Numbers 13 - 14 - Legacy Standard Bible

Numbers 13 - 14

The Spies Sent into Canaan

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, 2 “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the command of Yahweh, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel. 4 These then were their names:

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur;

from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori;

from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh;

from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun;

from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu;

from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi;

from the tribe of Joseph, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi;

from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli;

from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael;

from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi;

from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua. 17 So Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up there into the Negev; then go up into the hill country. 18 And see what the land is like, and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many. 19 And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad? And how are the cities in which they live, are they like open camps or with fortifications? 20 And how is the land, is it fat or lean? Are there trees in it or not? Make an effort then to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes. 21 So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, at Lebo-hamath. 22 And they had gone up into the Negev and came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men with some of the pomegranates and the figs. 24 That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.

The Spies Recount What They Saw

25 Then they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 and went and came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Thus they recounted to him and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we are surely able to overcome it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” 32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land, which we have passed through to spy out on, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. 33 There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The People Rebel

Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 And why is Yahweh bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If Yahweh is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 But as for you, only do not rebel against Yahweh; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. Their protection has been removed from them, and Yahweh is with us; do not fear them.” 10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.

Moses Prays for the People

11 Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have done in their midst? 12 I will strike them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.” 13 But Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your power You brought up this people from their midst, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O Yahweh, are in the midst of this people, for You, O Yahweh, are seen eye to eye, while 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. 15 Now if You put this people to death as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, 16 ‘Because Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 So now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, 18 ‘Yahweh is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’ 19 Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”

Evil Complainers

20 So Yahweh said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; 21 but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of Yahweh. 22 Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I have done in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23 shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it. 24 But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his seed shall take possession of it. 25 Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out to the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.” 26 Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are making against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ declares Yahweh, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will surely do to you; 29 your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. 30 Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 Your little ones, however, who you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, so that they will know the land which you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. 33 And your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your corpses come to an end in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. 35 I, Yahweh, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall come to an end, and there they will die.’” 36 As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, 37 even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before Yahweh. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

Israel Struck Down

39 Then Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. 40 In the morning, however, they rose up early and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Here we are; we will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised because we have indeed sinned.” 41 But Moses said, “Why then do you trespass against the command of Yahweh, when it will not succeed? 42 Do not go up, for Yahweh is not among you, so that you are not defeated before your enemies. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned back from following Yahweh. And Yahweh will not be with you.” 44 But they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of Yahweh nor Moses moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as Hormah.

Romans 2

God’s Righteous Judgment

Therefore you are without excuse, O man, everyone who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3 But do you presume this, O man—who passes judgment on those who practice such things and does the same—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who will repay to each according to his works: 7 to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and anger. 9 There will be affliction and turmoil for every soul of man who works out evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace to everyone who works good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God. 12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law naturally do the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they demonstrate the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

The Jew Is Judged by the Law

17 But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, 18 and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21 you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the Law, through your transgression of the Law, do you dishonor God? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written. 25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law, but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 So if the uncircumcised man observes the righteous requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the Law, will he not judge you who, through the letter of the Law and circumcision, are a transgressor of the Law? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

Psalm 95

Let Us Kneel Before Yahweh Our Maker

Oh come, let us sing for joy to Yahweh,

Let us make a loud shout to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,

Let us make a loud shout to Him with songs of praise.

For Yahweh is a great God

And a great King above all gods,

In whose hand are the depths of the earth,

The peaks of the mountains are His also.

The sea is His, for it was He who made it,

And His hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us worship and bow down,

Let us kneel before Yahweh our Maker.

For He is our God,

And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.

Today, if you hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,

As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,

“When your fathers tried Me,

They tested Me, though they had seen My work.

For forty years I loathed that generation,

And said they are a people who wander in their heart,

And they do not know My ways.

Therefore I swore in My anger,

They shall never enter into My rest.”