Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

12 Miriamd and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife,e for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?”f And the Lord heard this.g

3 (Now Moses was a very humble man,h more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

4 At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud;i he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you,

I, the Lord, revealj myself to them in visions,k

I speak to them in dreams.l

7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;m

he is faithful in all my house.n

8 With him I speak face to face,

clearly and not in riddles;o

he sees the form of the Lord.p

Why then were you not afraid

to speak against my servant Moses?”q

9 The anger of the Lord burned against them,r and he left them.s

10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent,t Miriam’s skin was leprousa—it became as white as snow.u Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease,v 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.w 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”

13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!x”

14 The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face,y would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the campz for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the campa for seven days,b and the people did not move on till she was brought back.

16 After that, the people left Hazerothc and encamped in the Desert of Paran.d

Exploring Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to exploree the land of Canaan,f which I am giving to the Israelites.g From each ancestral tribeh send one of its leaders.”

3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.i 4 These are their names:

from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zakkur;

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

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

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

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

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

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

11 from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;

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

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

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

15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel son of Maki.

16 These are the names of the men Moses sent to explorel the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nunm the name Joshua.)n

17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan,o he said, “Go up through the Negevp and on into the hill country.q 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? 20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.r” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)s

21 So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zint as far as Rehob,u toward Lebo Hamath.v 22 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron,w where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai,x the descendants of Anak,y lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)z 23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,a a they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranatesb and figs.c 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25 At the end of forty daysd they returned from exploring the land.e

Report on the Exploration

26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadeshf in the Desert of Paran.g There they reported to themh and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.i 27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!j Here is its fruit.k 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.l We even saw descendants of Anakm there.n 29 The Amalekiteso live in the Negev; the Hittites,p Jebusitesq and Amoritesr live in the hill country;s and the Canaanitest live near the sea and along the Jordan.u”

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

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.”w 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad reportx about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devoursy those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.z 33 We saw the Nephilima there (the descendants of Anakb come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppersc 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.d 2 All the Israelites grumblede against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt!f Or in this wilderness!g 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?h Our wives and childreni will be taken as plunder.j Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?k” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.l”

5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedownm in front of the whole Israelite assemblyn gathered there. 6 Joshua son of Nuno and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothesp 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.q 8 If the Lord is pleased with us,r he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey,s and will give it to us.t 9 Only do not rebelu against the Lord. And do not be afraidv of the people of the land,w because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is withx us.y Do not be afraid of them.”z

10 But the whole assembly talked about stoninga them. Then the glory of the Lordb appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt?c How long will they refuse to believe in me,d in spite of all the signse I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them down with a plaguef and destroy them, but I will make you into a nationg greater and stronger than they.”h

13 Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.i 14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heardj that you, Lord, are with these peoplek and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face,l that your cloud stays over them,m and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.n 15 If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, 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,o so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’p

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.q Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’r 19 In accordance with your great love, forgives the sin of these people,t just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”u

20 The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them,v as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I livew and as surely as the glory of the Lordx fills the whole earth,y 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signsz I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten timesa—23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oathb to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contemptc will ever see it.d 24 But because my servant Calebe has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly,f I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.g 25 Since the Amalekitesh and the Canaanitesi are living in the valleys, turnj back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.a k”

26 The 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.l 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live,m declares the Lord, I will do to youn the very thing I heard you say: 29 In this wilderness your bodies will fallo—every one of you twenty years old or morep who was counted in the censusq and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the landr I swore with uplifted hands to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneht and Joshua son of Nun.u 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.v 32 But as for you, your bodies will fallw in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years,x suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 For forty yearsy—one year for each of the forty days you explored the landz—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these thingsa to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.b”

36 So the men Moses had sentc to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumbled against him by spreading a bad reporte about it—37 these men who were responsible for spreading the bad reportf about the land were struck down and died of a plagueg before the Lord. 38 Of the men who went to explore the land,h only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.i

39 When Moses reported thisj to all the Israelites, they mournedk bitterly. 40 Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country,l saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord promised. Surely we have sinned!m”

41 But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? This will not succeed!n 42 Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies,o 43 for the Amalekitesp and the Canaanitesq will face you there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, he will not be with your and you will fall by the sword.”

44 Nevertheless, in their presumption they went ups toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord’s covenant moved from the camp.t 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanitesu who lived in that hill countryv came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.w

Supplementary Offerings

15 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘After you enter the land I am giving youx as a home 3 and you present to the Lord food offerings from the herd or the flock,y as an aroma pleasing to the Lordz—whether burnt offeringsa or sacrifices, for special vows or freewill offeringsb or festival offeringsc—4 then the person who brings an offering shall present to the Lord a grain offeringd of a tenth of an ephaha of the finest floure mixed with a quarter of a hinb of olive oil. 5 With each lambf for the burnt offering or the sacrifice, prepare a quarter of a hin of wineg as a drink offering.h

6 “ ‘With a rami prepare a grain offeringj of two-tenths of an ephahc k of the finest flour mixed with a third of a hind of olive oil,l 7 and a third of a hin of winem as a drink offering.n Offer it as an aroma pleasing to the Lord.o

8 “ ‘When you prepare a young bullp as a burnt offering or sacrifice, for a special vowq or a fellowship offeringr to the Lord, 9 bring with the bull a grain offerings of three-tenths of an ephahe t of the finest flour mixed with half a hinf of olive oil, 10 and also bring half a hin of wineu as a drink offering.v This will be a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.w 11 Each bull or ram, each lamb or young goat, is to be prepared in this manner. 12 Do this for each one, for as many as you prepare.x

13 “ ‘Everyone who is native-borny must do these things in this way when they present a food offering as an aroma pleasing to the Lord.z 14 For the generations to come,a whenever a foreignerb or anyone else living among you presents a foodc offeringd as an aroma pleasing to the Lord, they must do exactly as you do. 15 The community is to have the same rules for you and for the foreigner residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.e You and the foreigner shall be the same before the Lord: 16 The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing among you.f’ ”

17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land to which I am taking youg 19 and you eat the food of the land,h present a portion as an offering to the Lord.i 20 Present a loaf from the first of your ground mealj and present it as an offering from the threshing floor.k 21 Throughout the generations to comel you are to give this offering to the Lord from the first of your ground meal.m

Offerings for Unintentional Sins

22 “ ‘Now if you as a community unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the Lord gave Mosesn—23 any of the Lord’s commands to you through him, from the day the Lord gave them and continuing through the generations to comeo—24 and if this is done unintentionallyp without the community being aware of it,q then the whole community is to offer a young bull for a burnt offeringr as an aroma pleasing to the Lord,s along with its prescribed grain offeringt and drink offering,u and a male goat for a sin offering.g v 25 The priest is to make atonement for the whole Israelite community, and they will be forgiven,w for it was not intentionalx and they have presented to the Lord for their wrong a food offeringy and a sin offering.z 26 The whole Israelite community and the foreigners residing among them will be forgiven, because all the people were involved in the unintentional wrong.a

27 “ ‘But if just one person sins unintentionally,b that person must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering.c 28 The priest is to make atonementd before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven.e 29 One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you.f

30 “ ‘But anyone who sins defiantly,g whether native-born or foreigner,h blasphemes the Lordi and must be cut off from the people of Israel.j 31 Because they have despisedk the Lord’s word and broken his commands,l they must surely be cut off; their guilt remains on them.m’ ”

The Sabbath-Breaker Put to Death

32 While the Israelites were in the wilderness,n a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day.o 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, 34 and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him.p 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die.q The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.r” 36 So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned hims to death,t as the Lord commanded Moses.u

Tassels on Garments

37 The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to comev you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments,w with a blue cord on each tassel. 39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will rememberx all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselvesy by chasing after the lusts of your own heartsz and eyes. 40 Then you will remember to obey all my commandsa and will be consecrated to your God.b 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God.c I am the Lord your God.d’ ”

Korah, Dathan and Abiram

16 Korahe son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiramf, sons of Eliab,g and On son of Peleth—became insolenta 2 and rose up against Moses.h With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.i 3 They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaronj and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy,k every one of them, and the Lord is with them.l Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”m

4 When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.n 5 Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy,o and he will have that person come near him.p The man he choosesq he will cause to come near him. 6 You, Korah, and all your followersr are to do this: Take censerss 7 and tomorrow put burning coalst and incenseu in them before the Lord. The man the Lord choosesv will be the one who is holy.w You Levites have gone too far!”

8 Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! 9 Isn’t it enoughx for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them?y 10 He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too.z 11 It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumblea against him?b”

12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram,c the sons of Eliab. But they said, “We will not come!d 13 Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honeye to kill us in the wilderness?f And now you also want to lord it over us!g 14 Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honeyh or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards.i Do you want to treat these men like slavesb?j No, we will not come!k”

15 Then Moses became very angryl and said to the Lord, “Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkeym from them, nor have I wronged any of them.”

16 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your followers are to appear before the Lord tomorrow—you and they and Aaron.n 17 Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it—250 censers in all—and present it before the Lord. You and Aaron are to present your censers also.o” 18 So each of them took his censer,p put burning coals and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 19 When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to themq at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lordr appeared to the entire assembly. 20 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 “Separate yourselvess from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”t

22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedownu and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things,v will you be angry with the entire assemblyw when only one man sins?”x

23 Then the Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”

25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israely followed him. 26 He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men!z Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept awaya because of all their sins.b” 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.c Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, childrend and little ones at the entrances to their tents.e

28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will knowf that the Lord has sent meg to do all these things and that it was not my idea: 29 If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me.h 30 But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouthi and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead,j then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.k”

31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apartl 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed themm and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the realm of the dead,n with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. 34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”

35 And fire came out from the Lordo and consumedp the 250 men who were offering the incense.

36 The Lord said to Moses, 37 “Tell Eleazarq son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censersr from the charred remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy—38 the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives.s Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar,t for they were presented before the Lord and have become holy. Let them be a signu to the Israelites.”

39 So Eleazar the priestv collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death,w and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar, 40 as the Lord directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incensex before the Lord,y or he would become like Korah and his followers.z

41 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said.

42 But when the assembly gathered in oppositiona to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lordb appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Get away from this assembly so I can put an endc to them at once.” And they fell facedown.

46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censerd and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assemblye to make atonementf for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord;g the plagueh has started.” 47 So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people,i but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. 48 He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped.j 49 But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah.k 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.c