14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have (A)heard that You, Lord, are among these people; that You, Lord, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above 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 these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, 16 ‘Because the Lord was not (B)able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, 18 (C)‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, (D)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation. 19 (E)Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, (F)according to the greatness of Your mercy, just (G)as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

20 Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, (H)according to your word; 21 but truly, as I live, (I)all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord 22 (J)because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now (K)these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23 they certainly shall not (L)see the land of which I [a]swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. 24 But My servant (M)Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and (N)has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 14:23 solemnly promised

14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard(A) that you, Lord, are with these people(B) and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face,(C) that your cloud stays over them,(D) and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.(E) 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,(F) so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’(G)

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.(H) Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’(I) 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive(J) the sin of these people,(K) just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”(L)

20 The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them,(M) as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live(N) and as surely as the glory of the Lord(O) fills the whole earth,(P) 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs(Q) I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times(R) 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath(S) to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt(T) will ever see it.(U) 24 But because my servant Caleb(V) has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly,(W) I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.(X)

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