1 Then all the congregation raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the entire congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or even if we had died in this wilderness! 3 So why is the Lord 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’s 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 the Lord 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 Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection is gone from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” 10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people be disrespectful to Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst? 12 I will strike them with plague and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”
13 But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people up from their midst, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are in the midst of this people, because You, Lord, 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 all at once, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, 16 ‘Since the Lord could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 So now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying, 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in mercy, forgiving wrongdoing and violation of His Law; but He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’ 19 Please forgive the guilt of this people in accordance with the greatness of Your mercy, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
20 So the Lord said, “I have forgiven them in accordance with your word; 21 however, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. 22 Certainly all the people who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed 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 were disrespectful to Me see it. 24 But as for My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring him into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it. 25 Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”
26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron again, saying, 27 “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel which they are voicing against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you; 29 your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, all your numbered men according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. 30 By no means will you come into the land where I swore to settle you, except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 Your children, however, whom you said would become plunder—I will bring them in, and they will know the land which you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Also, your sons will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness, until your bodies perish in the wilderness. 34 In accordance with the number of days that you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall suffer the punishment for your guilt a year, that is, forty years, and you will know My opposition. 35 I, the Lord, have spoken, I certainly will do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. They shall be worn out in this wilderness, and there they shall die.’”
36 As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and led all the congregation to grumble against him by bringing a bad report about the land, 37 those men who brought the bad report of the land also died by a plague in the presence of the Lord. 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.
39 Now when Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people mourned greatly. 40 In the morning, however, they got up early and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Here we are; and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” 41 But Moses said, “Why then are you violating the command of the Lord, when doing so will not succeed? 42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, to prevent you from being defeated by your enemies. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there to confront you, and you will fall by the sword, since you have turned back from following the Lord. And the Lord will not be with you.” 44 But they foolishly dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and scattered them as far as Hormah.
1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken
And summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shone.
3 May our God come and not keep silent;
Fire devours before Him,
And a storm is violently raging around Him.
4 He summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens declare His righteousness,
For God Himself is judge. Selah
7 “Hear, My people, and I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you;
I am God, your God.
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 I will not take a bull from your house,
Nor male goats from your folds.
10 For every animal of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the world is Mine, and everything it contains.
13 Shall I eat the flesh of bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
14 Offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And pay your vows to the Most High;
15 Call upon Me on the day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right do you have to tell of My statutes
And to take My covenant in your mouth?
17 For you yourself hate discipline,
And you throw My words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you become friends with him,
And you associate with adulterers.
19 You let your mouth loose in evil,
And your tongue harnesses deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done and I kept silent;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will rebuke you and present the case before your eyes.
22 “Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be no one to save you.
23 He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who sets his way properly
I will show the salvation of God.”
1 For behold, the Lord God of armies is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah
Both supply and support, the entire supply of bread
And the entire supply of water;
2 The mighty man and the warrior,
The judge and the prophet,
The diviner and the elder,
3 The captain of fifty and the esteemed person,
The counselor and the expert artisan,
And the skillful enchanter.
4 And I will make mere boys their leaders,
And mischievous children will rule over them,
5 And the people will be oppressed,
Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor;
The youth will assault the elder,
And the contemptible person will assault the one honored.
6 When a man lays hold of his brother in his father’s house, saying,
“You have a cloak, you shall be our ruler!
And these ruins will be under your authority,”
7 He will protest on that day, saying,
“I will not be your healer,
For in my house there is neither bread nor cloak;
You should not appoint me ruler of the people.”
8 For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,
Because their speech and their actions are against the Lord,
To rebel against His glorious presence.
9 The expression of their faces testifies against them,
And they display their sin like Sodom;
They do not even conceal it.
Woe to them!
For they have done evil to themselves.
10 Say to the righteous that it will go well for them,
For they will eat the fruit of their actions.
11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly for him,
For what he deserves will be done to him.
12 My people! Their oppressors treat them violently,
And women rule over them.
My people! Those who guide you lead you astray
And confuse the direction of your paths.
13 The Lord arises to contend,
And stands to judge the people.
14 The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and leaders of His people,
“It is you who have devoured the vineyard;
The goods stolen from the poor are in your houses.
15 What do you mean by crushing My people
And oppressing the face of the poor?”
Declares the Lord God of armies.
16 Moreover, the Lord said, “Because the daughters of Zion are haughty
And walk with heads held high and seductive eyes,
And go along with mincing steps
And jingle the anklets on their feet,
17 The Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs,
And the Lord will make their foreheads bare.”
18 On that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, 19 dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, 20 headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, 21 finger rings, nose rings, 22 festive robes, outer garments, shawls, purses, 23 papyrus garments, undergarments, headbands, and veils.
24 Now it will come about that instead of balsam oil there will be a stench;
Instead of a belt, a rope;
Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp;
Instead of fine clothes, a robe of sackcloth;
And branding instead of beauty.
25 Your men will fall by the sword
And your mighty ones in battle.
26 And her gates will lament and mourn,
And she will sit deserted on the ground.
1 For seven women will take hold of one man on that day, saying, “We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our disgrace!”
2 On that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the beauty of the survivors of Israel. 3 And it will come about that the one who is left in Zion and remains behind in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. 4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, 5 then the Lord will create over the entire area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. 6 And there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.
1 Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old gained approval.
3 By faith we understand that the world has been created by the word of God so that what is seen has not been made out of things that are visible. 4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he was attested to be righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. 5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for before he was taken up, he was attested to have been pleasing to God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he left, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as a stranger in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore even from one man, and one who was as good as dead at that, there were born descendants who were just as the stars of heaven in number, and as the innumerable grains of sand along the seashore.
13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen and welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country which they left, they 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 to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and the one who had received the promises was offering up his only son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, “Through Isaac your descendants shall be named.” 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin, 26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he persevered, as though seeing Him who is unseen. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after the Israelites had marched around them for seven days. 31 By faith the prostitute Rahab did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.
32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36 and others experienced mocking and flogging, and further, chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented 38 (people of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, on mountains, and sheltering in caves and holes in the ground.
39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
