Numbers 13
1 And the Lord said to Moses,
The Lord told Moses,
2 Send men to get knowledge about the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from every tribe of their fathers you are to send a man, every one a chief among them.
“Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, the country I'm giving to the Israelites. Choose one of the leaders from each of the tribes to go and do this.”
3 And Moses sent them from the waste land of Paran as the Lord gave orders, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
Moses did as the Lord had ordered and sent the men out from the Desert of Paran. They were all leaders of the Israelites.
4 And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua, the son of Zaccur.
Their names were: Shammua son of Zaccur, from the tribe of Reuben.
5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat, the son of Hori.
Shaphat, son of Hori, from the tribe of Simeon.
6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb, the son of Jephunneh.
Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah.
7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal, the son of Joseph.
Igal, son of Joseph, from the tribe of Issachar.
8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea, the son of Nun.
Hoshea, son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim.
9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti, the son of Raphu.
Palti son of Raphu, from the tribe of Benjamin.
10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel, the son of Sodi.
Gaddiel, son of Sodi, from the tribe of Zebulun.
11 Of the tribe of Joseph, that is of the family of Manasseh, Gaddi, the son of Susi.
Gaddi, son of Susi, from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph).
12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel, the son of Gemalli.
Ammiel, son of Gemalli, from the tribe of Dan.
13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur, the son of Michael
Sethur, son of Michael, from the tribe of Asher.
14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi, the son of Vophsi.
Nahbi, son of Vophsi, from the tribe of Naphtali.
15 Of the tribe of Gad, Gevel, the son of Machi.
Geuel, son of Machi, from the tribe of Gad.
16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to get knowledge about the land. And Moses gave to Hoshea, the son of Nun, the name of Joshua.
These were the names of the men that Moses sent to explore the country. Moses called Hoshea Joshua.
17 So Moses sent them to have a look at the land of Canaan, and said to them, Go up into the South and into the hill-country;
Moses sent them out to explore the land of Canaan, telling them, “Go through the Negev and on into the hill country.
18 And see what the land is like; and if the people living in it are strong or feeble, small or great in number;
See what the place looks like, and find out about the people living there—are they strong or weak? Are there many of them or only a few?
19 And what sort of land they are living in, if it is good or bad; and what their living-places are, tent-circles or walled towns;
Is the land where they're living good or bad? Are their towns like open camps, or do they have defensive walls?
20 And if the land is fertile or poor, and if there is wood in it or not. And be of good heart, and come back with some of the produce of the land. Now it was the time when the first grapes were ready.
Is the soil productive or not? Is it forested? Be brave, and bring back some of the country's fruit.” (It was the beginning of the grape harvest.)
21 So they went up and got a view of the land, from the waste land of Zin to Rehob, on the way to Hamath.
So the men went and explored the land all the way from the Desert of Zin to Rehob, bear Lebo-hamath.
22 They went up into the South and came to Hebron; and Ahiman and Sheshai and Talmai, the children of Anak, were living there. (Now the building of Hebron took place seven years before that of Zoan in Egypt.)
They went through the Negev and arrived in Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. This town was built seven years before the Egyptian town of Zoan.
23 And they came to the valley of Eshcol, and cutting down a vine-branch with its grapes, two of them took it on a rod between them; and they took some pomegranates and figs.
When they arrived at the Valley of Eshcol they chopped down a branch that had just one bunch of grapes. They had to carry it on a pole held between two men. They also collected some pomegranates and figs.
24 That place was named the valley of Eshcol because of the grapes which the children of Israel took from there.
(The place was named the Valley of Eshcol because of the bunch of grapes they took from there.)
25 At the end of forty days they came back from viewing the land.
Forty days later the men returned from exploring the country.
26 And they came back to Moses and Aaron and all the children of Israel, to Kadesh in the waste land of Paran; and gave an account to them and to all the people and let them see the produce of the land.
They went to see Moses and Aaron, and all the Israelites gathered there at their camp in Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. They gave a report before everyone and showed them the fruit they had brought back from the country.
27 And they said, We came to the land where you sent us, and truly it is flowing with milk and honey: and here is some of the produce of it.
This is the report they gave to Moses: “We went and explored the country you sent us to, and it is definitely very productive, as if it was flowing with milk and honey. Just look at some of its fruit!
28 But the people living in the land are strong, and the towns are walled and very great; further, we saw the children of Anak there.
But the people living there are strong, and their towns are big and have defensive walls. We also saw some descendants of Anak there.
29 And the Amalekites are in the South; and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill-country; and the Canaanites by the sea and by the side of Jordan.
The Amalekites live in the Negev. The Hittites, Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country. The Canaanites live on the sea coast and also beside the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb made signs to the people to keep quiet, and said to Moses, Let us go up straight away and take this land; for we are well able to overcome it.
Then Caleb asked for quiet as the people stood before Moses and told them, “Let's go and take over the land. We can conquer the country, no doubt about it!”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.
But the men who had gone with him disagreed. “We can't go and fight these people! They're much stronger than us!”
32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad account of the land they had been to see, saying, This land through which we went is a land causing destruction to those living in it; and all the people we saw there are men of more than common size.
They spread a negative report among the Israelites about the country they had explored. They told people, “The country we explored destroys the people that live there. Plus everyone we saw was really big!
33 There we saw those great men, the sons of Anak, offspring of the Nephilim: and we seemed to ourselves no more than insects, and so we seemed to them.
We even saw giants there—people descended from Anak the giant! Compared to them we looked like grasshoppers, and we must have looked like that to them too!”
