Numbers 10-14

English Standard Version

The Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Make two silver trumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for ^(A)summoning the congregation and for breaking camp. ³And when ^(B)both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁴But if they blow only one, then ^(C)the chiefs, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. ⁵When you blow an alarm, ^(D)the camps that are on the east side shall set out. ⁶And when you blow an alarm the second time, ^(E)the camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out. ⁷But when the assembly is to be gathered together, ^(F)you shall blow a long blast, but you shall not ^(G)sound an alarm. ⁸^(H)And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ⁹And ^(I)when you go to war in your land against the adversary who ^(J)oppresses you, then you shall ^(K)sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be ^(L)remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰^(M)On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and ^(N)at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be ^(O)a reminder of you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Israel Leaves Sinai

¹¹In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, ^(P)the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, ¹²and the people of Israel ^(Q)set out by stages from the ^(R)wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the ^(S)wilderness of Paran. ¹³They set out for the first time ^(T)at the command of the Lord by Moses. ¹⁴The standard of the camp of the people of Judah set out ^(U)first by their companies, and over their company was ^(V)Nahshon the son of Amminadab. ¹⁵And over the company of the tribe of the people of Issachar was Nethanel the son of Zuar. ¹⁶And over the company of the tribe of the people of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁷And when ^(W)the tabernacle was taken down, the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, ^(X)who carried the tabernacle, set out. ¹⁸And ^(Y)the standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies, and over their company was ^(Z)Elizur the son of Shedeur. ¹⁹And over the company of the tribe of the people of Simeon was ^(AA)Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. ²⁰And over the company of the tribe of the people of Gad was ^(AB)Eliasaph the son of ^(AC)Deuel.

²¹Then the Kohathites set out, ^(AD)carrying the holy things, and ^(AE)the tabernacle was set up before their arrival. ²²And ^(AF)the standard of the camp of the people of Ephraim set out by their companies, and over their company was ^(AG)Elishama the son of Ammihud. ²³And over the company of the tribe of the people of Manasseh was ^(AH)Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. ²⁴And over the company of the tribe of the people of Benjamin was ^(AI)Abidan the son of Gideoni.

²⁵Then ^(AJ)the standard of the camp of the people of Dan, acting as the ^(AK)rear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies, and over their company was ^(AL)Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. ²⁶And over the company of the tribe of the people of Asher was ^(AM)Pagiel the son of Ochran. ²⁷And over the company of the tribe of the people of Naphtali was ^(AN)Ahira the son of Enan. ²⁸^(AO)This was the order of march of the people of Israel by their companies, when they set out.

²⁹And Moses said to Hobab the son of ^(AP)Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ^(AQ)‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will do good to you, for ^(AR)the Lord has promised good to Israel.” ³⁰But he said to him, “I will not go. I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.” ³¹And he said, “Please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will serve ^(AS)as eyes for us. ³²And if you do go with us, ^(AT)whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same will we do to you.”

³³So they set out from ^(AU)the mount of the Lord three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days' journey, to seek out ^(AV)a resting place for them. ³⁴^(AW)And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.

³⁵And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, ^(AX)“Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” ³⁶And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”

The People Complain

11 And ^(AY)the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, ^(AZ)his anger was kindled, and ^(BA)the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. ²Then ^(BB)the people cried out to Moses, ^(BC)and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. ³So the name of that place was called ^(BD)Taberah,^[a] because the fire of the Lord burned among them.

⁴Now the ^(BE)rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also ^(BF)wept again and said, ^(BG)“Oh that we had meat to eat! ⁵^(BH)We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. ⁶But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

⁷Now ^(BI)the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. ⁸^(BJ)The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. ^(BK)And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. ⁹^(BL)When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.

¹⁰Moses heard the people ^(BM)weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. ¹¹^(BN)Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? ¹²Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ^(BO)‘Carry them in your bosom, as a ^(BP)nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land ^(BQ)that you swore to give their fathers? ¹³^(BR)Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ ¹⁴^(BS)I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. ¹⁵If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”

Elders Appointed to Aid Moses

¹⁶Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me ^(BT)seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and ^(BU)officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. ¹⁷^(BV)And I will come down and talk with you there. And ^(BW)I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and ^(BX)they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. ¹⁸And say to the people, ^(BY)‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? ^(BZ)For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. ¹⁹You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰but a whole month, ^(CA)until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, ^(CB)“Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” ²¹But Moses said, ^(CC)“The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ ²²^(CD)Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” ²³And the Lord said to Moses, ^(CE)“Is the Lord's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether ^(CF)my word will come true for you or not.”

²⁴So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. ^(CG)And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. ²⁵Then ^(CH)the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.

²⁶Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they ^(CI)had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸And ^(CJ)Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, ^(CK)stop them.” ²⁹But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? ^(CL)Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” ³⁰And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Quail and a Plague

³¹Then a ^(CM)wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits^[b] above the ground. ³²And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten ^(CN)homers.^[c] And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. ³³^(CO)While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and ^(CP)the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague. ³⁴Therefore the name of that place was called ^(CQ)Kibroth-hattaavah,^[d] because there they buried the people who had the craving. ³⁵^(CR)From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to ^(CS)Hazeroth, and they remained at ^(CT)Hazeroth.

Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

12 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. ²And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? ^(CU)Has he not spoken through us also?” And ^(CV)the Lord heard it. ³Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. ⁴And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. ⁵And ^(CW)the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. ⁶And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him ^(CX)in a vision; I speak with him ^(CY)in a dream. ⁷Not so with ^(CZ)my servant Moses. ^(DA)He is faithful in all my house. ⁸With him I speak ^(DB)mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in ^(DC)riddles, and he beholds ^(DD)the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” ⁹And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.

¹⁰When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, ^(DE)Miriam was ^(DF)leprous,^[e] like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. ¹¹And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, ^(DG)do not punish us^[f] because we have done foolishly and have sinned. ¹²Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother's womb.” ¹³And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.” ¹⁴But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but ^(DH)spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be ^(DI)shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” ¹⁵So Miriam ^(DJ)was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. ¹⁶After that the people set out from ^(DK)Hazeroth, and camped in ^(DL)the wilderness of Paran.

Spies Sent into Canaan

13 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²^(DM)“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” ³So Moses sent them from ^(DN)the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. ⁴And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; ⁵from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; ⁶^(DO)from the tribe of Judah, ^(DP)Caleb the son of Jephunneh; ⁷from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; ⁸from the tribe of Ephraim, ^(DQ)Hoshea the son of Nun; ⁹from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; ¹⁰from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; ¹¹from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; ¹²from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; ¹³from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; ¹⁴from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; ¹⁵from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. ¹⁶These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called ^(DR)Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

¹⁷Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into ^(DS)the Negeb and go up into ^(DT)the hill country, ¹⁸and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, ¹⁹and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, ²⁰and whether the land is ^(DU)rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. ^(DV)Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

²¹So they went up and spied out the land ^(DW)from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, ^(DX)near Lebo-hamath. ²²They went up into ^(DY)the Negeb and came to ^(DZ)Hebron. ^(EA)Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the ^(EB)descendants of Anak, were there. (^(EC)Hebron was built seven years before ^(ED)Zoan in Egypt.) ²³And ^(EE)they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴That place was called the Valley of Eshcol,^[g] because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.

Report of the Spies

²⁵At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. ²⁶And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at ^(EF)Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It ^(EG)flows with milk and honey, ^(EH)and this is its fruit. ²⁸^(EI)However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. ²⁹^(EJ)The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. ^(EK)And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

³⁰But ^(EL)Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” ³¹^(EM)Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” ³²So ^(EN)they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and ^(EO)all the people that we saw in it are of great height. ³³And there we saw the ^(EP)Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the ^(EQ)Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves ^(ER)like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people ^(ES)wept that night. ²And all the people of Israel ^(ET)grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or ^(EU)would that we had died in this wilderness! ³Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? ^(EV)Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴And they said to one another, ^(EW)“Let us choose a leader and ^(EX)go back to Egypt.”

⁵Then ^(EY)Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. ⁶^(EZ)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 ⁷and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ^(FA)“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. ⁸If ^(FB)the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, ^(FC)a land that flows with milk and honey. ⁹Only ^(FD)do not rebel against the Lord. And ^(FE)do not fear the people of the land, for ^(FF)they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” ¹⁰^(FG)Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But ^(FH)the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

¹¹And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people ^(FI)despise me? And how long will they not ^(FJ)believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? ¹²I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I ^(FK)will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

Moses Intercedes for the People

¹³But ^(FL)Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, ¹⁴and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. ^(FM)They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and ^(FN)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. ¹⁵Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ¹⁶‘It is because the Lord ^(FO)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.’ ¹⁷And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ¹⁸^(FP)‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, ^(FQ)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ ¹⁹Please ^(FR)pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just ^(FS)as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

God Promises Judgment

²⁰Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, ^(FT)according to your word. ²¹But truly, as I live, and as all ^(FU)the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, ²²^(FV)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 ^(FW)ten times and have not obeyed my voice, ²³^(FX)shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. ²⁴But my servant ^(FY)Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has ^(FZ)followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. ²⁵^(GA)Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, ^(GB)turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

²⁶And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²⁷“How long shall ^(GC)this wicked congregation grumble against me? ^(GD)I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. ²⁸Say to them, ^(GE)‘As I live, declares the Lord, ^(GF)what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: ²⁹^(GG)your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and ^(GH)of all your number, listed in the census ^(GI)from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, ³⁰not one shall come into the land where I ^(GJ)swore that I would make you dwell, ^(GK)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. ³¹^(GL)But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that ^(GM)you have rejected. ³²But as for you, ^(GN)your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. ³³And your children ^(GO)shall be shepherds in the wilderness ^(GP)forty years and shall ^(GQ)suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. ³⁴^(GR)According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, ^(GS)forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ ³⁵^(GT)I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all ^(GU)this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”

³⁶^(GV)And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land— ³⁷the men who brought up a bad report of the land—^(GW)died by plague before the Lord. ³⁸Of those men who went to spy out the land, ^(GX)only Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

Israel Defeated in Battle

³⁹When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people ^(GY)mourned greatly. ⁴⁰And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, ^(GZ)“Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” ⁴¹^(HA)But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed? ⁴²^(HB)Do not go up, ^(HC)for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. ⁴³For there ^(HD)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.” ⁴⁴^(HE)But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither ^(HF)the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp. ⁴⁵Then ^(HG)the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to ^(HH)Hormah.