married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, 'Hath the 'LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath HE not spoken also by us?' And the LORD heard it. (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam

'Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congrega

‹tion.'

And they three came out.

And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam : and they both came forth. And HE said

'Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I 'the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, ' and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses ' is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will 'I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: ' wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my 'servant Moses?'

And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and He departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said unto Moses, 'Alas! my 'lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we 'have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.' And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, 'Heal her now, O GOD, I beseech thee.' And the LORD said unto Moses

'Let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after ' that let her be received in again.'

And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and

the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.

And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

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And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying—

'Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, ' which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of 'their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among 'them.'

And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, 'Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: and see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; and what the land is that 'they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in 'strongholds; and what the land is, whether it be fat or 'lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye

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So

' of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land.' Now the time was the time of the first-ripe grapes. they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron.

And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. And they

returned from searching of the land after forty days.

And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the

wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said,

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We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and

surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The 'Amalekites dwell in the land of the south and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.' And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, 'Let us go up at once, and possess it; 'for we are well able to overcome it.' But the men that went up with him said, 'We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.' And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, 'The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that ' eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the 'giants and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, ' and so we were in their sight.'

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And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron and the whole congregation said unto them, 'Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had 'died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the LORD 'brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our ' wives and our children should be a prey? were it not

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• better for us to return into Egypt?' And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into · Erypt.'

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: and they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, 'The land, which we passed 'through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then HE will bring us into this land and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their ⚫ defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: 6 fear them not.'

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But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

And the LORD said unto Moses

• How long will this people provoke me? and how long will 'it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have ⚫ showed among them? I will smite them with the pesti'lence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater 'nation and mightier than they ?'

And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might 'from among them ;) and they will tell it to the inhabit'ants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD 'art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day-time in a pillar of a cloud,

and in a pillar of fire by night.

Now if thou shalt kill

'all this people as one man, then the nations which have 'heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, "Because the

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LORD was not able to bring this people into the land ' which He sware unto them, therefore He hath slain them in the wilderness." And now, I beseech thee, let the 'power of my LORD be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, "The LORD is long-suffering, and of great mercy, 'forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people accord'ing unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.' And the LORD said

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'I have pardoned according to thy word: but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the 'LORD. Because all those men which have seen my glory, ' and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilder'ness, have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; surely they shall not see the land ' which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them 'that provoked me see it: but my servant Caleb, because ' he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me 'fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went ; ' and his seed shall possess it. To-morrow turn you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.' And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying

'How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, 'which murmur against me? I have heard the murmur'ings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against 'me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, 'as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: 'your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that