    Habakkuk 2:14
    For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
  11. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 1:35
    Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers.
    Psalms 95:11
    Therefore I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter my rest.
    Psalms 106:26
    Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness.
    Hebrews 3:17 - 18
    And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
  12. Cross References
    Genesis 31:7
    Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me.
    Job 19:3
    These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me?
  13. Cross References
    Numbers 32:11
    Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me.
    Ezekiel 20:15
    Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands.
    Numbers 26:64
    But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.
  14. Cross References
    Numbers 14:6
    And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
    Numbers 13:6
    From the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
  15. Cross References
    Numbers 32:12
    None except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.
    Joshua 14:8 - 9
    But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God.
  16. Cross References
    Numbers 14:43
    For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.
    Numbers 14:45
    Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.
    Numbers 13:29
    The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.
  17. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 1:40
    But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.
  18. Cross References
    Numbers 14:35
    I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.
  19. Cross References
    Exodus 16:7
    And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?
    Exodus 16:12
    "I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.'"
  20. Cross References
    Numbers 14:21
    But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.
    Numbers 14:23
    Shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.
    Numbers 26:65
    For the Lord had said of them, "They shall die in the wilderness." Not one of them was left, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
  21. Cross References
    Numbers 14:2
    And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
  22. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 10:5
    Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
    Hebrews 3:17
    And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
  23. Cross References
    Numbers 1:45
    So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel -
    Numbers 26:64
    But among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had listed the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.
    Deuteronomy 1:35
    Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers.
  24. Cross References
    Numbers 1:3
    From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company.
    Exodus 30:14
    Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord 's offering.
  25. Cross References
    Genesis 14:22
    But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.
  26. Cross References
    Numbers 14:6
    And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
    Numbers 14:38
    Of those men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.
    Numbers 13:6
    From the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
  27. Cross References
    Numbers 14:3
    Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?
    Deuteronomy 1:39
    And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.
  28. Cross References
    Psalms 106:24
    Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise.
  29. Cross References
    Numbers 14:29
    Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me.
  30. Cross References
    Numbers 32:13
    And the Lord 's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone.
    Psalms 107:40
    He pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes.
  31. Cross References
    Psalms 95:10
    For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.
    Deuteronomy 2:14
    And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them.
  32. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:35
    Therefore thus says the Lord God : Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.
  33. Cross References
    Numbers 13:25
    At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.
  34. Cross References
    Ezekiel 4:6
    And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, a day for each year.
  35. Cross References
    Numbers 23:19
    God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
  36. Cross References
    Numbers 14:27
    How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.