Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



While the whole community threatened to stone them, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting. The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people despise Me? How long will they not trust in Me despite all the signs I have performed among them? I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are."


Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!”

Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite community: "The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us. read more.
Only don't rebel against the Lord, and don't be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don't be afraid of them!" While the whole community threatened to stone them, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting. The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people despise Me? How long will they not trust in Me despite all the signs I have performed among them? I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are."


I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to My words that he speaks in My name.

The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people despise Me? How long will they not trust in Me despite all the signs I have performed among them? I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are."

none of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested Me these 10 times and did not obey Me, will ever see the land I swore to [give] their fathers. None of those who have despised Me will see it. But since My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me completely, I will bring him into the land where he has gone, and his descendants will inherit it.

That's what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. After they went up as far as Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them. So the Lord's anger burned that day, and He swore an oath: read more.
'Because they did not follow Me completely, none of the men 20 years old or more who came up from Egypt will see the land I swore [to give] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob- none except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, because they did follow the Lord completely.' The Lord's anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness 40 years until the whole generation that had done what was evil in the Lord's sight was gone.

"But if you do not obey the Lord your God by carefully following all His commands and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overtake you: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed. read more.
Your descendants will be cursed, and your soil's produce, the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. The Lord will send against you curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything you do until you are destroyed and quickly perish, because of the wickedness of your actions in abandoning Me. The Lord will make pestilence cling to you until He has exterminated you from the land you are entering to possess. The Lord will afflict you with wasting disease, fever, inflammation, burning heat, drought, blight, and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish. The sky above you will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron. The Lord will turn the rain of your land into falling dust; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed. The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. Your corpses will be food for all the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land, and no one will scare them away. "The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, tumors, a festering rash, and scabies, from which you cannot be cured. The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness, and mental confusion, so that at noon you will grope as a blind man gropes in the dark. You will not be successful in anything you do. You will only be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will help [you]. You will become engaged to a woman, but another man will rape her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not enjoy its fruit. Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away from you and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will help you. Your sons and daughters will be given to another people, while your eyes grow weary looking for them every day. But you will be powerless to do anything. A people you don't know will eat your soil's produce and everything you have labored for. You will only be oppressed and crushed continually. You will be driven mad by what you see. The Lord will afflict you on your knees and thighs with painful and incurable boils from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. "The Lord will bring you and your king that you have appointed to a nation neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone. You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the peoples where the Lord will drive you. "You will sow much seed in the field but harvest little, because locusts will devour it. You will plant and cultivate vineyards but not drink the wine or gather [the grapes], because worms will eat them. You will have olive trees throughout your territory but not anoint yourself with oil, because your olives will drop off. You will father sons and daughters, but they will not remain yours, because they will be taken prisoner. Whirring insects will take possession of all your trees and your land's produce. The foreign resident among you will rise higher and higher above you, while you sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you won't lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail. "All these curses will come, pursue, and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey the Lord your God and keep the commands and statutes He gave you. These curses will be a sign and a wonder against you and your descendants forever. Because you didn't serve the Lord your God with joy and a cheerful heart, even though [you had] an abundance of everything, you will serve your enemies the Lord will send against you, in famine, thirst, nakedness, and a lack of everything. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you. The Lord will bring a nation from far away, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you don't understand, a ruthless nation, showing no respect for the old and not sparing the young. They will eat the offspring of your livestock and your soil's produce until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, oil, young of your herds, or newborn of your flocks until they cause you to perish. They will besiege you within all your gates until your high and fortified walls, that you trust in, come down throughout your land. They will besiege you within all your gates throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. "You will eat your children, the flesh of your sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you. The most sensitive and refined man among you will look grudgingly at his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children, refusing to share with any of them his children's flesh that he will eat because he has nothing left during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you in all your towns. The most sensitive and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her refinement and sensitivity, will begrudge the husband she embraces, her son, and her daughter, the afterbirth that comes out from between her legs and the children she bears, because she will secretly eat them for lack of anything [else] during the siege and hardship your enemy imposes on you within your gates. "If you are not careful to obey all the words of this law, which are written in this scroll, by fearing this glorious and awesome name-Yahweh, your God- He will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses. He will afflict you again with all the diseases of Egypt, which you dreaded, and they will cling to you. The Lord will also inflict you with every sickness and plague not recorded in the book of this law, until you are destroyed. Though you were as numerous as the stars of the sky, you will be left with only a few people, because you did not obey the Lord your God. Just as the Lord was glad to cause you to prosper and to multiply you, so He will also be glad to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be deported from the land you are entering to possess. Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. You will find no peace among those nations, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despondent spirit. Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be in dread night and day, never certain of survival. In the morning you will say, 'If only it were evening!' and in the evening you will say, 'If only it were morning!'-because of the dread you will have in your heart and because of what you will see. The Lord will take you back in ships to Egypt by a route that I said you would never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy [you]."

"But if you do not obey Me and observe all these commands- if you reject My statutes and despise My ordinances, and do not observe all My commands-and break My covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring terror on you-wasting disease and fever that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it. read more.
I will turn against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even though no one is pursuing you. "But if after these things you will not obey Me, I will proceed to discipline you seven times for your sins. I will break down your strong pride. I will make your sky like iron and your land like bronze, and your strength will be used up for nothing. Your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit. "If you act with hostility toward Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times for your sins. I will send wild animals against you that will deprive you of your children, ravage your livestock, and reduce your numbers until your roads are deserted. "If in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but act with hostility toward Me, then I will act with hostility toward you; I also will strike you seven times for your sins. I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a pestilence among you, and you will be delivered into enemy hands. When I cut off your supply of bread, 10 women will bake your bread in a single oven and ration out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied. "And if in spite of this you do not obey Me but act with hostility toward Me, I will act with furious hostility toward you; I will also discipline you seven times for your sins. You will eat the flesh of your sons; you will eat the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your dead bodies on the lifeless bodies of your idols; I will reject you. I will reduce your cities to ruins and devastate your sanctuaries. I will not smell the pleasing aroma of your [sacrifices]. I also will devastate the land, so that your enemies who come to live there will be appalled by it. But I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword [to chase] after you. So your land will become desolate, and your cities will become ruins. "Then the land will make up for its Sabbath [years] during the time it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time the land will rest and make up for its Sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate, it will have the rest it did not have during your Sabbaths when you lived there. "I will put anxiety in the hearts of those of you who survive in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a wind-driven leaf will put them to flight, and they will flee as one flees from a sword, and fall though no one is pursuing [them]. They will stumble over one another as if [fleeing] from a sword though no one is pursuing [them]. You will not be able to stand against your enemies. You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you. Those who survive in the lands of your enemies will waste away because of their sin; they will also waste away because of their fathers' sins along with theirs. "But if they will confess their sin and the sin of their fathers-their unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, and how they acted with hostility toward Me, and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies-and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled, and if they will pay the penalty for their sin, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob. I will also remember My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. For the land abandoned by them will make up for its Sabbaths by lying desolate without the people, while they pay the penalty for their sin, because they rejected My ordinances and abhorred My statutes. Yet in spite of this, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or abhor them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them, since I am the Lord their God. For their sake I will remember the covenant with their fathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God; I am the Lord." These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws the Lord established between Himself and the Israelites through Moses on Mount Sinai.


The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people despise Me? How long will they not trust in Me despite all the signs I have performed among them? I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are." But Moses replied to the Lord, "The Egyptians will hear about it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from them. read more.
They will tell [it to] the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people, how You, Lord, are seen face to face, how Your cloud stands over them, and how You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. If You kill this people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of Your fame will declare, 'Since the Lord wasn't able to bring this people into the land He swore to [give] them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.' "So now, may My Lord's power be magnified just as You have spoken: The Lord is slow to anger and rich in faithful love, forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will not leave [the guilty] unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers' wrongdoing on the children to the third and fourth generation. Please pardon the wrongdoing of this people in keeping with the greatness of Your faithful love, just as You have forgiven them from Egypt until now." The Lord responded, "I have pardoned [them] as you requested.


The following day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. Now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I will be able to atone for your sin.”

The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you and will always believe you.” Then Moses reported the people’s words to the Lord.

I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are." But Moses replied to the Lord, "The Egyptians will hear about it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from them. They will tell [it to] the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people, how You, Lord, are seen face to face, how Your cloud stands over them, and how You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. read more.
If You kill this people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of Your fame will declare, 'Since the Lord wasn't able to bring this people into the land He swore to [give] them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.' "So now, may My Lord's power be magnified just as You have spoken: The Lord is slow to anger and rich in faithful love, forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will not leave [the guilty] unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers' wrongdoing on the children to the third and fourth generation. Please pardon the wrongdoing of this people in keeping with the greatness of Your faithful love, just as You have forgiven them from Egypt until now." The Lord responded, "I have pardoned [them] as you requested.

The Lord also said to me, 'I have seen this people, and indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. Leave Me alone, and I will destroy them and blot out their name under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.' "So I went back down the mountain, while it was blazing with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. read more.
I saw how you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made a calf image for yourselves. You had quickly turned from the way the Lord had commanded for you. So I took hold of the tablets and threw them from my hands, shattering them before your eyes. Then I fell down like the first time in the presence of the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights; I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you committed, doing what was evil in the Lord's sight and provoking Him to anger. I was afraid of the fierce anger the Lord had directed against you, because He was about to destroy you. But again, the Lord listened to me on that occasion. The Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. But I prayed for Aaron at that time also. I took the sinful calf you had made, burned it up, and crushed it, thoroughly grinding it to powder as [fine as] dust. Then I threw it into the stream that came down from the mountain. "You continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah. When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, He said, 'Go up and possess the land I have given you'; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not believe or obey Him. You have been rebelling against the Lord ever since I have known you. "I fell down in the presence of the Lord 40 days and 40 nights because the Lord had threatened to destroy you. I prayed to the Lord: Lord God , do not annihilate Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a strong hand. Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Disregard this people's stubbornness, and their wickedness and sin. Otherwise, those in the land you brought us from will say, 'Because the Lord wasn't able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them, He brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.' But they are Your people, Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your great power and outstretched arm.


The following day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. Now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I will be able to atone for your sin.”

I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are." But Moses replied to the Lord, "The Egyptians will hear about it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from them. They will tell [it to] the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people, how You, Lord, are seen face to face, how Your cloud stands over them, and how You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. read more.
If You kill this people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of Your fame will declare, 'Since the Lord wasn't able to bring this people into the land He swore to [give] them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.' "So now, may My Lord's power be magnified just as You have spoken: The Lord is slow to anger and rich in faithful love, forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will not leave [the guilty] unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers' wrongdoing on the children to the third and fourth generation. Please pardon the wrongdoing of this people in keeping with the greatness of Your faithful love, just as You have forgiven them from Egypt until now." The Lord responded, "I have pardoned [them] as you requested.

The Lord also said to me, 'I have seen this people, and indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. Leave Me alone, and I will destroy them and blot out their name under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.' "So I went back down the mountain, while it was blazing with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. read more.
I saw how you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made a calf image for yourselves. You had quickly turned from the way the Lord had commanded for you. So I took hold of the tablets and threw them from my hands, shattering them before your eyes. Then I fell down like the first time in the presence of the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights; I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you committed, doing what was evil in the Lord's sight and provoking Him to anger. I was afraid of the fierce anger the Lord had directed against you, because He was about to destroy you. But again, the Lord listened to me on that occasion. The Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. But I prayed for Aaron at that time also. I took the sinful calf you had made, burned it up, and crushed it, thoroughly grinding it to powder as [fine as] dust. Then I threw it into the stream that came down from the mountain. "You continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah. When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, He said, 'Go up and possess the land I have given you'; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not believe or obey Him. You have been rebelling against the Lord ever since I have known you. "I fell down in the presence of the Lord 40 days and 40 nights because the Lord had threatened to destroy you. I prayed to the Lord: Lord God , do not annihilate Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a strong hand. Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Disregard this people's stubbornness, and their wickedness and sin. Otherwise, those in the land you brought us from will say, 'Because the Lord wasn't able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them, He brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.' But they are Your people, Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your great power and outstretched arm.


But the men who had gone up with him responded, "We can't go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!" So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: "The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. We even saw the Nephilim there." (The offspring of Anak were descended from the Nephilim.) "To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them."

Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" read more.
So they said to one another, "Let's appoint a leader and go back to Egypt."

However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan."

So they said to one another, "Let's appoint a leader and go back to Egypt." Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces [to the ground] in front of the whole assembly of the Israelite community. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes read more.
and said to the entire Israelite community: "The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us. Only don't rebel against the Lord, and don't be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don't be afraid of them!" While the whole community threatened to stone them, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting. The Lord said to Moses, "How long will these people despise Me? How long will they not trust in Me despite all the signs I have performed among them? I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are."


But Moses asked him, “Are you jealous on my account? If only all the Lord’s people were prophets and the Lord would place His Spirit on them!”

I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are." But Moses replied to the Lord, "The Egyptians will hear about it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from them. They will tell [it to] the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people, how You, Lord, are seen face to face, how Your cloud stands over them, and how You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. read more.
If You kill this people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of Your fame will declare, 'Since the Lord wasn't able to bring this people into the land He swore to [give] them, He has slaughtered them in the wilderness.' "So now, may My Lord's power be magnified just as You have spoken: The Lord is slow to anger and rich in faithful love, forgiving wrongdoing and rebellion. But He will not leave [the guilty] unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers' wrongdoing on the children to the third and fourth generation. Please pardon the wrongdoing of this people in keeping with the greatness of Your faithful love, just as You have forgiven them from Egypt until now."