Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. 2 And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? ^oHas he not spoken through us also?” And ^pthe Lord heard it. 3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. 4 And 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. 5 And ^qthe 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. 6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him ^rin a vision; I speak with him ^sin a dream. 7 Not so with ^tmy servant Moses. ^uHe is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak ^vmouth to mouth, clearly, and not in ^wriddles, and he beholds ^xthe form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” 9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.

10 When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, ^yMiriam was ^zleprous,¹ like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. 11 And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, ^ado not punish us² because we have done foolishly and have sinned. 12 Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” 13 And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.” 14 But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but ^bspit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be ^cshut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” 15 So Miriam ^dwas shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. 16 After that the people set out from ^eHazeroth, and camped in ^fthe wilderness of Paran.

Spies Sent into Canaan

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 ^g“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.” 3 So Moses sent them from ^hthe wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. 4 And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 ⁱfrom the tribe of Judah, ^jCaleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, ^kHoshea the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called ^kHoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

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

21 So they went up and spied out the land ^pfrom the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, ^qnear Lebo-hamath. 22 They went up into ^mthe Negeb and came to ^rHebron. ^sAhiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the ^tdescendants of Anak, were there. (^uHebron was built seven years before ^uZoan in Egypt.) 23 And ^vthey 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. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol,³ because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.

Report of the Spies

25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at ^wKadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It ^xflows with milk and honey, ^yand this is its fruit. 28 ^zHowever, 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 ^aThe Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. ^bAnd the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.”

30 But ^cCaleb 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 ^dThen 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.” 32 So ^ethey 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 ^fall the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the ^gNephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the ^gNephilim), and we seemed to ourselves ^hlike grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

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.

The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield

Of David.

1 For I want you to know ^yhow great a ^wstruggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that ^ztheir hearts may be encouraged, being ^aknit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of ^bGod’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 ^cin whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order ^dthat no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For ^ethough I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your ^fgood order and ^gthe firmness of your faith in Christ.

Alive in Christ

6 ^hTherefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 ⁱrooted and ^jbuilt up in him and ^kestablished in the faith, just ^las you were taught, abounding ^min thanksgiving.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by ⁿphilosophy and ^oempty deceit, according to ^phuman tradition, according to the ^qelemental spirits¹ of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For ^rin him the whole fullness of deity dwells ^sbodily, 10 and ^tyou have been filled in him, who is ^uthe head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also ^vyou were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by ^wputting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 ^xhaving been buried with him in baptism, in which ^yyou were also raised with him through faith in ^zthe powerful working of God, ^zwho raised him from the dead. 13 ^aAnd you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God ^bmade alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by ^ccanceling ^dthe record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 ^wHe disarmed the rulers and authorities² and ^eput them to open shame, by ^ftriumphing over them in him.³

Let No One Disqualify You

16 Therefore let no one ^gpass judgment on you ^hin questions of food and drink, or with regard to ⁱa festival or ^ja new moon or a Sabbath. 17 ^kThese are a shadow of the things to come, but ^lthe substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one ^mdisqualify you, ⁿinsisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^ogoing on in detail about visions,^{4 p}puffed up without reason by ^qhis sensuous mind, 19 and ^rnot ^sholding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ ^tyou died to the ^uelemental spirits of the world, ^vwhy, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 ^w“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (^xreferring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^yhuman precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^zpromoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^aof no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.