¶¹And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.

And all the children of Israel murmured² against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would³ God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

And wherefore hath the LORD⁴ brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives⁵ and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

⁶And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

¶⁷Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

And Joshua⁸ the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes⁹:

And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land¹⁰.

If the LORD delight¹¹ in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which¹² floweth with milk and honey.

Only rebel¹³ not ye against the LORD, neither¹⁴ fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread¹⁵ for us: their defence¹⁶ is departed from them, and the LORD¹⁷ is with us: fear them not¹⁸.

¶ But all¹⁹ the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the²⁰ glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this²¹ people provoke²² me? and how long will it be ere they believe me,²³ for all the signs which I have shewed among them?

I will smite²⁴ them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make²⁵ of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.

And Moses said unto the LORD²⁶, Then the²⁷ Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)

And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have²⁸ heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen²⁹ face to face, and that thy cloud³⁰ standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

³¹Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,

³²Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.

³³And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,

The LORD is longsuffering³⁴, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting³⁵ the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

Pardon³⁶, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according³⁷ unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou³⁸ hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now³⁹.

¶ And the LORD said, I have pardoned⁴⁰ according⁴¹ to thy word:

But as truly⁴² as I live, all the⁴³ earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.

Because all those men which have⁴⁴ seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted⁴⁵ me now these ten times⁴⁶, and have not hearkened to my voice;

Surely they shall not see⁴⁷ the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:

But my servant⁴⁸ Caleb, because he had another spirit⁴⁹ with him, and hath followed me⁵⁰ fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

(Now the Amalekites⁵¹ and the Canaanites dwelt in the valley.) To morrow turn you,⁵² and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

How long⁵³ shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard⁵⁴ the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

Say unto them, As truly⁵⁵ as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have⁵⁶ spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:

Your carcases⁵⁷ shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were⁵⁸ numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me,

¶ Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware⁵⁹ to make you dwell therein, save Caleb⁶⁰ the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

But your little ones⁶¹, which ye said⁶² should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know⁶³ the land⁶⁴ which ye have despised.

⁶⁵But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness.

And your children shall wander in the wilderness⁶⁶ forty years⁶⁷, and bear⁶⁸ your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness.

After⁶⁹ the number⁷⁰ of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear⁷¹ your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall⁷² know my breach of promise⁷³.

I the LORD have said, I will surely⁷⁴ do it unto all this evil⁷⁵ congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.

¶⁷⁶And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,

Even those men⁷⁷ that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died⁷⁸ by the plague before the LORD.

⁷⁹But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.

And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly⁸⁰.

¶ And they rose up⁸¹ early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned⁸².

And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye⁸³ transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall⁸⁴ not prosper.

⁸⁵Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.

⁸⁶For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because⁸⁷ ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you.

But they presumed⁸⁸ to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark⁸⁹ of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.

Then the Amalekites⁹⁰ came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah⁹¹.