Study Desk

You know that I am not the father of all these people. You know that I did not give birth to them. But I must take care of them, like a nurse carrying a baby in her arms. Why do you force me to do this? Why do you force me to carry them to the land that you promised to our fathers?

Then I will come down and speak with you there. The Spirit is on you now. But I will also give some of that Spirit to them. Then they will help you take care of the people. In this way you will not have to be responsible for these people alone.

You will eat that meat for a whole month until you are sick of it. This will happen to you because you complained against the Lord . He lives among you and knows what you need, but you cried and complained to him! You said, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?'"

But the Lord said to Moses, "Don't limit my power! You will see that I can do what I say I can do."

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. He put on the 70 elders some of the same Spirit that was on Moses. After the Spirit came down on them, they began to prophesy. But that was the only time they ever did this.

Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, did not go out to the Tent. Their names were on the list of elders, but they stayed in camp. But the Spirit also came on them, and they began prophesying in camp.

But Moses answered, "Are you afraid the people will think that I am not the leader now? I wish that all the Lord 's people were able to prophesy. I wish that the Lord would put his Spirit on all of them!"

People began to eat the meat, but the Lord became very angry. While the meat was still in their mouths, before the people could finish eating it, the Lord caused the people to become very sick and die.

But Moses is not like that. He is my faithful servant—I trust him with everyone in my house.

But the people living there are very powerful. The cities are very large and strongly defended. We even saw some Anakites there.

But the men who had gone with him said, "We cannot fight those people! They are much stronger than we are."

So don't turn against the Lord ! Don't be afraid of the people in that land. We can defeat them. They have no protection, nothing to keep them safe. But we have the Lord with us, so don't be afraid!"

All the people began talking about killing Joshua and Caleb with stones. But the Glory of the Lord appeared over the Meeting Tent where all the people could see it.

You said, ‘The Lord is slow to become angry. He is full of great love. He forgives those who are guilty and break the law. But he always punishes those who are guilty. He punishes them, and he also punishes their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren for those bad things.'

But I tell you the truth. As surely as I live and as surely as the Glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, I make you this promise:

None of the people I led out of Egypt will ever see the land of Canaan. They saw my glory and the great signs that I did in Egypt and in the desert. But they disobeyed me and tested me ten times.

I promised their ancestors that I would give them that land. But none of those people who turned against me will ever enter that land!

But my servant Caleb was different. He follows me completely. So I will bring him into the land that he has already seen, and his people will get that land.

You were afraid and complained that your enemies in that new land would take your children away from you. But I tell you that I will bring them into the land. They will enjoy what you refused to accept.

But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were among the men who were sent out to explore the land. They are the only ones who did not get the sickness that caused the others to die.