• Torah (T): Bemidbar (Numbers) 14:1-45
• Prophets (P): Isaiah 52:7-10
• Apostolic (A): Romans 8:28-39
• Additional (ADD): Sirach 46:1-10

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Deuteronomy 9:1-29 (T)
• Psalms 106:21-27 (T)
• Deuteronomy 1:19-46 (T)
• Nehemiah 9:7-26 (T)
• Deuteronomy 20:1-20 (T)
• Isaiah 63:7-19 (T)
• Exodus 32:11-14 (T)
• Exodus 13:21-22 (T)
• Exodus 40:33-38 (T)
• Exodus 20:4-6; Exodus 34:5-7; Deuteronomy 5:8-10; Psalms 86:14-17; Psalms 103:7-14; Psalms 145:8-9; Jonah 3:10 – 4:2 (T)
• Joshua 5:1-8 (T)
• Joshua 14:6-15; Joshua 15:13-14; Joshua 21:9-12; Judges 1:16-20 (T)
• Numbers 26:63-65; Numbers 32:5-18 (T)
• Amos 2:6 – 3:2 (T)
• Psalms 95:1-11; Hebrews 3:1-19 (T)
• Proverbs 10:18-20 (T)
• Jude 1:1-25 (T)
• Ezekiel 4:1-17 (T)
• Acts 13:16-33 (T)
• Numbers 27:1-14 (T)
• 1 Corinthians 10:1-16 (T)
• Hebrews 11:1-40

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• Numbers 13:1-33 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 3.14.1 – 4.1.3 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

14:1 All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2 All the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. The congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why does YHWH bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?” 4 They said to one another, “Let’s choose a head, and let’s return into Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. 6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes. 7 They spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is a good land, exceedingly, exceedingly. 8 If YHWH delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 Only don’t rebel against YHWH, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and YHWH is with us. Don’t fear them.” 10 But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones. the glory of YHWH appeared [in the cloud upon]^(LXX) the Appointed Tent [of the witness]^(LXX) to all the sons of Israel. 11 YHWH said to Moses, “How long will this people provoke me? How long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you [and your father’s house]^(LXX) a nation greater and mightier than they.” 13 Moses said to YHWH, “Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them. 14 They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you YHWH are among this people; for you YHWH are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them, and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if you killed this people as one man, then the nations which have heard your name will speak, saying, 16 ‘Because YHWH was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’ 17 Now please let the power of the Lord be great, according as you have spoken, saying, 18 ‘YHWH is slow to anger, and abundant in kindness, [and true],^(LXX) forgiving iniquity, and trespass, [and sins];^(LXX) and he will by no means acquit, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, [an on the sons’ sons],^(mss) on the third and on the fourth.’ 19 Please forgive the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” 20 YHWH said, “I forgave according to your word; 21 yet, as I live, and as all the land will be filled with the glory of YHWH— 22 because all those men who have seen my glory and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tested me these ten times, and they did not hear my voice; 23 surely they will not see the land which I swore to their fathers; [but their children which are with me here, as many as do not know good and evil, every inexperienced youth, to them I will give the land;]^(LXX) but none of them who despised me will see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed me fully, him I will bring into the land into which he went. His seed will possess it. 25 Since the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley, tomorrow turn and go into the wilderness by the way to the Sea of Reeds.” 26 YHWH spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 27 “How long will I bear with this evil congregation that complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they complain against me. 28 Tell them, ‘As I live, says YHWH, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so I will do to you. 29 Your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness; and all who were registered of you, according to your number, from a son of twenty years and upward, who have complained against me, 30 surely you will not come into the land which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But I will bring in your little ones that you said should become plunder, and they will know the land which you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your sons will be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and will bear your whoredom, until your dead bodies are consumed in the wilderness. 34 After the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you will bear your iniquities, forty years, and you will know my breaking off.’ 35 I, YHWH, have spoken. I will surely do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against me. In this wilderness they will be consumed, and there they will die.” 36 The men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing up a slander against the land, 37 those men who brought up a slander of the land, died in the plague before YHWH. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive of those men who went to spy out the land. 39 Moses told these words to all the sons of Israel, and the people mourned exceedingly. 40 They rose up early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place of which YHWH has spoken; for we have sinned.” 41 Moses said, “Why now do you cross over the mouth of YHWH and it does not prosper? 42 Don’t go up, for YHWH isn’t among you; that way you won’t be struck down before your enemies. 43 For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and you will fall by the sword because you turned back from following YHWH; therefore YHWH will not be with you.” 44 [And having forced their passage, they went up to the top of the mountain].^(LXX) Nevertheless, the ark of the covenant of YHWH and Moses didn’t depart out of the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites who lived in that mountain, and struck them and beat them down as far as the Hormah.

Prophets Portion (P)

52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news, (cf. Romans 10:15) who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your Elohim reigns!” 8 Your watchmen lift up their voice. Together they sing; for they will see eye to eye when YHWH returns to Zion [with compassion].^(DSS)(LXX) 9 Break out into joy! Sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for YHWH has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 YHWH has made his holy arm bare in the eyes of all the nations. All the ends of the land have seen the salvation of our Elohim.

Apostolic Portion (A)

8:28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love Elohim, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified. 31 What then will we say about these things? If Elohim is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things? 33 Who could bring a charge against Elohim’s chosen ones? It is Elohim who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Messiah who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of Elohim, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Messiah? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Even as it is written, “For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” (cf. Psalms 44:22) 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from Elohim’s love which is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.

Additional Portion (ADD)

Sirach, or Wisdom of Sirach, and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (abbreviated Ecclus.) or Ben Sira, is a work of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 B.C., written by the Jewish scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his father Joshua son of Sirach, sometimes called Jesus son of Sirach or Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira. The Sirach was almost completely uncovered in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls, at Masada, and the Cairo Geniza. The multiplicity of manuscript fragments uncovered in the Cairo Genizah evidence its authoritative status among Egyptian Jewry until the Middle Ages. Quotes from Sirach can be found in Rabbinic literature in multiple places  including the Talmud in Bava Kamma 92b:13 and Hagigah 13a:2. Additionally, the Gospels and other Apostolic Scriptures quote from the Book of Sirach including the Song of Miriam in Luke 1:52 (cf. Sirach 10:14); the description of the seed in Mark 4:5, 16–17 (cf. Sirach 40:15); the statement by Yeshua in Matthew 7:16,20 (cf. Sirach 27:6); and Ya’aqov (James) 1:19 (cf. Sirach 5:11).

46:1 Joshua the son of Nun was valiant in war, And was the successor of Moses in prophecies: Who according to his name was made great For the saving of his elect, To take vengeance of the enemies that rose up against them, That he might give Israel their inheritance. 2 How was he glorified in the lifting up his hands, And in stretching out his sword against the cities! 3 Who before him so stood fast? For the Lord himself brought his enemies to him. 4 Did not the sun go back by his hand? And didn’t one day become as two? 5 He called upon the Most High and Mighty One, When his foes pressed him round about; And the great Lord heard him. 6 With hailstones of mighty power He caused war to break violently upon the nation, And in the going down he destroyed those who resisted; That the nations might know his armor, How that he fought in the sight of the Lord; For he followed after the Mighty One. 7 Also in the time of Moses he did a work of mercy, He and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, In that they withstood the adversary, Hindered the people from sin, And stilled the murmuring of wickedness. 8 And of six hundred thousand people on foot, they two alone were preserved To bring them into the heritage, into a land flowing with milk and honey 9 Also the Lord gave strength to Caleb, And it remained with him to his old age; So that he entered upon the height of the land, And his seed obtained it for a heritage: 10 That all the sons of Israel might see That it is good to walk after the Lord.

Related Scriptures

9:1 Hear, Israel! You are to pass over the Jordan today, to go in to disinherit nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the heavens, 2 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?” 3 Know therefore today that YHWH your Elohim is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them and he will bring them down before you. So you will drive them out and make them perish quickly, as YHWH has spoken to you. 4 Don’t say in your heart, after YHWH your Elohim has thrust them out from before you, “For my righteousness YHWH has brought me in to possess this land;” because YHWH drives them out before you because of the wickedness of these nations. 5 Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations YHWH your Elohim does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which YHWH swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 6 Know therefore that YHWH your Elohim doesn’t give you this good land to possess for your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. 7 Remember, and don’t forget, how you provoked YHWH your Elohim to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you left the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against YHWH. 8 Also in Horeb you provoked YHWH to wrath, and YHWH was angry with you to destroy you. 9 When I had gone up onto the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant which YHWH made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 YHWH delivered to me the two stone tablets written with Elohim’s finger. On them were all the words which YHWH spoke with you on the mountain out of the middle of the fire in the day of the assembly. 11 It came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights that YHWH gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12 YHWH said to me, “Arise, get down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned away from the way which I commanded them. They have made a molten image for themselves!” 13 Furthermore YHWH spoke to me, saying, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. 14 Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the heavens; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.” 15 So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. The two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 I looked, and behold, you had sinned against YHWH your Elohim. You had made yourselves a molded calf. You had quickly turned away from the way which YHWH had commanded you. 17 I took hold of the two tablets, and threw them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes. 18 I fell down before YHWH, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of YHWH, to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which YHWH was angry against you to destroy you. But YHWH listened to me that time also. 20 YHWH was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 21 I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire, and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. I threw its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain. 22 At Taberah, at Massah, and at Qibroth Hattaavah you provoked YHWH to wrath. 23 When YHWH sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you,” you rebelled against the commandment of YHWH your Elohim, and you didn’t believe him or listen to his voice. 24 You have been rebellious against YHWH from the day that I knew you. 25 So I fell down before YHWH the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because YHWH had said he would destroy you. 26 I prayed to YHWH, and said, “Lord YHWH, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance that you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t look at the stubbornness of this people, nor at their wickedness, nor at their sin, 28 lest the land you brought us out from say, ‘Because YHWH was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.’ 29 Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.”

106:21 They forgot Elohim, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, 22 wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome things by the Sea of Reeds. 23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them. 24 Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn’t believe his word, 25 but murmured in their tents, and didn’t listen to the voice of YHWH. 26 Therefore he swore to them that he would overthrow them in the wilderness, 27 that he would overthrow their seed among the nations, and scatter them in the lands.

1:19 We traveled from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as YHWH our Elohim commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 I said to you, “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which YHWH our Elohim gives to us. 21 Behold, YHWH your Elohim has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as YHWH the Elohim of your fathers has spoken to you. Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed.” 22 You came near to me, everyone of you, and said, “Let’s send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we will come.” 23 The thing pleased me well. I took twelve of your men, one man for every tribe. 24 They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25 They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, “It is a good land which YHWH our Elohim gives to us.” 26 Yet you wouldn’t go up, but rebelled against the commandment of YHWH your Elohim. 27 You murmured in your tents, and said, “Because YHWH hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart melt, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to the heavens. Moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there!’ ” 29 Then I said to you, “Don’t be terrified. Don’t be afraid of them. 30 YHWH your Elohim, who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you have seen how that YHWH your Elohim carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.” 32 Yet in this thing you didn’t believe YHWH your Elohim, 33 who went before you on the way, to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents in: in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day. 34 YHWH heard the voice of your words and was angry, and swore, saying, 35 “Surely not one of these men of this evil generation will see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He will see it. I will give the land that he has trodden on to him and to his sons, because he has wholly followed YHWH.” 37 Also YHWH was angry with me for your sakes, saying, “You also will not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, will go in there. Encourage him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover your little ones, whom you said would become plunder, your sons, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, will go in there. I will give it to them, and they will possess it. 40 But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Sea of Reeds.” 41 Then you answered and said to me, “We have sinned against YHWH. We will go up and fight, according to all that YHWH our Elohim commanded us.” Every man of you put on his weapons of war, and presumed to go up into the hill country. 42 YHWH said to me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t go up and don’t fight; for I am not among you, lest you be struck before your enemies.’ ” 43 So I spoke to you, and you didn’t listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of YHWH, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you and chased you as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, to Hormah. 45 You returned and wept before YHWH, but YHWH didn’t listen to your voice, nor turn his ear to you. 46 So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you remained.

9:7 You are YHWH, the Elohim who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, gave him the name of Abraham, 8 found his heart faithful before you, and cut a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed, and have performed your words, for you are righteous. 9 “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Red Sea, 10 and showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and made a name for yourself, as it is today. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of the sea on the dry land; and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters. 12 Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go. 13 “You also came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from the heavens, and gave them right judgments and true Torot, good statutes and commandments, 14 and made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them commandments, statutes, and a Torah, by Moses your servant, 15 and gave them bread from the heavens for their hunger, and brought water out of the rock for them for their thirst, and commanded them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them. 16 “But they and our fathers behaved proudly, hardened their neck, didn’t listen to your commandments, 17 and refused to obey. They weren’t mindful of your wonders that you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a head to return to their bondage. But you are an Elohim ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn’t forsake them. 18 Yes, when they had made themselves a molded calf, and said, ‘This is your Elohim who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had done awful blasphemies, 19 yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither did the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go. 20 You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. 21 “Yes, forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes didn’t grow old, and their feet didn’t swell. 22 Moreover you gave them reigns and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. 23 You also multiplied their sons as the stars of the heavens, and brought them into the land concerning which you said to their fathers that they should go in to possess it. 24 “So the sons went in and possessed the land; and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them into their hands, with their kings and the peoples of the land, that they might do with them as they pleased. 25 They took fortified cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled, became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness. 26 “Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against you, cast your Torah behind their back, killed your prophets that witnessed against them to turn them again to you, and they done awful blasphemies.

20:1 When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more numerous than you, you will not be afraid of them; for YHWH your Elohim, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you. 2 It will be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest will approach and speak to the people, 3 and will tell them, “Hear, Israel, you draw near today to battle against your enemies. Don’t let your heart faint! Don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them; 4 for YHWH your Elohim is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” 5 The officers will speak to the people, saying, “What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. 6 What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not used its fruit? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use its fruit. 7 What man is there who has betrothed to a woman, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.” 8 The officers will speak further to the people, and they will say, “What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart.” 9 It will be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they will appoint rulers of armies at the head of the people. 10 When you draw near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace to it. 11 It will be, if it gives you answer of peace and opens to you, then it will be that all the people who are found therein will become forced laborers to you, and will serve you. 12 If it will make no peace with you, but will make war against you, then you will besiege it. 13 When YHWH your Elohim delivers it into your hand, you will strike every male of it with the edge of the sword; 14 but the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its plunder, you will take for plunder for yourself. You may use the plunder of your enemies, which YHWH your Elohim has given you. 15 Thus you will do to all the cities which are very far off from you, which are not of the cities of these nations. 16 But of the cities of these peoples that YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance, you will save alive nothing that breathes; 17 but you will utterly destroy them: the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as YHWH your Elohim has commanded you; 18 that they not teach you to follow all their abominations, which they have done for their elohim; so would you sin against YHWH your Elohim. 19 When you will besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, you will not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them; for you may eat of them. You will not cut them down, for is the tree of the field man, that it should be besieged by you? 20 Only the trees that you know are not trees for food, you will destroy and cut them down. You will build bulwarks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.

63:7 I will tell of the loving kindnesses of YHWH and the praises of YHWH, according to all that YHWH has given to us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has given to them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses. 8 For he said, “Surely, they are my people, sons who will not deal falsely;” so he became their Savior. 9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his face saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old. 10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them. 11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?” 12 Who caused his glorious arm to be at Moses’ right hand? Who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name? 13 Who led them through the depths, like a horse in the wilderness, so that they didn’t stumble? 14 As the livestock that go down into the valley, the spirit of YHWH caused them to rest. So you led your people to make yourself a glorious name. 15 Look down from the heavens, and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory. Where are your zeal and your mighty acts? The yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me. 16 For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, YHWH, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name. 17 O YHWH, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance. 18 Your holy people possessed it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary. 19 We have become like those over whom you never ruled, like those who were not called by your name.

32:11 Moses begged YHWH his Elohim, and said, “YHWH, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians talk, saying, ‘He brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the land?’ Turn from your fierce wrath, and turn away from this evil against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they will inherit it forever.’ ” 14 So YHWH turned away from the evil which he said he would do to his people.

13:21 YHWH went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night: 22 the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn’t depart from before the people.

40:33 He raised up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work. 34 Then the cloud covered the Appointed Tent, and the glory of YHWH filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses wasn’t able to enter into the Appointed Tent, because the cloud stayed on it, and the glory of YHWH filled the tabernacle. 36 When the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys; 37 but if the cloud wasn’t taken up, then they didn’t travel until the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of YHWH was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

Exodus 20:4 You will not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the land beneath, or that is in the water under the land: 5 you will not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, YHWH your Elohim, am a zealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, on the third and on the fourth of those who hate me, 6 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and guard my commandments.

Exodus 34:5 YHWH descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of YHWH. 6 YHWH passed by before him, and proclaimed, “YHWH! YHWH, a merciful and gracious Elohim, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, 7 preserving loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, and on the sons of the sons, on the third and on the fourth generation.”

Deuteronomy 5:8 You will not make a carved image for yourself—any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or what is in the land beneath, or that is in the water under the land.

Psalms 86:14 Elohim, the proud have risen up against me. A company of violent men have sought after my soul, and they don’t hold regard for you before them. 15 But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious Elohim, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth. 16 Turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give your strength to your servant. Save the son of your servant. 17 Show me a sign of your goodness, that those who hate me may see it, and be shamed, because you, YHWH, have helped me, and comforted me.

Psalms 103:7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the sons of Israel. 8 YHWH is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. 9 He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the land, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like a father has compassion on his sons, so YHWH has compassion on those who fear him. 14 For he knows how we are made. He remembers that we are dust.

Psalms 145:8 YHWH is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness. 9 YHWH is good to all. His tender mercies are over all his works.

Jonah 3:10 Elohim saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. Elohim relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it. 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 He prayed to YHWH, and said, “Please, YHWH, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious Elohim and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.

5:1 When all the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard how YHWH had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the sons of Israel until we had crossed over, their heart melted, and there was no more spirit in them, because of the sons of Israel. 2 At that time, YHWH said to Joshua, “Make flint knives, and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.” 3 Joshua made himself flint knives, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 4 This is the reason Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt, who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way, after they came out of Egypt. 5 For all the people who came out were circumcised; but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. 6 For the sons of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they didn’t listen to the voice of YHWH. YHWH swore to them that he wouldn’t let them see the land which YHWH swore to their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 Their sons, whom he raised up in their place, were circumcised by Joshua, for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them on the way. 8 When they were done circumcising the whole nation, they stayed in their places in the camp until they were healed.

Joshua 14:6 Then the sons of Judah came near to Joshua in Gilgal. Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the thing that YHWH spoke to Moses the man of Elohim concerning me and concerning you in Kadesh Barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of YHWH sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8 Nevertheless, my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed YHWH my Elohim. 9 Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where you walked will be an inheritance to you and to your sons forever, because you have wholly followed YHWH my Elohim.’ 10 “Now, behold, YHWH has kept me alive, as he spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that YHWH spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. Now, behold, I am eighty-five years old, today. 11 As yet I am as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, so is my strength now for war, to go out and to come in. 12 Now therefore give me this hill country, of which YHWH spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and great and fortified cities. It may be that YHWH will be with me, and I will drive them out, as YHWH said.” 13 Joshua blessed him; and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he followed YHWH, the Elohim of Israel wholeheartedly. 15 Now the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba, after the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land had rest from war.

Joshua 15:13 He gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the sons of Judah, according to the commandment of YHWH to Joshua, Kiriath Arba, named after the father of Anak, also called Hebron. 14 Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the sons of Anak.

Joshua 21:9 They gave out of the tribe of the sons of Judah, and out of the tribe of the sons of Shimon, these cities which are mentioned by name: 10 and they were for the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Qohathites, who were of the sons of Levi; for theirs was the first lot. 11 They gave them Kiriath Arba, named after the father of Anak, also called Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with its pasture lands around it. 12 But they gave the fields of the city and its villages to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

Judges 1:16 The sons of the Kenite, Moses’ brother-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the sons of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which is in the south of Arad; and they went and lived with the people. 17 Judah went with Shimon his brother, and they struck the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. The name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with its border, and Ashkelon with its border, and Ekron with its border. 19 YHWH was with Judah, and drove out the inhabitants of the hill country; for he could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. 20 They gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, and he drove the three sons of Anak out of there.

Numbers 26:63 These are the registered ones by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who counted the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64 But among these there was not a man of them who were counted by Moses and Aaron the priest, who counted the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For YHWH had said of them, “They will surely die in the wilderness.” There was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

Numbers 32:5 They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Don’t bring us over the Jordan.” 6 Moses said to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? 7 Why do you discourage the heart of the sons of Israel from going over into the land which YHWH has given them? 8 Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the sons of Israel, that they should not go into the land which YHWH had given them. 10 the anger of YHWH burned in that day, and he swore, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, will see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have followed YHWH completely.’ 13 the anger of YHWH burned against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation who had done evil in the sight of YHWH was consumed. 14 “Behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the fierce anger of YHWH toward Israel. 15 For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people.” 16 They came near to him, and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones; 17 but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our houses until the sons of Israel have all received their inheritance.

2:6 YHWH says: “For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals; 7 They trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the land and deny justice to the oppressed. A man and his father use the same maiden, to profane my holy name. 8 They lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge. In the house of their Elohim they drink the wine of those who have been fined. 9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. 10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. 11 I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Isn’t this true, you sons of Israel?” says YHWH. 12 “But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘Don’t prophesy!’ 13 Behold, I will crush you in your place, as a cart crushes that is full of grain. 14 Flight will perish from the swift. The strong won’t strengthen his force. The mighty won’t deliver himself. 15 He who handles the bow won’t stand. He who is swift of foot won’t escape. He who rides the horse won’t deliver himself. 16 He who is courageous among the mighty will flee away naked on that day,” says YHWH.

3:1 Hear this word that YHWH has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2 “I have only chosen you of all the families of the land. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins.”

Psalms 95:1 Oh come, let’s sing to YHWH. Let’s shout aloud to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let’s come before his face with thanksgiving. Let’s extol him with songs! 3 For YHWH is a great Elohim, a great King above all elohim. 4 In his hand are the deep places of the land. The heights of the mountains are also his. 5 The sea is his, and he made it. His hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let’s worship and bow down. Let’s kneel before YHWH, our Maker, 7 for he is our Elohim. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Today, oh that you would hear his voice! 8 Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your fathers tested me, tested me, and saw my work. 10 Forty long years I was grieved with that generation, and said, “They are a people who err in their heart. They have not known my ways.” 11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They won’t enter into my rest.”

Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Emissary and High Priest of our confession: Yeshua, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also Moses was in all his house. 3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is Elohim. 5 Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a witness of those things which were afterward to be spoken, 6 but Messiah is faithful as a Son over his house. We are his house, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end. 7 Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice, 8 don’t harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of the trial in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers tested me and tried me, and saw my deeds for forty years. 10 Therefore I was displeased with that generation, and said, ‘They always err in their heart, but they didn’t know my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They will not enter into my rest.’ ” (cf. Psalms 95:7-11)  12 Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living Elohim; 13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today”, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Messiah, if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm to the end, 15 while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.” (cf. Psalms 95:7-8) 16 For who, when they heard, rebelled? Wasn’t it all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 We see that they weren’t able to enter in because of unbelief.

10:18 He who hides hatred has lying lips. He who utters a slander is a fool. 19 In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, but he who restrains his lips does wisely. 20 The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth. 21 The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding.

1:1 Judah, a servant of Yeshua the Messiah, and brother of Jacob, to those who are called, sanctified by Elohim the Father, and kept for Yeshua the Messiah: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I was constrained to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the holy ones. 4 For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: impious men, turning the grace of our Elohim into indecency, and denying our only Master, Elohim, and Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. 5 Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who didn’t believe. 6 Angels who didn’t guard their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, having in the same way as these given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are shown as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in the same way, these also in their dreaming defile the flesh, despise authority, and speak evil of glories. 9 But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these speak evil of whatever things they don’t know. They are destroyed in these things that they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason. 11 Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Qorach’s rebellion. 12 These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the root; 13 wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved. 14 About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the impious of all their works of ungodliness which they have done in an impious way, and of all the hard things which impious sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their coveting—and their mouth speaks proud things—showing respect of persons to gain advantage. 17 But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by the emissaries of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own impious coveting.” 19 These are those who cause divisions and are sensual, not having the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in Elohim’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah to eternal life. 22 On some have compassion, making a distinction, 23 and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh. 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the face of his glory in great joy, 25 to Elohim our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

4:1 “You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem. 2 Lay siege against it, build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it. Also set camps against it and plant battering rams against it all around. 3 Take for yourself an iron pan and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city. Then set your face toward it. It will be besieged, and you will lay siege against it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel. 4 “Moreover lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. According to the number of the days that you will lie on it, you will bear their iniquity. 5 For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, three hundred ninety days. So you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 “Again, when you have accomplished these, you will lie on your right side, and will bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have appointed forty days, each day for a year, to you. 7 You will set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm uncovered; and you will prophesy against it. 8 Behold, I put ropes on you, and you will not turn yourself from one side to the other, until you have accomplished the days of your siege. 9 “Take for yourself also wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel. Make bread of it. According to the number of the days that you will lie on your side, three hundred ninety days, you will eat of it. 10 Your food which you will eat will be by weight, twenty shekels a day. From time to time you will eat it. 11 You will drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin. From time to time you will drink. 12 You will eat it as barley cakes, and you will bake it in their sight with dung that comes out of man.” 13 YHWH said, “The sons of Israel will eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14 Then I said, “Ah Lord YHWH! Behold, my soul has not been polluted; for from my youth up until now I have not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn of animals. No abominable flesh has come into my mouth!” 15 Then he said to me, “Behold, I have given you cow’s dung for man’s dung, and you will prepare your bread on it.” 16 Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness. They will drink water by measure, and in dismay; 17 that they may lack bread and water, be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.

13:16 Paul stood up, and gesturing with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear Elohim, listen. 17 The Elohim of this people chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they stayed as sojourners in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm, he led them out of it. 18 For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19 When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance for about four hundred fifty years. 20 After these things, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Afterward they asked for a king, and Elohim gave to them Shaul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also witnessed, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 From this man’s seed, Elohim has brought salvation† to Israel according to his promise, 24 before his coming, when John had first preached the immersion of repentance to Israel. 25 As John was fulfilling his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But behold, one comes after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ 26 “Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you who fear Elohim, the word of this salvation is sent out to you. 27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they didn’t know him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28 Though they found no cause for death, they still asked Pilate to have him killed. 29 When they had fulfilled all things that were written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But Elohim raised him from the dead, 31 and he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. 32 We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers, 33 that Elohim has fulfilled this to us, their children, in that he raised up Yeshua. As it is also written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your father.’ (cf. Psalms 2:7)

27:1 Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph came near. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noaḥ, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 They stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the Appointed Tent, saying, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against YHWH in the company of Qorach, but he died in his own sin. He had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession among the brothers of our father.” 5 Moses brought their cause before YHWH. 6 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad speak right. You will surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers. You will cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. 8 You will speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies, and has no son, then you will cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, then you will give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, then you will give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 If his father has no brothers, then you will give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his family, and he will possess it. This will be a statute and judgment for the sons of Israel, as YHWH commanded Moses.’ ” 12 YHWH said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel. 13 When you have seen it, you also will be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered; 14 because in the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, to honor me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.

10:1 Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 and were all immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Messiah. 5 However with most of them, Elohim was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not covet after evil things as they also coveted. 7 Don’t be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Let’s not commit whoring, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. 9 Let’s not test [YHWH],^(mss) as some of them tested, and perished by the nachashim. 10 Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall. 13 No trial has taken you except what is common to man. Elohim is faithful, who will not allow you to be tested above what you are able, but will with the trial also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men. Judge what I say. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, isn’t it a sharing of the blood of Messiah? The bread which we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of Messiah?

11:1 And faith is the foundation of things hoped for, the proof of things not seen. 2 For in this, the elders obtained witness. 3 In faith, we understand that the ages were prepared by the word of Elohim, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible. 4 In faith Abel offered to Elohim a greater slaughter than Cain, (cf. Genesis 4:4-8) through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, Elohim witnessed with respect to his gifts; and through it he, being dead, still speaks. 5 In faith Enoch was taken away, so that he wouldn’t see death, “and he was not found, for Elohim took him.” (cf. Genesis 5:24) For he had witness given to him that before his translation he had been well-pleasing to Elohim. 6 Without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing to him, for he who comes to Elohim must believe that he exists, and that he is a paymaster of those who seek him. 7 In faith Noaḥ, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with reverence, prepared an ark for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. 8 In faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went. 9 In faith he lived as a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is Elohim. 11 In faith also Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore as many as the stars of the heavens in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore, were fathered by one man, and him as good as dead. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the land. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, the heavenly one. Therefore Elohim is not ashamed of them, to be called their Elohim, for he has prepared a city for them. 17 In faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his only, 18 to whom it was said, “Your seed will be accounted as from Isaac,” (cf. Genesis 21:12)  19 concluding that Elohim is able to raise up also from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead. 20 In faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, concerning things to come. 21 In faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and did bow down, leaning [on the head of his staff] (cf. Genesis 47:31). 22 In faith Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the departure of the sons of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones. 23 In faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three new moons by his parents, because they saw that he was a good child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. 24 In faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to share ill treatment with Elohim’s people than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time, 26 considering the reproach of the Messiah greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the payment. 27 In faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 28 In faith he kept the Pesach and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them. 29 In faith they passed through the Sea of Reeds as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up. 30 In faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 In faith Rahab the whore didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace. 32 What more will I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets— 33 who through faith subdued reigns, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, (cf. Daniel 6:22-23) 34 quenched the power of fire (cf. Daniel 3:1-30), escaped the edge of the sword (cf. 1 Kings 19:1-3), from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee. 35 Women received their dead by resurrection (cf. 1 Kings 17:17-23; 2 Kings 4:32-37). Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned (cf. 2 Chronicles 24:20-21). They were sawn apart. They were tested. They were slain with the sword (cf. Jeremiah 26:20-23; 1 Kings 19:10). They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the land. 39 These all, having been commended for their faith, didn’t receive the promise, 40 Elohim having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be perfected.

Related Additional Readings​

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 14 And all the congregation lifted up and gave forth their voice, and the people wept that night: and it was confirmed (as a punishment) that they should weep on that night[1] in their generations. And all the sons of Israel murmured against Mosheh and Aharon, and said: Would that we had died in the land of Mizraim, or that we may die in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword of the Kenaanaah, and our wives and little ones to become a prey? Will it not be better to return into Mizraim? And one man said to his brother, Let us appoint a king over us for a chief, and return to Mizraim. [JERUSALEM. Let us set a king over us, and go round to Mizraim.]

And Mosheh and Aharon bowed upon their faces before all the congregation of the sons of Israel; and Yehoshua bar Nun and Kaleb bar Jephunneh of the explorers of the land rent their clothes, and spake to the congregation, saying: The land we went to see is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord hath pleasure in us, He will bring us into this land, and give it us, a land producing milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the commandments of the Lord, and you need not fear the people of the land, for they are delivered into our hands; the strength of their power hath failed from them, but the Word of the Lord will be our helper; fear them not. But all the congregation said they would stone them with stones.

And the glorious Shekinah of the Lord was revealed in bright clouds at the tabernacle. And the Lord said to Mosheh, How long will this people provoke Me to anger? How long will they disbelieve in My Word, for all the signs I have wrought among them? I will strike them with deadly plague and destroy them, and will appoint thee for a people greater and stronger than they. But Mosheh said, The children of the Mizraee, whom Thou didst drown in the sea, will hear that Thou didst bring up this people from among them by Thy power, and will say with exultation to the people of this land, who have heard that Thou art the Lord, whose Shekinah dwelleth among this people, in whose eyes, O Lord, the Glory of Thy Shekinah appeared on the mountain of Sinai, and who there received Thy law; Thy Cloud hath shadowed, that neither heat nor rain might hurt them; and whom in the pillar of the Cloud Thou hast led on by day, that the moun­tains and hills might be brought low, and the valleys lifted up, and hast guided in the pillar of Fire by night: and after all of these miracles wilt Thou kill this people as one man? Then the nations who have heard the fame and of Thy power will speak saying: Because there was no (more) strength with the Lord to bring this people into the land which swearing He a promised to them, He hath killed them in the wilderness! And now, I beseech Thee, magnify Thy power, O Lord, and let mercies be fulfilled upon us, and appoint me for (this) great people, as Thou hast spoken, saying: The Lord is long­ suffering, and nigh in mercy, forgiving sins and covering transgressions, justifying such as return to His law though them who turn not He will not absolve, but will visit the sins of wicked fathers upon rebellious children unto the third and fourth generation. [JERUSALEM. The Lord is long‑suffering, far from anger, near in mercy, multiplying the exercise of goodness and truth; though the Lord will not justify sinners, but will remember, in the day of judgment, the guilt of wicked fathers upon rebellious children.] Pardon now the sin of this people according to Thy great goodness, even as Thou hast forgiven them from the time that they came out from Mizraim until now. And the Lord said, I have forgiven, according to thy word. [JERUSALEM. And the Word of the Lord said, Behold, I have absolved and pardoned, according to thy word.] Nevertheless, by oath have I sworn that the whole earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all the men who have beheld My glory, and My signs, which I have wrought in Mizraim and in the Desert, have tempted Me now ten times, and have not obeyed My Word: by oath have I said this, That they will not see the land which I covenanted to their fathers; and the generation which have been provokeful before me will not behold it. [JERUSALEM. For I have uplifted My hand with an oath.] But My servant, Kaleb, because there is in him another spirit, and he hath entirely followed (in) My fear, him will I bring into the land to which he went, and his children will possess it. But the Amalekites and Kenaanites dwell in the valley: to‑morrow turn you and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.

And the Lord spake with Mosheh and Aharon, saying: How long (will I bear with) this evil congregation who gather together against Me? The murmurs of the sons of Israel which they murmur against Me are heard before Me. Say to them, By oath I decree that according to (what) you have spoken, so will I do to you. In this wilderness your carcasses will fall, the whole number of all who were counted from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me. By a fast oath (have I sworn) that you will not enter into the land which I covenanted in My Word to give you to inhabit, except Kaleb bar Jephunneh and Yehoshua bar Nun. But your children, who you said would be a prey, them will I bring in, and they will know the land which you rejected; but your carcasses will fall in this wilderness. Yet your children will have to wander in this wilderness forty years, and bear your sins until the time that your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you were exploring the land, forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year, you will receive for your sins, forty years, and will know (the consequence) of your murmuring against Me. I the Lord have decreed in My Word,‑if I have not made a decree in My Word against all this evil congregation who have gathered a rebel against Me in this wilderness, that they will be consumed and die there.

But the men whom Mosheh had sent to explore the land, and who returning had made the whole congregation murmur against him, by bringing forth an evil report of the land, (even those) men who had brought forth the evil of the report of the land died, on the seventh day of the new moon of Elul, with worms coming from their navels, and with worms devouring their tongues; and were buried in death from before the Lord. Only Yehoshua bar Nun and Kaleb bar Jephunneh survived of those men who had gone to explore the land.

And Mosheh spake these words with all the sons of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. And they arose in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain., saying: Behold, we will go up to the place of which the Lord hath spoken; for we have sinned. But Mosheh said, Why will you act against the decree of the Word of the Lord? But it will not prosper with you. Go not up, for the Lord’s Shekinah dwelleth not among you; and the ark, the tabernacle, and the Cloud of Glory proceed not; and be not crushed before your enemies. For the Amalekites and Kenaanites are there prepared for you, and you will fall slaughtered by the sword. For, because you have turned away from the service of the Lord, the Word of the Lord will not be your Helper. But they armed themselves in the dark before the morning to go up to the height of the mountain: but the ark, in which was the covenant of the Lord, and Mosheh, stirred not from the midst of the camp. And the Amalekites and Kenaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and slaughtered and destroyed them, and drave them hard to destruction.

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

3.14.1. When Moses had led the Hebrews away from thence to a place called Paran, which was near to the borders of the Canaanites, and a place difficult to be continued in, he gathered the multitude together to a congregation; and standing in the midst of them, he said, “Of the two things that Elohim determined to bestow upon us, liberty, and the possession of a Happy Country, the one of them ye already are partakers of, by the gift of Elohim, and the other you will quickly obtain; for we now have our abode near the borders of the Canaanites, and nothing can hinder the acquisition of it, when we now at last are fallen upon it: I say, not only no king nor city, but neither the whole race of mankind, if they were all gathered together, could do it. Let us therefore prepare ourselves for the work, for the Canaanites will not resign up their land to us without fighting, but it must be wrested from them by great struggles in war. Let us then send spies, who may take a view of the goodness of the land, and what strength it is of; but, above all things, let us be of one mind, and let us honor Elohim, who above all is our helper and assister.”

3.14.2. When Moses had said thus, the multitude requited him with marks of respect; and chose twelve spies, of the most eminent men, one out of each tribe, who, passing over all the land of Canaan, from the borders of Egypt, came to the city Hamath, and to Mount Lebanon; and having learned the nature of the land, and of its inhabitants, they came home, having spent forty days in the whole work. They also brought with them of the fruits which the land bare; they also showed them the excellency of those fruits, and gave an account of the great quantity of the good things that land afforded, which were motives to the multitude to go to war. But then they terrified them again with the great difficulty there was in obtaining it; that the rivers were so large and deep that they could not be passed over; and that the hills were so high that they could not travel along for them; that the cities were strong with walls, and their firm fortifications round about them. They told them also, that they found at Hebron the posterity of the giants. Accordingly these spies, who had seen the land of Canaan, when they perceived that all these difficulties were greater there than they had met with since they came out of Egypt, they were affrighted at them themselves, and endeavored to affright the multitude also.

3.14.3. So they supposed, from what they had heard, that it was impossible to get the possession of the country. And when the congregation was dissolved, they, their wives and children, continued their lamentation, as if Elohim would not indeed assist them, but only promised them fair. They also again blamed Moses, and made a clamor against him and his brother Aaron, the high priest. Accordingly they passed that night very ill, and with contumelious language against them; but in the morning they ran to a congregation, intending to stone Moses and Aaron, and so to return back into Egypt.

3.14.4. But of the spies, there were Joshua the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, and Caleb of the tribe of Judah, that were afraid of the consequence, and came into the midst of them, and stilled the multitude, and desired them to be of good courage; and neither to condemn Elohim, as having told them lies, nor to hearken to those who had affrighted them, by telling them what was not true concerning the Canaanites, but to those that encouraged them to hope for good success; and that they should gain possession of the happiness promised them, because neither the height of mountains, nor the depth of rivers, could hinder men of true courage from attrying them, especially while Elohim would take care of them beforehand, and be assistant to them. “Let us then go,” said they, “against our enemies, and have no suspicion of ill success, trusting in Elohim to conduct us, and following those that are to be our leaders.” Thus did these two exhort them, and endeavor to pacify the rage they were in. But Moses and Aaron fell on the ground, and besought Elohim, not for their own deliverance, but that he would put a stop to what the people were unwarily doing, and would bring their minds to a quiet temper, which were now disordered by their present passion. The cloud also did now appear, and stood over the tabernacle, and declared to them the face of Elohim to be there.

3.15.1. Moses came now boldly to the multitude, and informed them that Elohim was moved at their abuse of him, and would inflict punishment upon them, not indeed such as they deserved for their sins, but such as parents inflict on their children, in order to their correction. For, he said, that when he was in the tabernacle, and was bewailing with ears that destruction which was coming upon them Elohim put him in mind what things he had done for them, and what benefits they had received from him, and yet how ungrateful they had been to him that just now they had been induced, through the timorousness of the spies, to think that their words were truer than his own promise to them; and that on this account, though he would not indeed destroy them all, nor utterly exterminate their nation, which he had honored more than any other part of mankind, yet he would not permit them to take possession of the land of Canaan, nor enjoy its happiness; but would make them wander in the wilderness, and live without a fixed habitation, and without a city, for forty years together, as a punishment for this their transgression; but that he had promised to give that land to our children, and that he would make them the possessors of those good things which, by your ungoverned passions, you have deprived yourselves of.

3.15.2. When Moses had discoursed thus to them according to the direction of Elohim, the multitude, grieved, and were in affliction; and entreated Most to procure their reconciliation to Elohim, and to permit them no longer to wander in the wilderness, but bestow cities upon them. But he replied, that Elohim would not admit of any such trial, for that Elohim was not moved to this determination from any human levity or anger, but that he had judicially condemned them to that punishment. Now we are not to disbelieve that Moses, who was but a single person, pacified so many ten thousands when they were in anger, and converted them to a mildness temper; for Elohim was with him, and prepared way to his persuasions of the multitude; and as they had often been disobedient, they were now sensible that such disobedience was disadvantageous to them and that they had still thereby fallen into calamities.

3.15.3. But this man was admirable for his virtue, and powerful in making men give credit to what he delivered, not only during the time of his natural life, but even there is still no one of the Hebrews who does not act even now as if Moses were present, and ready to punish him if he should do any thing that is indecent; nay, there is no one but is obedient to what laws he ordained, although they might be concealed in their transgressions. There are also many other demonstrations that his power was more than human, for still some there have been, who have come from the parts beyond Euphrates, a journey of four new moons, through many dangers, and at great expenses, in honor of our temple; and yet, when they had offered their oblations, could not partake of their own slaughters, because Moses had forbidden it, by somewhat in the law that did not permit them, or somewhat that had befallen them, which our ancient customs made inconsistent therewith; some of these did not slaughter at all, and others left their slaughters in an imperfect condition; many were not able, even at first, so much as to enter the temple, but went their ways in this as preferring a submission to the laws of Moses before the fulfilling of their own inclinations, they had no fear upon them that anybody could convict them, but only out of a reverence to their own conscience. Thus this legislation, which appeared to be divine, made this man to be esteemed as one superior to his own nature. Nay, further, a little before the beginning of this war, when Claudius was emperor of the Romans, and Ismael was our high priest, and when so great a famine was come upon us, that one tenth deal [of wheat] was sold for four drachmae, and when no less than seventy cori of flour were brought into the temple, at the feast of unleavened bread, (these cori are thirty-one Sicilian, but forty-one Athenian medimni,) not one of the priests was so hardy as to eat one crumb of it, even while so great a distress was upon the land; and this out of a dread of the law, and of that wrath which Elohim retains against acts of wickedness, even when no one can accuse the actors. Whence we are not to wonder at what was then done, while to this very day the writings left by Moses have so great a force, that even those that hate us do confess, that he who established this settlement was Elohim, and that it was by the means of Moses, and of his virtue; but as to these matters, let every one take them as he thinks fit.

4.1.1. Now this life of the Hebrews in the wilderness was so disagreeable and troublesome to them, and they were so uneasy at it, that although Elohim had forbidden them to meddle with the Canaanites, yet could they not be persuaded to be obedient to the words of Moses, and to be quiet; but supposing they should be able to beat their enemies, without his approbation, they accused him, and suspected that he made it his business to keep in a distressed condition, that they might always stand in need of his assistance. Accordingly they resolved to fight with the Canaanites, and said that Elohim gave them his assistance, not out of regard to Moses’s intercessions, but because he took care of their entire nation, on account of their forefathers, whose affairs he took under his own conduct; as also, that it was on account of their own virtue that he had formerly procured them their liberty, and would be assisting to them, now they were willing to take pains for it. They also said that they were possessed of abilities sufficient for the conquest of their enemies, although Moses should have a mind to alienate Elohim from them; that, however, it was for their advantage to be their own masters, and not so far to rejoice in their deliverance from the indignities they endured under the Egyptians, as to bear the tyranny of Moses over them, and to suffer themselves to be deluded, and live according to his pleasure, as though Elohim did only foretell what concerns us out of his kindness to him, as if they were not all the posterity of Abraham; that Elohim made him alone the author of all the knowledge we have, and we must still learn it from him; that it would be a piece of prudence to oppose his arrogant pretenses, and to put their confidence in Elohim, and to resolve to take possession of that land which he had promised them, and not to give ear to him, who on this account, and under the pretense of Divine authority, forbade them so to do. Considering, therefore, the distressed state they were in at present, and that in those desert places they were still to expect things would be worse with them, they resolved to fight with the Canaanites, as submitting only to Elohim, their supreme Commander, and not waiting for any assistance from their legislator.

4.1.2. When, therefore, they had come to this resolution, as being best for them, they went against their enemies; but those enemies were not dismayed either at the attack itself, or at the great multitude that made it, and received them with great courage. Many of the Hebrews were slain; and the remainder of the army, upon the disorder of their troops, were pursued, and fled, after a shameful manner, to their camp. Whereupon this unexpected misfortune made them quite despond; and they hoped for nothing that was good; as gathering from it, that this affliction came from the wrath of Elohim, because they rashly went out to war without his approbation.

4.1.3. But when Moses saw how deeply they were affected with this defeat, and being afraid lest the enemies should grow insolent upon this victory, and should be desirous of gaining still greater glory, and should attack them, he resolved that it was proper to withdraw the army into the wilderness to a further distance from the Canaanites: so the multitude gave themselves up again to his conduct, for they were sensible that, without his care for them, their affairs could not be in a good condition; and he caused the host to remove, and he went further into the wilderness, as intending there to let them rest, and not to permit them to fight the Canaanites before Elohim should afford them a more favorable opportunity.