Add parallel Print Page Options

12 And Miriam speaketh -- Aaron also -- against Moses concerning the circumstance of the Cushite woman whom he had taken: for a Cushite woman he had taken;

and they say, `Only by Moses hath Jehovah spoken? also by us hath he not spoken?' and Jehovah heareth.

And the man Moses [is] very humble, more than any of the men who [are] on the face of the ground.

And Jehovah saith suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, `Come out ye three unto the tent of meeting;' and they three come out.

And Jehovah cometh down in the pillar of the cloud, and standeth at the opening of the tent, and calleth Aaron and Miriam, and they come out both of them.

And He saith, `Hear, I pray you, My words: If your prophet is of Jehovah -- in an appearance unto him I make Myself known; in a dream I speak with him;

not so My servant Moses; in all My house he [is] stedfast;

mouth unto mouth I speak with him, and [by] an appearance, and not in riddles; and the form of Jehovah he beholdeth attentively; and wherefore have ye not been afraid to speak against My servant -- against Moses?'

And the anger of Jehovah burneth against them, and He goeth on,

10 and the cloud hath turned aside from off the tent, and lo, Miriam [is] leprous as snow; and Aaron turneth unto Miriam, and lo, leprous!

11 And Aaron saith unto Moses, `O, my lord, I pray thee, lay not upon us sin [in] which we have been foolish, and [in] which we have sinned;

12 let her not, I pray thee, be as [one] dead, when in his coming out from the womb of his mother -- the half of his flesh is consumed.'

13 And Moses crieth unto Jehovah, saying, `O God, I pray Thee, give, I pray Thee, healing to her.'

14 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `And her father had but spat in her face -- is she not ashamed seven days? she is shut out seven days at the outside of the camp, and afterwards she is gathered.'

15 And Miriam is shut out at the outside of the camp seven days, and the people hath not journeyed till Miriam is gathered;

16 and afterwards have the people journeyed from Hazeroth, and they encamp in the wilderness of Paran.

13 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

`Send for thee men, and they spy the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel; one man, one man for the tribe of his fathers ye do send, every one a prince among them.'

And Moses sendeth them from the wilderness of Paran by the command of Jehovah; all of them [are] men, heads of the sons of Israel they are,

and these their names: For the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur.

For the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori.

For the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh.

For the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph.

For the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea, son of Nun.

For the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu.

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

11 For the tribe of Joseph, (for the tribe of Manasseh,) Gaddi son of Susi.

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

13 For the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael.

14 For the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vopshi.

15 For the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Machi.

16 These [are] the names of the men whom Moses hath sent to spy the land; and Moses calleth Hoshea son of Nun, Jehoshua.

17 And Moses sendeth them to spy the land of Canaan, and saith unto them, `Go ye up this [way] into the south, and ye have gone up the mountain,

18 and have seen the land what it [is], and the people which is dwelling on it, whether it [is] strong or feeble; whether it [is] few or many;

19 and what the land [is] in which it is dwelling, whether it [is] good or bad; and what [are] the cities in which it is dwelling, whether in camps or in fortresses;

20 And what the land [is], whether it [is] fat or lean; whether there is wood in it or not; and ye have strengthened yourselves, and have taken of the fruit of the land;' and the days [are] days of the first-fruits of grapes.

21 And they go up and spy the land, from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob at the going in to Hamath;

22 and they go up by the south, and come in unto Hebron, and there [are] Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, children of Anak (and Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt),

23 and they come in unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down thence a branch and one cluster of grapes, and they bear it on a staff by two, also [some] of the pomegranates, and of the figs.

24 That place hath [one] called Brook of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut from thence.

25 And they turn back from spying the land at the end of forty days.

26 And they go and come in unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto all the company of the sons of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and they bring them and all the company back word, and shew them the fruit of the land.

27 And they recount to him, and say, `We came in unto the land whither thou hast sent us, and also it [is] flowing with milk and honey -- and this [is] its fruit;

28 only, surely the people which is dwelling in the land [is] strong; and the cities are fenced, very great; and also children of Anak we have seen there.

29 Amalek is dwelling in the land of the south, and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite is dwelling in the hill country, and the Canaanite is dwelling by the sea, and by the side of the Jordan.'

30 And Caleb stilleth the people concerning Moses, and saith, `Let us certainly go up -- and we have possessed it; for we are thoroughly able for it.'

31 And the men who have gone up with him said, `We are not able to go up against the people, for it [is] stronger than we;'

32 and they bring out an evil account of the land which they have spied unto the sons of Israel, saying, `The land into which we passed over to spy it, is a land eating up its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in its midst [are] men of stature;

33 and there we saw the Nephilim, sons of Anak, of the Nephilim; and we are in our own eyes as grasshoppers; and so we were in their eyes.'

14 And all the company lifteth up and give forth their voice, and the people weep during that night;

and all the sons of Israel murmur against Moses, and against Aaron, and all the company say unto them, `O that we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness, O that we had died!

and why is Jehovah bringing us in unto this land to fall by the sword? our wives and our infants are become a prey; is it not good for us to turn back to Egypt?'

And they say one unto another, `Let us appoint a head, and turn back to Egypt.'

And Moses falleth -- Aaron also -- on their faces, before all the assembly of the company of the sons of Israel.

And Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, of those spying the land, have rent their garments,

and they speak unto all the company of the sons of Israel, saying, `The land into which we have passed over to spy it, [is] a very very good land;

if Jehovah hath delighted in us, then He hath brought us in unto this land, and hath given it to us, a land which is flowing with milk and honey;

only, against Jehovah rebel not ye: and ye, fear not ye the people of the land, for our bread they [are]; their defence hath turned aside from off them, and Jehovah [is] with us; fear them not.'

10 And all the company say to stone them with stones, and the honour of Jehovah hath appeared in the tent of meeting unto all the sons of Israel.

11 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Until when doth this people despise Me? and until when do they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have done in its midst?

12 I smite it with pestilence, and dispossess it, and make thee become a nation greater and mightier than it.'

13 And Moses saith unto Jehovah, `Then have the Egyptians heard! for Thou hast brought up with Thy power this people out of their midst,

14 and they have said [it] unto the inhabitant of this land, they have heard that Thou, Jehovah, [art] in the midst of this people, that eye to eye Thou art seen -- O Jehovah, and Thy cloud is standing over them, -- and in a pillar of cloud Thou art going before them by day, and in a pillar of fire by night.

15 `And Thou hast put to death this people as one man, and the nations who have heard Thy fame have spoken, saying,

16 From Jehovah's want of ability to bring in this people unto the land which He hath sworn to them -- He doth slaughter them in the wilderness.

17 `And now, let, I pray Thee, the power of my Lord be great, as Thou hast spoken, saying:

18 Jehovah [is] slow to anger, and of great kindness; bearing away iniquity and transgression, and not entirely acquitting, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on a third [generation], and on a fourth; --

19 forgive, I pray Thee, the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of Thy kindness, and as Thou hast borne with this people from Egypt, even until now.'

20 And Jehovah saith, `I have forgiven, according to thy word;

21 and yet, I live -- and it is filled -- the whole earth -- [with] the honour of Jehovah;

22 for all the men who are seeing My honour, and My signs, which I have done in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and try Me these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice --

23 they see not the land which I have sworn to their fathers, yea, none of those despising Me see it;

24 and My servant Caleb, because there hath been another spirit with him, and he is fully after Me -- I have brought him in unto the land whither he hath entered, and his seed doth possess it.

25 `And the Amalekite and the Canaanite are dwelling in the valley; to-morrow turn ye and journey for yourselves into the wilderness -- the way of the Red Sea.'

26 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, and unto Aaron, saying,

27 `Until when hath this evil company that which they are murmuring against Me? the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against Me, I have heard;

28 say unto them, I live -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- if, as ye have spoken in Mine ears -- so I do not to you;

29 in this wilderness do your carcases fall, even all your numbered ones, to all your number, from a son of twenty years and upward, who have murmured against Me;

30 ye -- ye come not in unto the land which I have lifted up My hand to cause you to tabernacle in it, except Caleb son of Jephunneh, and Joshua son of Nun.

31 `As to your infants -- of whom ye have said, A spoil they are become -- I have even brought them in, and they have known the land which ye have kicked against;

32 as to you -- your carcases do fall in this wilderness,

33 and your sons are evil in the wilderness forty years, and have borne your whoredoms till your carcases are consumed in the wilderness;

34 by the number of the days [in] which ye spied the land, forty days, -- a day for a year, a day for a year -- ye do bear your iniquities, forty years, and ye have known my breaking off;

35 I [am] Jehovah, I have spoken; if I do not this to all this evil company who are meeting against me; -- in this wilderness they are consumed, and there they die.'

36 And the men whom Moses hath sent to spy the land, and they turn back and cause all the company to murmur against him, by bringing out an evil account concerning the land,

37 even the men bringing out an evil account of the land die by the plague before Jehovah;

38 and Joshua son of Nun, and Caleb son of Jephunneh, have lived of those men who go to spy out the land.

39 And Moses speaketh these words unto all the sons of Israel, and the people mourn exceedingly,

40 and they rise early in the morning, and go up unto the top of the mountain, saying, `Here we [are], and we have come up unto the place which Jehovah hath spoken of, for we have sinned.'

41 And Moses saith, `Why [is] this? -- ye are transgressing the command of Jehovah, and it doth not prosper;

42 go not up, for Jehovah is not in your midst, and ye are not smitten before your enemies;

43 for the Amalekite and the Canaanite [are] there before you, and ye have fallen by the sword, because that ye have turned back from after Jehovah, and Jehovah is not with you.'

44 And they presume to go up unto the top of the mountain, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and Moses have not departed out of the midst of the camp.

45 And the Amalekite and the Canaanite who are dwelling in that mountain come down and smite them, and beat them down -- unto Hormah.

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. “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?”(C) And the Lord heard this.(D)

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

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. 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, he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you,
    I, the Lord, reveal(G) myself to them in visions,(H)
    I speak to them in dreams.(I)
But this is not true of my servant Moses;(J)
    he is faithful in all my house.(K)
With him I speak face to face,
    clearly and not in riddles;(L)
    he sees the form of the Lord.(M)
Why then were you not afraid
    to speak against my servant Moses?”(N)

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, “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.”

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

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;

from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat son of Hori;

from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh;(AG)

from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;(AH)

from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti son of Raphu;

10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel son of Sodi;

11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;

12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli;

13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur son of Michael;

14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi son of Vophsi;

15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.

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) 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) 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) And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.(CI)

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown(CJ) in front of the whole Israelite assembly(CK) gathered there. Joshua son of Nun(CL) and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes(CM) and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.(CN) 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) 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)

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 12:10 The Hebrew for leprous was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
  2. Numbers 13:23 Eshkol means cluster; also in verse 24.
  3. Numbers 14:25 Or the Sea of Reeds