26They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.

27They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.

28But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.

29The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."

30Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

31But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are."

32And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.

33We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

The People Rebel
14 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.

2All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!

3Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"

4And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."

5Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.

6Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes .

7and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.

8If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.

9Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."

10But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites.

11The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?

12I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they."

13Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.

14And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, LORD, are with these people and that you, LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

15If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say,

16' The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered, them in the wilderness.'

17"Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared:

18' The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.'

19In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."

20The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked.

21Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth,

22not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times-

23not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.

24But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

25Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea. a"

26The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:

27"How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites.

28So tell them, ' As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say:

29In this wilderness your bodies will fall-every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.

30Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

31As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.

32But you-your bodies will fall in this wilderness.

33Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness.

34For forty years - one year for each of the forty days you explored the land - you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.'

35I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die."

36So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it -

37these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD.

38Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.

39When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly.

40Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, "Now we are ready to go up to the land the LORD promised. Surely we have sinned!"

41But Moses said, "Why are you disobeying
the LORD's command? This will not succeed!

42Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies,

43for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword."

44Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD's covenant moved from the camp.

45Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

21. "O my people! Enter the holy land (Palestine) which Allâh has assigned to you, and turn not back (in flight) for then you will be returned as losers."

22. They said: "O Mûsa (Moses)! In it (this holy land) are a people of great strength, and we shall never enter it, till they leave it; when they leave, then we will enter."

23. Two men of those who feared (Allâh and) on whom Allâh had bestowed His Grace [they were Yûsha' (Joshua) and Kâlab (Caleb)] said: "Assault them through the gate, for when you are in, victory will be yours, and put your trust in Allâh if you are believers indeed."

24. They said: "O Mûsa (Moses)! We shall never enter it as long as they are there. So go you and your Lord and fight you two, we are sitting right here."

25. He [Mûsa (Moses)] said: "O my Lord! I have power only over myself and my brother, so separate us from the people who are the Fâsiqûn (rebellious and disobedient to Allâh)!"

26. (Allâh) said: "Therefore it (this holy land) is forbidden to them for forty years; in distraction they will wander through the land. So be not sorrowful over the people who are the Fâsiqûn (rebellious and disobedient to Allâh)."