The People Rebel

1 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people ⁱwept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel ^jgrumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or ^kwould that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? ^lOur wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to one another, ^m“Let us choose a leader and ⁿgo back to Egypt.”

5 Then ^oMoses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. 6 ^pAnd Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, ^q“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If ^rthe Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, ^sa land that flows with milk and honey. 9 Only ^tdo not rebel against the Lord. And ^udo not fear the people of the land, for ^vthey are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” 10 ^wThen all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But ^xthe glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

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

Moses Intercedes for the People

13 But ^bMoses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. ^cThey have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and ^dyour cloud stands over 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 this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, 16 ‘It is because the Lord ^ewas not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, 18 ^f‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, ^gvisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ 19 Please ^hpardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just ⁱas you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.”

God Promises Judgment

20 Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, ^jaccording to your word. 21 But truly, as I live, and as all ^kthe earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 ^lnone 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 ^mten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 ⁿshall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant ^oCaleb, because he has a different spirit and has ^pfollowed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25 ^qNow, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, ^rturn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall ^sthis wicked congregation grumble against me? ^tI have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. 28 Say to them, ^u‘As I live, declares the Lord, ^vwhat you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 ^wyour dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and ^xof all your number, listed in the census ^yfrom twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I ^zswore that I would make you dwell, ^aexcept Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 ^bBut your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that ^cyou have rejected. 32 But as for you, ^wyour dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children ^dshall be shepherds in the wilderness ^eforty years and shall ^fsuffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 ^gAccording to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, ^hforty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ 35 ⁱI, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all ^jthis wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.”

36 ^kAnd 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— 37 the men who brought up a bad report of the land—^ldied by plague before the Lord. 38 Of those men who went to spy out the land, ^monly Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.

Israel Defeated in Battle

39 When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people ⁿmourned greatly. 40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, ^o“Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” 41 ^pBut Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord, when that will not succeed? 42 ^qDo not go up, ^rfor the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. 43 For there ^sthe 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 ^tBut they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither ^uthe ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp. 45 Then ^vthe Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to ^wHormah.

God Himself Is Judge

A Psalm of ⁿAsaph.

Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

18 In that day the Lord will take away ^rthe finery of the anklets, the ^sheadbands, and the ^tcrescents; 19 the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; 20 the ^uheaddresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; 21 the signet rings and ^vnose rings; 22 the ^wfestal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; 23 the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils.

1 ^fAnd seven women ^gshall take hold of ^fone man in that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; ^htake away our reproach.”

The Branch of the Lord Glorified

2 In that day ⁱthe branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and ^jthe fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3 ^kAnd he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called ^lholy, everyone who has ^mbeen recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when ⁿthe Lord shall have washed away the filth of ^othe daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by ^pa spirit of burning.⁷ 5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies ^qa cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be ^ra canopy. 6 ^sThere will be a ^tbooth for shade by day from the heat, and ^ufor a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

By Faith

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of ^ethings not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by ^fthe word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of ^gthings that are visible.

4 By faith ^hAbel offered to God ⁱa more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And ^jthrough his faith, though he died, he ^kstill speaks. 5 By faith ^lEnoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God ^mmust believe that he exists and ^mthat he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith ⁿNoah, being warned by God concerning ^oevents as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of ^pthe righteousness that comes by faith.

8 By faith ^qAbraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place ^rthat he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in ^sthe land of promise, as in a foreign land, ^tliving in tents ^uwith Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to ^vthe city that has ^wfoundations, ^xwhose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith ^ySarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered ^zhim faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and ^ahim as good as dead, were born descendants ^bas many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

13 These all died in faith, ^cnot having received the things promised, but ^dhaving seen them and greeted them from afar, and ^ehaving acknowledged that they were ^fstrangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, ^gthey would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed ^hto be called their God, for ⁱhe has prepared for them a city.

17 By faith ^jAbraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, ^k“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 ^lHe considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 20 By faith ^mIsaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. 21 By faith ⁿJacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, ^obowing in worship over the head of his staff. 22 By faith ^pJoseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.

23 By faith ^qMoses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of ^rthe king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, ^srefused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 ^tchoosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy ^uthe fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 ^vHe considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to ^wthe reward. 27 By faith he ^xleft Egypt, ^ynot being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured ^zas seeing him who is invisible. 28 By faith ^ahe kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

29 By faith ^bthe people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 30 By faith ^cthe walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith ^dRahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she ^ehad given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of ^fGideon, ^gBarak, ^hSamson, ⁱJephthah, of ^jDavid and ^kSamuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, ^lstopped the mouths of lions, 34 ^mquenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, ⁿbecame mighty in war, ⁿput foreign armies to flight. 35 ^oWomen received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even ^pchains and imprisonment. 37 ^qThey were stoned, they were sawn in two,^{1 r}they were killed with the sword. ^sThey went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—^twandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39 And all these, ^uthough commended through their faith, ^udid not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, ^vthat apart from us they should not be made perfect.