Journey through the Desert

August 22, 2008

Contents
1 Marah in the Desert 1
1.1 Introduction Tom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Reading Exodus 15:22-27 (Noe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Manna/Quails 2
2.1 Introduction Felicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2.2 Reading Numbers 11:1-9, 31+ (Tom) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3 Water from the Rock 2
3.1 Introduction Marlon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.2 Reading Numbers 20:1-13 (Robert) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.3 Reading 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (Felicity) . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4 Battle with the Amalekites 5
4.1 Introduction Carla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.2 Reading Exodus 17:8-16 (Marlon) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5 The Bronze Serpent 6
5.1 Introduction Noe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5.2 Reading Numbers 21:4-9 (Carla) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6 The Rebellion of Israel 6
6.1 Introduction Robert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6.2 Reading Numbers 14:1-38 (Felicity) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
General Introduction Robert
Song: Mary
1 Marah in the Desert
1.1 Introduction Tom
1.2 Reading Exodus 15:22-27 (Noe)
Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously magnied, the horse and his rider
he hath thrown into the sea.
Marah
1
Moses led Israel away from the Sea of Reeds, and they entered the
desert of Shur. They then travelled through the desert for three days without
nding water.
2
When they reached Marah, they could not drink the Marah
water because it was bitter; this is why the place was named Marah.
3 4
The
people complained to Moses saying, What are we to drink?
5
Moses appealed
to Yahweh for help, and Yahweh showed him a piece of wood. When Moses
1
1 Corinthians 10:3-5 And did all eat the same spiritual food, And all drank the same
spiritual drink; (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was
Christ.) But with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the
desert.
2
Genesis 16:7 And the angel of the Lord having found her, by a fountain of water in
the wilderness, which is in the way to Sur in the desert
3
Numbers 33:8 And departing from Phihahiroth, they passed through the midst of the
sea into the wilderness: and having marched three days through the desert of Etham, they
camped in Mara.
4
Ruth 1:20 But she said to them: Call me not Noemi, (that is, beautiful,) but call me
Mara, (that is, bitter,) for the Almighty hath quite lled me with bitterness.
5
Exodus 14:11+ (duplicate reference)
1
threw it into the water, the water became sweet.
6 7 8 9
There he laid down a statute and law for them and there he put them to
the test.
10
Then he said, If you listen carefully to the voice of Yahweh your God and
do what he regards as right, if you pay attention to his commandments and
keep all his laws, I shall never inict on you any of the diseases that I inicted
on the Egyptians, for I am Yahweh your Healer.
11 12
So they came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy palm
trees; and there they pitched camp beside the water.
2 Manna/Quails
2.1 Introduction Felicity
2.2 Reading Numbers 11:1-9, 31+ (Tom)
Taberah Now the people began to complain, which was oensive to Yah-
wehs ears. When Yahweh heard, his anger was aroused and the re of Yahweh
broke out among them; it devoured one end of the camp. The people appealed
to Moses who interceded with Yahweh and the re died down. So the place
was called Taberah, because the re of Yahweh had broken out among them.
Kibroth-ha-Taavah. The people complain The rabble who had joined
the people were feeling the pangs of hunger, and the Israelites began to weep
again. Who will give us meat to eat? they said. Think of the sh we used to
eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic! But now
we are withering away; there is nothing wherever we look except this manna!
The manna was like coriander seed and had the appearance of bdellium.
The people went round gathering it, and ground it in a mill or crushed it with
6
2 Kings 2:21 He went out to the spring of the waters, and cast the salt into it, and
said: Thus saith the Lord: I have healed these waters, and there shall be no more in them
death or barrenness.
7
Sirach 38:5 Was not bitter water made sweet with wood?
8
Ezekiel 47:8 And he said to me: These waters that issue forth toward the hillocks of
sand to the east, and go down to the plains of the desert, shall go into the sea, and shall
go out, and the waters shall be healed.
9
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross, to them indeed that perish, is foolishness;
but to them that are saved, that is, to us, it is the power of God.
10
Joshua 24:25 Josue therefore on that day made a covenant, and set before the people
commandments and judgments in Sichem.
11
Deuteronomy 7:15 Yahweh will deect all illness from you; he will not aict you with
those evil plagues of Egypt which you have known, but will inict them on all who hate
you.
12
Psalms 103:3 He forgives all your oences, cures all your diseases
a pestle; it was then cooked in a pot and made into pancakes. It tasted like
cake made with oil. When the dew fell on the camp at night*time, the manna
fell with it.
The quails A wind, sent by Yahweh, started blowing from the sea bringing
quails which it deposited on the camp. They lay for a distance of a days
march either side of the camp, two cubits thick on the ground.
32 The people were up all that day and night and all the next day collecting
quails: the least gathered by anyone was ten homer; then they spread them
out round the camp.
33 The meat was still between their teeth, not even chewed, when Yahwehs
anger was aroused by the people. Yahweh struck them with a very great
plague.
34 The name given to this place was Kibroth*ha*Taavah, because it was
there that they buried the people who had indulged their greed.
35 From Kibroth*ha*Taavah the people set out for Hazeroth, and at Haze-
roth they pitched camp.
3 Water from the Rock
3.1 Introduction Marlon
3.2 Reading Numbers 20:1-13 (Robert)
[1] And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness
of Zin in the rst month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died
there, and was buried there.
[2] Now there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled them-
selves together against Moses and against Aaron. [3] And the people con-
tended with Moses, and said, Would that we had died when our brethren
died before the LORD! [4] Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD
into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? [5] And
why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It
is no place for grain, or gs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water
to drink. [6] Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly
to the door of the tent of meeting, and fell on their faces. And the glory of
the LORD appeared to them, [7] and the LORD said to Moses, Take the
rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the
rock before their eyes to yield its water; so you shall bring water out of the
rock for them; so you shall give drink to the congregation and their cattle.
[9] And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
2
[10] And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock,
and he said to them, Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you
out of this rock? [11] And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with
his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank,
and their cattle. [12] And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, Because
you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel,
therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given
them. [13] These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel
contended with the LORD, and he showed himself holy among them.
Commentary from the Navarre Bible: Numbers 20:1-13 20:1-19.
When the spies sent to explore the land of Canaan returned to base, people
of Israel were in the desert of Paran, in Kadesh (13:26). The desert of Zin,
which is referred to here, and which is dierent from that of a very similar
name (Sin) mentioned in Exodus 16:1 and 17:1, was the north-west part of
the wilderness of Paran, to which the cloud had led the Israelites from Sinai
(cf. 10:12). Kadesh was not really a town but an area containing leafy oases.
It was a key point of reference for the people of Israels route towards Canaan.
From Kadesh they will leave for the plains of Moab (cf. 22:1). Kadesh marks
the end of the desert trek (cf. chaps. 33-38); from now on the land is inhabited
and the Israelites will have contact with those who live there.
As they make their way, the people encounter both external and internal
diculties, but that does not stop their advance to the promised Land, be-
cause God is their guide and he is helping them. In this sense the people of
Israel pregures the Church, for as Israel according to the esh which wan-
dered in the desert was already called the Church of God (cf. Num 20:4; etc.),
so too, the new Israel which advances in this present era in search of a future
and permanent city (cf. Heb 13:14), is called also the Church of Christ (cf.
Mt 16:18
13
). It is Christ indeed who had purchased it with his own blood (cf.
Acts 20:28); he has lled it with his Spirit; he has provided means adapted
to its visible and social union (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 9).
20:2-13. Unlike Exodus 17:1-17, here it is Aaron who accompanies Moses,
so that both of them share in the sin of mistrusting God (cf. v. 12). The
text does not say what their sin was exactly: presumably it was because they
struck the rock twice due to lack of faith, instead of once (cf. vv. 11-12) or
in the fact that they struck the rock whereas God had told them to speak
to the rock (cf. v. 8)although in Exodus 17:6 Moses was in fact told to
hit it. In v. 24 we are told it was a sin of rebellion, and in Psalm 106:32-
13
[OrthJBC] Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Shimon Kefa [rock]
and upon this rock I will build my Kehillah (the Community of Moshiach) and the shaarei
Sheol (gates of Sheol) shall not overpower it.
33 it says that Moses spoke words that were rash. In Deuteronomy 1:37
and elsewhere, the punishment inicted on Moses is, however, attributed to
the peoples disobedience. At any event, the event is recounted here, just
before the narrating of the death of Aaron (as it will also be mentioned in
Deuteronomy 32:51 before the account of Moses death). Here the episode is
connected with two place-namesKadesh, which means in fact holiness and
which would remind people of the holiness of God (cf. v. 13), and Meribah,
which means rebellion and would evoke Moses sin. The two names appear
linked (Meri-bath-kadesh) in Deuteronomy 32:51 and Exodus 47:19.
This rock pregured Christ, according to 1 Corinthians 10:4-5. The Fathers
gave an allegorical interpretation: the rock is Jesus, and the water the grace
which ows from the open side of our Lord; the double strike stands for the
two beams of the cross. Moses stands for the Jews, because just as Moses
doubted and struck the rock, the Jewish people crucied Christ, not believing
that he was the Son of God (cf. St Augustine, Contra Faustum, 16, 15;
Questiones In Heptateuchurn, 35).
3.3 Reading 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 (Felicity)
[1] I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and
all passed through the sea, [2] and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud
and in the sea, [3] and all ate the same supernatural food [4] and all drank the
same supernatural drink. For they drank them from the supernatural Rock
which followed them, and the Rock was Christ. [5] Nevertheless with most of
them God was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
[6] Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did; [10]
nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. [11]
Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down
for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come. [12] Therefore
let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
Commentary from the Navarre Bible: 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12
1-33. St Paul now points to the lessons which the self-assured and proud
Corinthians might draw from certain events in the history of Israel (vv. 1-
13). He focuses mainly on the Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land:
during this journey God worked many wonders (vv. 1-4), but because of
their frequent indelity most of the Israelites died before the journey was
over (vv. 5-10); this, the Apostle concludes, should serve as a lesson to us: if
we rely too much on ourselves we run the risk of being unfaithful to God and
deserving rejection, like those Israelites (vv. 11- 13). St John Chrysostom
says that Gods gifts to the Hebrews were gures of the gifts of Baptism and
3
the Eucharist which we were to be given. And the punishments meted out to
them are gures of the punishment which our ingratitude will deserve; hence
his reminder to be watchful (cf. Horn, on 1 Cor, 23).
In the second part of the chapter (vv. 14-33), St Paul gives the nal part
of his reply to the question about food oered to idols, with advice as to how
to act in certain situations.
1-4. The Exodus of the Israelites was marked by many prodigies. St Paul
recalls some of theseGod leading the way by day in the form of a pillar of
cloud (cf. Ex 13:21-22), the crossing of the Red Sea (cf. Ex 14:15-31); the
feeding with manna (cf. Ex 16:13-15) and the drinking water which Moses
caused to ow out of a rock (cf. Ex 17:1-7; Num 20:2-13).
St Paul sees the land and the sea as symbolizing two basic elements in Chris-
tian Baptismthe Holy Spirit and the water (cf. St Pius V Catechism, II,
2, 9). By following Moses in the cloud and through the sea, the Israelites
were some- how linked to him, into anticipating the way the Christian is fully
incorporated into Jesus through Baptism (cf. Rom 6:3-11).
St Paul calls the manna and the water from the rock supernatural food
and drink because these are symbols of the Eucharist (cf. Jn 6:48-51). The
Fathers, in commenting on these verses, stress the superiority of the Eucharist
over what pregures it: Consider now which of the two foods is the more
sublime [...]. The manna came down from heaven, it [the Eucharist] is to be
found higher than heaven; the manna belonged to heaven, (the Eucharist)
to the Lord of heaven; the manna rotted away if it was kept for another
day, (the Eucharist) knows no corruption because whoever tastes it with the
right dispositions will never experience corruption. For them [the Israelites]
the water sprang up from the rock; for you blood ows from Christ. The
water quenched the (Israelites) thirst for a short while; the blood cleanses
you forever. The Jews drank and were thirsty; you, once you have drunk, can
no longer feel thirst. In their case everything that happened was symbolic;
in yours it is real. If you are amazed by it and yet it was no more than a
shadow, how much more awesome must that reality be whose mere shadow
amazes you (St Ambrose, Treatise on the Mysteries, I, 8, 48).
The rock was Christ: in the Old Testament Yahweh was at times de-
scribed as the rock (cf. Deut 32:4, 15, 18: 2 Sam 22:32; 23:3; Is 17:10; etc.);
as he does elsewhere (cf., e.g.;Rom 9:33; 10:11-13; Eph 4:8). St Paul here ap-
plies to Jesus Christ the prerogatives of Yahweh, thereby showing his divinity.
Elsewhere in the New Testament our Lord is spoken of as the cornerstone (cf.
Mt 21:42; Acts 4:11; Eph 2:20). By referring to the rock as following them
St Paul may be citing without accepting ita rabbinical legend which claimed
that the rod from which the water gushed continued to stay with the Israelites
in the desert.
5-10. In spite of all the marvels God kept doing for the Israelites during the
Exodus, only a few of those who left Egypt managed to enter the Promised
Land (cf. Num 26:65). St Paul lists some of the repeated indelities of the
people of Israel which brought Gods punishment upon themidolatry (cf. Ex
32), sexual immorality (cf. Num 25), grumbling against God and Moses (cf.,
for example, Ex 15:23- 25; 16:2-3; 17:2-7; Num 21:4-9; 17:6-15). 11-13. The
events in the history of Israel mentioned in the Old Testament foretell things
which will happen when Christ comes (cf. note on 1 Cor 10:1-4); they are
also instructive for us. Here St Paul emphasizes that however many benets
God showers on us, no one should think that his eternal salvation is assured.
The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will nd
favor in the sight of the Lord (Sir 3:20); one must continually implore Gods
help and not rely on ones own strength.
At the same time St Paul recalls Gods faithfulness (cf. also Phil 1:6; 1
Thess 5:24; 2 Thess 3:3): God never allows us to be tempted beyond our
strength, he always gives us the graces we need to win out. If anyone plead
human weakness to excuse himself for not loving God, it should be explained
that he who demands our love pours into our hearts by the Holy Spirit the
fervor of his love (cf. Rom 5:5); and this good spirit our heavenly Father
gives to those that ask him (cf. Lk 9:13). With reason, therefore, did St
Augustine pray: Give what thou commandest, and command what thou
pleasest (Confessions, X, 29,31 and 37). As, then, God is ever ready to
help us, especially since the death of Christ the Lord, by which the prince of
this world was cast out, there is no reason why anyone should be disheartened
by the diculty of the undertaking. To him who loves, nothing is dicult
(St Pius V Catechism, III, 1, 7).
CCC 1094 - 1 Corinthians 10:1-6 1094 It is on this harmony of the two
Testaments that the Paschal catechesis of the Lord is built,
14
and then, that
of the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church. This catechesis unveils what
lay hidden under the letter of the Old Testament: the mystery of Christ. It
is called typological because it reveals the newness of Christ on the basis of
the gures (types) which announce him in the deeds, words, and symbols
of the rst covenant. By this re-reading in the Spirit of Truth, starting from
Christ, the gures are unveiled.
15
Thus the ood and Noahs ark pregured
14
Cf. DV 14-16; Lk 24:13-49.
15
2 Corinthians 3:14-16 But their minds were hardened; for to this day, when they read
the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken
away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their minds; but when a man
turns to the Lord the veil is removed.
4
salvation by Baptism,
16
as did the cloud and the crossing of the Red Sea.
Water from the rock was the gure of the spiritual gifts of Christ, and manna
in the desert pregured the Eucharist, the true bread from heaven.
17
4 Battle with the Amalekites
4.1 Introduction Carla
4.2 Reading Exodus 17:8-16 (Marlon)
[8] Then came Amalek and fought with Israel at Rephidim. [9] And Moses
said to Joshua
18
, Choose for us men, and go out, ght with Amalek; to-
morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.
[10] So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses,
Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
19
[11] Whenever Moses held
up his hand
20
, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek
prevailed.
21
[12] But Moses hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put
it under him, and he sat upon it, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one
on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until
16
1 Peter 3:21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of
dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
17
John 6:32 Jesus then said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who
gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
1 Corinthians 10:1-6 I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the
cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and
in the sea, and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural
drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was
Christ. Nevertheless with most of them God was not pleased; for they were overthrown in
the wilderness. Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did.
18
First mention of Joshua in the Pentateuch.
Joshua 1:1-2 When Moses, servant of Yahweh, was dead, Yahweh spoke to Joshua son of
Nun, Moses adjutant. He said, Moses my servant is dead; go now and cross this Jordan,
you and this whole people, into the country which I am giving to them (the Israelites).
19
Exodus 24:14 He said to the elders, Wait here for us until we come back to you. You
have Aaron and Hur with you; if anyone has any matter to settle, let him go to them.
20
Psalms 44:4-7 You are my king, my God, who decreed Jacobs victories; through you
we conquered our opponents, in your name we trampled down those who rose up against
us. For my trust was not in my bow, my victory was not won by my sword; it was you who
saved us from our opponents, you who put to shame those who hate us.
21
Joshua 8:18-19 Yahweh then said to Joshua, Point the sabre in your hand at Ai; for
I am about to put the town at your mercy. Joshua pointed the sabre in his hand towards
the town. No sooner had he stretched out his hand than the men in ambush burst from
their position, ran forward, entered the town, captured it and quickly set it on re.
(Note f: Not a mere signal but a gesture eective in itself like that of Moses in Ex.
17:9,11)
the going down of the sun. [13] And Joshua mowed down Amalek and his
people with the edge of the sword.
Yahweh then said to Moses, Write this down in a book to commemorate
it
22
, and repeat it over to Joshua, for I shall blot out all memory of Amalek un-
der heaven.
23
Moses then built an altar and named it Yahweh-Nissi meaning,
Lay hold of Yahwehs banner! Yahweh will be at war with Amalek generation
after generation.
Commentary from the Navarre Bible: Exodus 17:8-13 In addition
to the shortages of food and water the Israelites also had to cope with attacks
from other groups in the desert over rights to wells and pas- tures. Their
confrontation with the Amalekites shows that the same God as alleviated
their more pressing needs (hunger and thirst) will protect them from enemy
attack.
The Amalekites were an ancient people (cf. Num 24:20; Gen 14:7; 36:12,
16; Judg 1:16) who were spread all over the north of the Sinai peninsula,
the Negeb, Seir and the south of Canaan; they controlled the caravan routes
between Arabia and Egypt. In the Bible they appear as a perennial enemy of
Israel (cf. Deut 25:17-18; 1 Sam 15:3; 27:8, 30) until in the time of Hezekiah (1
Chron 4:41-43) the oracle about blotting out their memory nds fulllment
(v. 14). The mention of Joshua leading the battle and of Aaron and Hur
helping Moses to pray point to the fact that after Moses political-military
and religious authority will be split, with the priests taking over the latter.
With the rod in his hand, Moses directs the battle from a distance, but his
main involvement is by interceding for his people, asking God to give them
victory. The Fathers read this episode as a gure of the action of Christ who,
on the cross (symbolized by the rod), won victory over the devil and death
(cf. Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem, 3, 18; St. Cyprian, Testimonia, 2, 21).
22
Numbers 24:20 Balaam then looked at Amalek and declaimed his poem, as follows:
Amalek, the earliest of nations! But his posterity will perish forever.
23
Deuteronomy 25:17-19 Remember how Amalek treated you when you were on your
way out of Egypt. He met you on your way and, after you had gone by, he fell on you from
the rear and cut o the stragglers; when you were faint and weary, he had no fear of God.
When Yahweh your God has granted you peace from all the enemies surrounding you, in
the country given you by Yahweh your God to own as your heritage, you must blot out the
memory of Amalek under heaven. Do not forget.
5
5 The Bronze Serpent
5.1 Introduction Noe
5.2 Reading Numbers 21:4-9 (Carla)
And they marched from mount Hor, by the way that leadeth to the Red
Sea, to compass the land of Edom. And the people began to be weary of
their journey and labour: 5 And speaking against God end Moses, they said:
Why didst thou bring us out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? There is no
bread, nor have we any waters: our soul now loatheth this very light food.
6 Wherefore the Lord sent among the people ery serpents, which bit them
and killed many of them. 7 Upon which they came to Moses, and said: We
have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and thee: pray that
he may take away these serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the Lord said to him: Make brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign:
whosoever being struck shall look on it, shall live. 9 Moses therefore made a
brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: which when they that were bitten
looked upon, they were healed
6 The Rebellion of Israel
6.1 Introduction Robert
6.2 Reading Numbers 14:1-38 (Felicity)
1 Wherefore the whole multitude crying wept that night. 2 And all the chil-
dren of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying: 3 Would God that
we had died in Egypt and would God we may die in this vast wilderness, and
that the Lord may not bring us into this land, lest we fall by the sword, and
our wives and children be led away captives. Is it not better to return into
Egypt? 4 And they said one to another: Let us appoint a captain, and let us
return into Egypt. 5 And when Moses and Aaron heard this, they fell down
at upon the ground before the multitude of the children of Israel. 6 But
Josue the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephone, who themselves also had
viewed the land, rent their garments, 7 And said to all the multitude of the
children of Israel: The land which we have gone round is very good: 8 If the
Lord be favourable, he will bring us into it, and give us a land owing with
milk and honey. 9 Be not rebellious against the Lord: and fear ye not the
people of this land, for we are able to eat them up as bread. All aid is gone
from them: the Lord is with us, fear ye not. 10 And when all the multitude
cried out, and would have stoned them, the glory of the Lord appeared over
the tabernacle of the covenant to all the children of Israel. 11 And the Lord
said to Moses: How long will this people detract me? how long will they not
believe me for all the signs that I have wrought before them? 12 I will strike
them therefore with pestilence, and will consume them: but thee I will make
a ruler over a great nation, and a mightier than this is. 13 And Moses said
to the Lord: That the Egyptians, from the midst of whom thou hast brought
forth this people, 14 And the inhabitants of this land, (who have heard that
thou, O Lord, art among this people, and art seen face to face, and thy cloud
protecteth them, and thou goest before them in a pillar of a cloud by day,
and in a pillar of re by night,) 15 May hear that thou hast killed so great a
multitude as it were one man and may say: 16 He could not bring the peo-
ple into the land for which he had sworn, therefore did he kill them in the
wilderness. 17 Let their the strength of the Lord be magnied, as thou hast
sworn, saying: 18 The Lord is patient and full of mercy, taking away iniquity
and wickedness, and leaving no man clear, who visitest the sins of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. 19 Forgive, I beseech
thee, the sins of this people, according to the greatness of thy mercy, as thou
hast been merciful to them from their going out of Egypt unto this place. 20
And the Lord said: I have forgiven according to thy word. 21 As I live: and
the whole earth shall be lled with the glory of the Lord. 22 But yet all the
men that have seen my majesty, and the signs that I have done in Egypt, and
in the wilderness, and have tempted me now ten times, and have not obeyed
my voice, 23 Shall not see the land for which I aware to their fathers, neither
shall any one of them that hath detracted me behold it. 24 My servant Caleb,
who being full of another spirit hath followed me, I will bring into this land
which he hath gone round: and his seed shall possess it. 25 For the Amalecite
and the Chanaanite dwell in the valleys. To morrow remove the camp, and
return into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. 26 And the Lord spoke
to Moses and Aaron, saying: 27 How long doth this wicked multitude murmur
against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. 28 Say
therefore to them: As I live, saith the Lord: According as you have spoken
in my hearing, so will I do to you. 29 n the wilderness shall your carcasses
lie. All you that were numbered from twenty years old and upward, and have
murmured against me, 30 Shall not enter into the land, over which I lifted
up my bend to make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephone,
and Josue the son of Nun. 31 But your children, of whom you said, that
they should be a prey to the enemies, will I bring in: that they may see the
land which you have despised. 32 Your carcasses shall lie in the wilderness.
33 Your children shall wander in the desert forty years, and shall bear your
fornication, until the carcasses of their fathers be consumed ill the desert, 34
According to the number of the forty days, wherein you viewed the land: year
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shall be counted for a day. And forty years you shall receive your iniquities,
and shall know my revenge: 35 For as I have spoken, so will I do to all this
wicked multitude, that hath risen up together against me: in this wilderness
shall it faint away and die. 36 Therefore all the men, whom Moses had sent
to view the land, and who at their return had made the whole multitude to
murmur against him, speaking ill of the land that it was naught, 37 Died and
were struck in the sight of the Lord. 38 But Josue .the son of Nun. and Caleb
the son of Jephone lived, of all them that had gone to view the land.
Song: Bless Yahweh my soul
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