But even after all that, they kept on sinning. Even after the wonderful things he had done, they still didn’t believe.

虽是这样，他们仍旧犯罪，不信他奇妙的作为。

虽是这样，他们仍旧犯罪，不信他奇妙的作为。

虽是这样，他们仍旧犯罪，不信他奇妙的作为。

即使如此，他们依旧犯罪，不相信上帝奇妙的作为。

虽然经历了这一切，他们仍然犯罪；尽管看见这些奇事，他们仍不相信。

即使如此，他们还是犯罪，不相信他的奇妙作为。

雖是這樣，他們仍舊犯罪，不信他奇妙的作為。

雖是這樣，他們仍舊犯罪，不信他奇妙的作為。

雖是這樣，他們仍舊犯罪，不信他奇妙的作為。

即使如此，他們依舊犯罪，不相信上帝奇妙的作為。

雖然經歷了這一切，他們仍然犯罪；儘管看見這些奇事，他們仍不相信。

雖經過了這一切，他們仍然犯罪，不信上帝奇妙的作為。

即使如此，他們還是犯罪，不相信他的奇妙作為。

民猶干罪、不信其奇行兮、

民猶犯罪、不信異跡、

雖然如此、民仍犯罪、不信主之奇跡、

作惡如故。尚不知警。

In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.

In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.

But in spite of this, the people kept sinning. Despite his wonders, they refused to trust him.

Despite all this, they kept sinning and did not believe his wondrous works.

In spite of all this they still sinned And did not believe in His wonderful works.

In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works.

For all this they sinned still, And believed not in his wondrous works.

Despite all this, they kept sinning and did not believe His wonderful works.

For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.

Despite all this, they continued to sin, and did not trust him to do amazing things.

For all this they still sinned, and didn’t believe in his wondrous works.

That night all the members of the community raised their voices. They wept out loud.The Israelites spoke against Moses and Aaron. The whole community said to them,“ We wish we had died in Egypt or even in this desert.Why is the Lord bringing us to this land? We’re going to be killed by swords. Our enemies will capture our wives and children. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”They said to one another,“ We should choose another leader. We should go back to Egypt.”Then Moses and Aaron fell with their faces to the ground. They did it in front of the whole community of Israel gathered there.Joshua, the son of Nun, tore his clothes. So did Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. Joshua and Caleb were two of the men who had checked out the land.They spoke to the whole community of Israel. They said,“ We passed through the land and checked it out. It’s very good.If the Lord is pleased with us, he’ll lead us into that land. It’s a land that has plenty of milk and honey. He’ll give it to us.But don’t refuse to obey him. And don’t be afraid of the people of the land. We will swallow them up. The Lord is with us. So nothing can save them. Don’t be afraid of them.”But all the people talked about killing Joshua and Caleb by throwing stones at them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting. All the Israelites saw it.The Lord said to Moses,“ How long will these people not respect me? How long will they refuse to believe in me? They refuse even though I have done many signs among them.So I will strike them down with a plague. I will destroy them. But I will make you into a greater and stronger nation than they are.”Moses said to the Lord,“ Then the Egyptians will hear about it. You used your power to bring these people up from among them.And the Egyptians will tell the people who live in Canaan about it. Lord, they have already heard a lot about you. They’ve heard that you are with these people. They’ve heard that you have been seen face to face. They’ve been told that your cloud stays over them. They’ve heard that you go in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day. They’ve been told that you go in front of them in a pillar of fire at night.Suppose you put all these people to death and leave none alive. Then the nations who have heard these things about you will talk. They’ll say,‘ The Lord promised to give these people the land of Canaan. But he wasn’t able to bring them into it. So he killed them in the desert.’“ Now, Lord, show your strength. You have said,‘ I am the Lord. I am slow to get angry. I am full of love. I forgive those who sin. I forgive those who refuse to obey. But I do not let guilty people go without punishing them. I cause the sin of the parents to affect their children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren.’Lord, your love is great. So forgive the sin of these people. Forgive them just as you have done from the time they left Egypt until now.”The Lord replied,“ I have forgiven them, just as you asked.You can be sure that I live. You can be just as sure that my glory fills the whole earth.And here is what you can be just as sure of. Not one of these people will see the land I promised to give them. They have seen my glory. They have seen the signs I did in Egypt. And they have seen what I did in the desert. But they did not obey me. And they have tested me ten times.So not even one of them will ever see the land I promised to give to their people of long ago. The person who has not respected me will never see it.But my servant Caleb has a different spirit. He follows me with his whole heart. So I will bring him into the land he went to. And his children after him will receive land there.The Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys. So turn back tomorrow. Start out toward the desert. Go along the way that leads to the Red Sea.”The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,“ How long will this evil community speak against me? I have heard these Israelites talk about how unhappy they are.So tell them,‘ Here is what I am announcing. I am the Lord. You can be sure that I live. And here is what you can be just as sure of. I will do to you the very thing that I heard you say.You will die in this desert. Every one of you 20 years old or more will die. Every one of you who was counted in the list of the people will die. Every one of you who has spoken out against me will be wiped out.I lifted up my hand and promised to make this land your home. But now not all of you will enter the land. Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, will enter it. So will Joshua, the son of Nun. They are the only ones who will enter the land.You have said that your enemies would capture your children. But I will bring your children in to enjoy the land you have turned your backs on.As for you, you will die in the desert.Your children will be shepherds here for 40 years. They will suffer because you were not faithful. They will suffer until the last of your bodies lies here in the desert.For 40 years you will suffer for your sins. That is one year for each of the 40 days you checked out the land. You will know what it is like to have me against you.’I, the Lord, have spoken. I will surely do these things to this entire evil community of Israel. They have joined together against me. They will meet their end in this desert. They will die here.”So the Lord struck down the men Moses had sent to check out the land. They had returned and had spread a bad report about the land. And that had made the whole community speak out against Moses.Those men were to blame for spreading the bad report. So the Lord struck them down. They died of a plague.Only two of the men who went to check out the land remained alive. One of them was Joshua, the son of Nun. The other was Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.Moses reported to all the Israelites what the Lord had said. And they became very sad.Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country.“ We have sinned,” they said.“ Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord promised to give us.”But Moses said,“ Why aren’t you obeying the Lord’ s command? You won’t succeed.So don’t go up. The Lord isn’t with you. Your enemies will win the battle over you.The Amalekites and the Canaanites will meet you on the field of battle. You have turned away from the Lord. So he won’t be with you. And you will be killed by swords.”But they wouldn’t listen. They still went up toward the highest point in the hill country. They went up even though Moses didn’t move from the camp. They went even though the ark of the Lord’ s covenant didn’t move from the camp.Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down. They attacked the Israelites. They won the battle over them. They chased the Israelites all the way to Hormah.

That was because they didn’t believe in God. They didn’t trust in his power to save them.

Korah was the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath. Kohath was the son of Levi. Korah and certain men from the tribe of Reuben turned against Moses. The men from Reuben were Dathan, Abiram and On. Dathan and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. On was the son of Peleth.All those men rose up against Moses. And 250 men of Israel joined them. All of them were known as leaders in the community. They had been appointed as members of the ruling body.They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron. They said to Moses and Aaron,“ You have gone too far! The whole community is holy. Every one in it is holy. And the Lord is with them. So why do you put yourselves above the Lord’ s people?”When Moses heard what they said, he fell with his face to the ground.Then he spoke to Korah and all his followers. He said,“ In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will show who is holy. He’ll bring that person near him. He’ll bring the man he chooses near him.Korah, here’s what you and all your followers must do. Get some shallow cups for burning incense.Tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them. Offer it to the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”Moses also said to Korah,“ Listen, you Levites!The God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the community of Israel. He has brought you near him to work at the Lord’ s holy tent. He has given you to the people so that you can serve them. Isn’t all that enough for you?He has already brought you and all the other Levites near him. But now you want to be priests too.You and all your followers have joined together against the Lord. Why are you telling Aaron you aren’t happy with him?”Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said,“ We won’t come!You have brought us up out of a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You have brought us here to kill us in this desert. Isn’t that enough? Now do you also want to act as if you were ruling over us?Besides, you haven’t brought us into a land that has plenty of milk and honey. You haven’t given us fields and vineyards of our own. Do you want to treat these men like slaves? No! We won’t come!”Then Moses became very angry. He said to the Lord,“ Don’t accept their offering. I haven’t taken even a donkey from them. In fact, I haven’t done anything wrong to any of them.”Moses said to Korah,“ You and all your followers must stand in front of the Lord tomorrow. You must appear there along with Aaron.Each man must get his shallow cup. He must put incense in it. There will be a total of 250 incense cups. Each man must bring his cup to the Lord. You and Aaron must also bring your cups.”

The Canaanite king of the city of Arad lived in the Negev Desert. He heard that Israel was coming along the road to Atharim. So he attacked the Israelites. He captured some of them.Then Israel made a promise to the Lord. They said,“ Hand these people over to us. If you do, we will set their cities apart to you in a special way to be destroyed.”The Lord gave Israel what they asked for. He handed the Canaanites over to them. Israel completely destroyed them and their towns. So that place was named Hormah.The Israelites traveled from Mount Hor along the way to the Red Sea. They wanted to go around Edom. But they grew tired on the way.So they spoke against God and against Moses. They said,“ Why have you brought us up out of Egypt? Do you want us to die here in the desert? We don’t have any bread! We don’t have any water! And we hate this awful food!”Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the Israelites. The snakes bit them. Many of the people died.

Jesus had performed so many signs in front of them. But they still would not believe in him.

“‘ “But in the desert the people of Israel refused to obey me. They did not follow my rules. They turned their backs on my laws. The person who obeys them will live by them. They totally misused my Sabbath days. So I said I would pour out my great anger on them. I would destroy them in the desert.

They forgot what he had done. They didn’t remember the wonders he had shown them.

Israel was staying in Shittim. The men of Israel began to commit sexual sins with the women of Moab.The women invited the men to feasts and sacrifices to honor their gods. The people ate the sacrifices and bowed down in front of the statues of those gods.So Israel joined in worshiping the god named Baal that was worshiped at Peor. The Lord became very angry with Israel.The Lord said to Moses,“ Take all the leaders of these people. Kill them. Put their dead bodies out in the open. I want to see you do it in the middle of the day. Then I will not be angry with Israel.”So Moses spoke to Israel’s judges. He said,“ Some of your people have joined in worshiping the god named Baal that is worshiped at Peor. Each of you must kill the people in your tribe who have done that.”Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman. He did it right in front of the eyes of Moses and the whole community of Israel. They were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.Phinehas was a priest. He was the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. When Phinehas saw what had happened, he left the people. He took a spear in his hand.He followed the man into the tent. Phinehas stuck the spear through the man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the Lord stopped the plague against the Israelites.But the plague had already killed 24,000 of them.The Lord said to Moses,“ Phinehas is a priest. He is the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. Phinehas has turned my anger away from the Israelites. I am committed to making sure I am honored among them. And he is as committed as I am. So even though I was angry with them, I did not put an end to them.So tell Phinehas I am making my covenant with him. It is my promise to give him peace.He and his sons after him will have a covenant to be priests forever. That is because he was committed to making sure that I, his God, was honored. In that way he paid for the sin of the Israelites.”The name of the Israelite man who was killed was Zimri. He was the son of Salu. Zimri was killed along with the Midianite woman. Salu was a family leader in the tribe of Simeon.The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Kozbi. She was the daughter of Zur. He was the chief of a Midianite family.The Lord spoke to Moses. He said,“ Treat the Midianites just as you would treat enemies. Kill them.After all, they treated you like enemies. They tricked you into worshiping the god named Baal that is worshiped at Peor. They also tricked you because of what Kozbi did. She was the woman killed when the plague came that was connected with Peor. Kozbi was the daughter of a Midianite leader.”

“ Abraham said to him,‘ They do not listen to Moses and the Prophets. So they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”