Numbers 11:24-13:33

Contemporary English Version

²⁴ Moses told the people what the Lord had said. Then he chose 70 respected leaders and went with them to the sacred tent. While the leaders stood in a circle around the tent, Moses went inside, ²⁵ and the Lord spoke with him. Then the Lord took some authority^[a] from Moses and gave it to the 70 leaders. And when the Lord's Spirit took control of them, they started shouting like prophets. But they did it only this one time.

²⁶ Eldad and Medad were two leaders who had not gone to the tent. But when the Spirit took control of them, they began shouting like prophets right there in camp. ²⁷ A boy ran to Moses and told him about Eldad and Medad.

²⁸ Joshua^[b] was there helping Moses, as he had done since he was young. And he said to Moses, “Sir, you must stop them!”

²⁹ But Moses replied, “Are you concerned what this might do to me? I wish the Lord would give his Spirit to all his people so everyone could be a prophet.” ³⁰ Then Moses and the 70 leaders went back to camp.

The Lord Sends Quails

³¹ Some time later the Lord sent a strong wind that blew quails in from the sea until Israel's camp was completely surrounded with birds, piled up about a meter high for many kilometers in every direction. ³² The people picked up quails for two days—each person filled at least ten large baskets. Then they spread them out to dry. ³³ But before the meat could be eaten, the Lord became angry and sent a deadly disease through the camp.

³⁴ After they had buried the people who had been so greedy for meat, they called the place “Graves for the Greedy.”^[c]

³⁵ Israel then broke camp and traveled to Hazeroth.

Miriam and Aaron Are Jealous of Moses

12 ^1-3 (A) Although Moses was the most humble person in all the world, Miriam and Aaron started complaining, “Moses had no right to marry that woman from Ethiopia!^[d] Who does he think he is? The Lord has spoken to us, not just to him.”

The Lord heard their complaint ⁴ and told Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to come to the entrance of the sacred tent. ⁵ There the Lord appeared in a cloud and told Aaron and Miriam to come closer. ⁶ Then after commanding them to listen carefully, he said:

⁹ The Lord became angry with Aaron and Miriam. And after the Lord left ¹⁰ and the cloud disappeared from over the sacred tent, Miriam's skin turned white with leprosy.^[e] When Aaron saw what had happened to her, ¹¹ he said to Moses, “Sir, please don't punish us for doing such a foolish thing. ¹² Don't let Miriam's flesh rot away like a child born dead!”

¹³ Moses prayed, “Lord God, please heal her.”

^14 (C) But the Lord replied, “Miriam would be disgraced for seven days if her father had punished her by spitting in her face. So make her stay outside the camp for seven days, before coming back.”

¹⁵ The people of Israel did not move their camp until Miriam returned seven days later. ¹⁶ Then they left Hazeroth and set up camp in the Paran Desert.

Twelve Men Are Sent into Canaan

(Deuteronomy 1.19-33)

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Choose a leader from each tribe and send them into Canaan to explore the land I am giving you.”

³ So Moses sent twelve tribal leaders from Israel's camp in the Paran Desert ^4-16 with orders to explore the land of Canaan. And here are their names:

¹⁷ Before Moses sent them into Canaan, he said:

After you go through the Southern Desert of Canaan, continue north into the hill country ¹⁸ and find out what those regions are like. Be sure to remember how many people live there, how strong they are, ^19-20 and if they live in open towns or walled cities. See if the land is good for growing crops and find out what kinds of trees grow there. It's time for grapes to ripen, so try to bring back some of the fruit that grows there.

²¹ The twelve men left to explore Canaan from the Zin Desert in the south all the way to the town of Rehob near Lebo-Hamath in the north. ²² As they went through the Southern Desert, they came to the town of Hebron, which was seven years older than the Egyptian town of Zoan. In Hebron, they saw the three Anakim^[g] clans of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai. ^23-24 When they got to Bunch Valley,^[h] they cut off a branch with such a huge bunch of grapes, that it took two men to carry it on a pole. That's why the place was called Bunch Valley. Along with the grapes, they also took back pomegranates^[i] and figs.

The Men Report Back to the People

²⁵ After exploring the land of Canaan for 40 days, ²⁶ the twelve men returned to Kadesh in the Paran Desert and told Moses, Aaron, and the people what they had seen. They showed them the fruit ²⁷ and said:

Look at this fruit! The land we explored is rich with milk and honey. ²⁸ But the people who live there are strong, and their cities are large and walled. We even saw the three Anakim^[j] clans. ²⁹ Besides that, the Amalekites live in the Southern Desert; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites are in the hill country; and the Canaanites^[k] live along the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

³⁰ Caleb calmed down the crowd and said, “Let's go and take the land. I know we can do it!”

³¹ But the other men replied, “Those people are much too strong for us.” ³² Then they started spreading rumors and saying, “We won't be able to grow anything in that soil. And the people are like giants. ^33 (D) In fact, we saw the Nephilim who are the ancestors of the Anakim. They were so big that we felt as small as grasshoppers.”