Did I conceive this entire people? ¹  Did I give birth to ²  them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms, as a foster father ³  bears a nursing child,’ to the land which you swore to their fathers?

¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials ²  over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you.

Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it ¹  all by yourself.

“And say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves ¹  for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing ²  of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat, ³  for life ⁴  was good for us in Egypt?” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat.

And the people stayed up ¹  all that day, all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quail. The one who gathered the least gathered ten homers, ²  and they spread them out ³  for themselves all around the camp.

Then they presented the Israelites with a discouraging ¹  report of the land they had investigated, saying, “The land that we passed through ²  to investigate is a land that devours ³  its inhabitants. ⁴  All the people we saw there ⁵  are of great stature.

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise ¹  me, and how long will they not believe ²  in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them?

then they will tell it to the inhabitants ¹  of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, ²  that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.

So Aaron did ¹  as Moses commanded ²  and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people.

So ¹  now, please come and curse this nation ²  for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them ³  and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, ⁴  and whoever you curse is cursed.”

The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders ¹  of the people, and hang them up ²  before the Lord in broad daylight, ³  so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.”

When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he ¹  said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you – they have spoken well.

Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, ¹  for the Lord has said you must never again return that way.

Moreover, the officers are to say to the troops, ¹  “Who among you ²  has built a new house and not dedicated ³  it? He may go home, lest he die in battle and someone else ⁴  dedicate it.

In addition, the officers are to say to the troops, “Who among you is afraid and fainthearted? He may go home so that he will not make his fellow soldier’s ¹  heart as fearful ²  as his own.”

Then Moses called out to Joshua ¹  in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will accompany these people to the land that the Lord promised to give their ancestors, ²  and you will enable them to inherit it.

Gather the people – men, women, and children, as well as the resident foreigners in your villages – so they may hear and thus learn about and fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the words of this law.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, ¹  and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they ²  are going. They ³  will reject ⁴  me and break my covenant that I have made with them. ⁵ 

“Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! ¹  Cross the Jordan River! ²  Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them. ³ 

“Go through the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your supplies, for within three days you will cross the Jordan River and begin the conquest of the land the Lord your God is ready to hand over to you.’” ¹