Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

12 Miriam^(A) and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife,^(B) for he had married a Cushite. ² “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?”^(C) And the Lord heard this.^(D)

³ (Now Moses was a very humble man,^(E) more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

⁴ At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. ⁵ Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud;^(F) he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, ⁶ he said, “Listen to my words:

⁹ The anger of the Lord burned against them,^(O) and he left them.^(P)

¹⁰ When the cloud lifted from above the tent,^(Q) Miriam’s skin was leprous^[a]—it became as white as snow.^(R) Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease,^{(S) 11} and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.^{(T) 12} Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”

¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!^(U)”

¹⁴ The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face,^(V) would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp^(W) for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” ¹⁵ So Miriam was confined outside the camp^(X) for seven days,^(Y) and the people did not move on till she was brought back.

¹⁶ After that, the people left Hazeroth^(Z) and encamped in the Desert of Paran.^(AA)

Exploring Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Send some men to explore^(AB) the land of Canaan,^(AC) which I am giving to the Israelites.^(AD) From each ancestral tribe^(AE) send one of its leaders.”

³ So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.^{(AF) 4} These are their names:

¹⁶ These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore^(AI) the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun^(AJ) the name Joshua.)^(AK)

¹⁷ When Moses sent them to explore Canaan,^(AL) he said, “Go up through the Negev^(AM) and on into the hill country.^{(AN) 18} See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. ¹⁹ What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? ²⁰ How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.^(AO)” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)^(AP)

²¹ So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin^(AQ) as far as Rehob,^(AR) toward Lebo Hamath.^{(AS) 22} They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron,^(AT) where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai,^(AU) the descendants of Anak,^(AV) lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)^{(AW) 23} When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,^[b](AX) they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates^(AY) and figs.^{(AZ) 24} That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. ²⁵ At the end of forty days^(BA) they returned from exploring the land.^(BB)

Report on the Exploration

²⁶ They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh^(BC) in the Desert of Paran.^(BD) There they reported to them^(BE) and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.^{(BF) 27} They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!^(BG) Here is its fruit.^{(BH) 28} But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.^(BI) We even saw descendants of Anak^(BJ) there.^{(BK) 29} The Amalekites^(BL) live in the Negev; the Hittites,^(BM) Jebusites^(BN) and Amorites^(BO) live in the hill country;^(BP) and the Canaanites^(BQ) live near the sea and along the Jordan.^(BR)”

³⁰ Then Caleb^(BS) silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”^{(BT) 32} And they spread among the Israelites a bad report^(BU) about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours^(BV) those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.^{(BW) 33} We saw the Nephilim^(BX) there (the descendants of Anak^(BY) come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers^(BZ) in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

The People Rebel

14 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.^{(CA) 2} All the Israelites grumbled^(CB) against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt!^(CC) Or in this wilderness!^{(CD) 3} Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?^(CE) Our wives and children^(CF) will be taken as plunder.^(CG) Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?^(CH)” ⁴ And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.^(CI)”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown^(CJ) in front of the whole Israelite assembly^(CK) gathered there. ⁶ Joshua son of Nun^(CL) and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes^{(CM) 7} and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.^{(CN) 8} If the Lord is pleased with us,^(CO) he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey,^(CP) and will give it to us.^{(CQ) 9} Only do not rebel^(CR) against the Lord. And do not be afraid^(CS) of the people of the land,^(CT) because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with^(CU) us.^(CV) Do not be afraid of them.”^(CW)

¹⁰ But the whole assembly talked about stoning^(CX) them. Then the glory of the Lord^(CY) 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?^(CZ) How long will they refuse to believe in me,^(DA) in spite of all the signs^(DB) I have performed among them? ¹² I will strike them down with a plague^(DC) and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation^(DD) greater and stronger than they.”^(DE)

¹³ Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.^{(DF) 14} And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard^(DG) that you, Lord, are with these people^(DH) and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face,^(DI) that your cloud stays over them,^(DJ) and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.^{(DK) 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,^(DL) so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’^(DM)

¹⁷ “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: ¹⁸ ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.^(DN) Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’^{(DO) 19} In accordance with your great love, forgive^(DP) the sin of these people,^(DQ) just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”^(DR)

²⁰ The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them,^(DS) as you asked. ²¹ Nevertheless, as surely as I live^(DT) and as surely as the glory of the Lord^(DU) fills the whole earth,^{(DV) 22} not one of those who saw my glory and the signs^(DW) I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times^(DX)— ²³ not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath^(DY) to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt^(DZ) will ever see it.^{(EA) 24} But because my servant Caleb^(EB) has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly,^(EC) I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.^{(ED) 25} Since the Amalekites^(EE) and the Canaanites^(EF) are living in the valleys, turn^(EG) back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.^[c](EH)”

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.^{(EI) 28} So tell them, ‘As surely as I live,^(EJ) declares the Lord, I will do to you^(EK) the very thing I heard you say: ²⁹ In this wilderness your bodies will fall^(EL)—every one of you twenty years old or more^(EM) who was counted in the census^(EN) and who has grumbled against me. ³⁰ Not one of you will enter the land^(EO) I swore with uplifted hand^(EP) to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh^(EQ) and Joshua son of Nun.^{(ER) 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.^{(ES) 32} But as for you, your bodies will fall^(ET) in this wilderness. ³³ Your children will be shepherds here for forty years,^(EU) suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. ³⁴ For forty years^(EV)—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land^(EW)—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^(EX) to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.^(EY)”

³⁶ So the men Moses had sent^(EZ) to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble^(FA) against him by spreading a bad report^(FB) about it— ³⁷ these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report^(FC) about the land were struck down and died of a plague^(FD) before the Lord. ³⁸ Of the men who went to explore the land,^(FE) only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.^(FF)

³⁹ When Moses reported this^(FG) to all the Israelites, they mourned^(FH) bitterly. ⁴⁰ Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country,^(FI) saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord promised. Surely we have sinned!^(FJ)”

⁴¹ But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? This will not succeed!^{(FK) 42} Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies,^{(FL) 43} for the Amalekites^(FM) and the Canaanites^(FN) will face you there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, he will not be with you^(FO) and you will fall by the sword.”

⁴⁴ Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up^(FP) toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord’s covenant moved from the camp.^{(FQ) 45} Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites^(FR) who lived in that hill country^(FS) came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.^(FT)